All Chapters of The Mafia Kings Stripper: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

I stared at the engagement ring on my finger like it was a chain around my throat. Noah’s proposal had been sweet, hopeful, everything he was. But after Alessandro’s brutal intervention in the parking lot, nothing felt right anymore. The blood, the gunshots, the casual way he had ended lives in front of me—it had shattered something inside me.I tried to push through. I smiled when Noah talked about our future. I laughed when he kissed me. But every night, the nightmares came. Alessandro’s steel eyes. His hand on my jaw. The way he killed without hesitation.Sarah noticed first. “You’re not yourself, Kate. The engagement… you don’t seem happy.”I lied. “It’s just stress.”The truth was, Alessandro had already ruined it. He didn’t need messages anymore. He showed up in other ways. My mother’s doctors suddenly had new experimental treatments. Ben’s school called to say his tuition was covered anonymously. Our landlord sent a letter saying rent was paid for the year.He was buying me. Pi

CI woke up in my own bed with the taste of shame still thick in my mouth.My body ached in places that made me want to crawl out of my skin. The bruises on my hips from his fingers. The faint red marks around my throat. The lingering burn on my ass from the spanking. Every movement was a reminder of last night. Of how I had walked into that hotel room because he threatened everything I loved. Of how I had come for him anyway.I showered until the water ran cold, scrubbing my skin raw, but nothing washed away the memory of his voice in my ear or the way he had filled me like he owned every inch. When I finally stepped out, I stared at my reflection in the fogged mirror. The engagement ring on my finger mocked me. Noah’s ring. The one I had accepted out of fear and guilt. The one that now felt like a lie painted in gold.Sarah was already in the kitchen when I walked out. She took one look at me and frowned. “You look like hell. Where were you last night? I got home and your note just

I didn’t sleep.Every time I closed my eyes I felt his hands again—the cuffs, the spanking, the way he had forced the words out of me. By morning my skin still felt raw from the shower. I dressed carefully, high collars and long sleeves, and forced myself into the kitchen like nothing had happened.Sarah was already there, humming as she made coffee. The sound was so normal it hurt.“Morning,” she said, sliding a mug toward me. “You look like you fought a war. Another late night?”I nodded once and sat down. Ben was still asleep. The apartment smelled like toast and the cheap vanilla candle she always burned. It should have felt safe. It didn’t.My phone buzzed on the counter.I almost didn’t look. When I did, the message was short and unsigned.Your roommate has a pretty smile. It would be a shame if something happened to it. Keep her out of this.My stomach dropped so hard I nearly dropped the mug.Sarah was still talking about her shift later, about some customer who always ordered

The car ride back felt longer than the one that brought us there.I sat pressed against the door, arms wrapped around myself, the black dress suddenly too tight. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the platform again—the white dresses, the bowed heads, the calm way numbers were called out while people were sold like furniture. Alessandro said nothing. He scrolled through his phone as if the night had been ordinary.When the car finally stopped at the townhouse I didn’t move.“Out,” he said.I followed him inside. The lights were low. He poured himself a drink and loosened his collar, the tattoos on his neck shifting with the movement. I stayed near the door like I still had the option of leaving.“Sit,” he ordered.I sat on the edge of the sofa. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.He watched me over the rim of his glass. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”“I watched people being sold,” I said, voice raw. “Like they weren’t even human. And you sat there like it was a business meeting.”

I woke up to the worst feeling in my stomach.Not the usual guilt, I sat up in Alessandro’s bed and waited for it to pass. It didn’t. My mouth filled with spit and my head spun. I barely made it to the bathroom before I threw up hard into the toilet.I stayed there on the cold floor, arms around the bowl, breathing like I just ran a race. My period was late. I knew it. I had been pretending not to notice for days. Stress, I told myself. Too much fear. Too many nights with him, but the vomiting didn’t lie.I washed my face and stared at myself in the mirror. Pale. Bruised on my hips from last night. The emerald necklace still around my throat like a collar I never took off.Pregnant.The word sat in my chest like a stone.I couldn’t be, not with him. Not in this life. Not when every day felt like I was one wrong move from losing everything.I got dressed in silence and went downstairs. Alessandro was already in the kitchen, black shirt open at the collar, scrolling through his phone. H