Italian Romance Series by Lady Prim

I never asked for this life.

Sometimes, I wonder how it all spiraled out of control. One moment, we were a family. My mother, my father, and me. The next, she was gone, and it was just him and I-drifting in the undertow of his addictions, of his mistakes.

I was never supposed to be the one to hold everything together, but when your father sinks to the depths, you learn to carry the weight of his failures. I never expected to drown with him.

I stare at the cracked mirror in the cramped apartment we've been living in for what feels like an eternity. My reflection seems almost foreign to me. A shadow of the girl I once was, a girl who had dreams of escaping this hellhole, dreams that now feel so distant. A girl who believed that one day, maybe, I could have a life outside of this chaos.

But life doesn't care about dreams. It never does.

I adjust the black dress that clings to my body, a reminder of the last pieces of my mother I have left-her taste in clothes. I've been trying to keep it together, trying to look like I belong in this world where nothing makes sense anymore. But it's harder each day.

The door creaks open, and my father stumbles in, his body swaying. His eyes are bloodshot, his face pale. I can smell the alcohol on his breath even before he speaks.

-"Did you hear from him?"- His voice is thick, slurred. He's not asking for comfort, not asking for answers. He's just... talking. It's the only thing he does anymore.

I don't reply. I just nod. His gambling debts are far too high to be ignored now.

His eyes flicker to the floor, where the pile of bills and threats from loan sharks is scattered like confetti. He doesn't seem to care anymore.

-"I fucked up,"- he mutters, more to himself than to me.

I know you did.

I've known for a long time that we were already living on borrowed time. But I never imagined it would come to this-the deal my father struck with the devil.

The door slams shut again, but it's not my father. I jump slightly, my breath catching in my throat.

A tall figure stands in the doorway. His shadow falls over me like a dark cloud, and my pulse skips a beat. I know who it is before I even see his face.

Máximo.

The Capo di Tutti Capi. The man my father sold me to.

-"You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"- His voice is smooth, calculated, like the hiss of a snake preparing to strike.

My stomach twists. I stand up, my legs unsteady beneath me.

-"I'm not going anywhere with you."-

He smirks, stepping further into the room.

-"I'm not asking, Suzete."- His eyes are cold, merciless. He looks at me like I'm nothing more than a pawn in his game.

I take a step back, but he's already closing the distance between us.

-"You don't have a choice. Your father made sure of that."-

My heart pounds in my chest. I feel the walls of the room closing in on me, the suffocating reality of my situation settling in like a heavy weight. There's no escape.

-"You'll marry me,"- Máximo continues, his voice low and dangerous. -"It's the only way you'll survive. You can't fight it. You can't run."-

I want to scream. I want to fight back, to claw my way out of this nightmare. But I know I can't. I've seen what happens to people who cross him, who defy him. They disappear.

-"Why?"- I ask, my voice trembling. -"Why me?"-

He steps closer, his breath brushing my cheek.

-"Because your father owes me. And now you owe me, too."-

I want to hate him. I want to spit in his face and tell him to go to hell. But there's something in his eyes-something cold and calculating-that makes me freeze. I know better than to challenge him.