Page 9

CHAPTER NINE

Gabriel felt like he was going to go crazy.

He’d only been here for a few days, but it seemed like he’d been in the basement forever . Taking small trips to the bathroom didn’t make a difference, and all the while, Viktor had turned his mouth into a fleshlight. But there was no point in being offended since it was his obedience that was keeping him alive. Viktor came in every morning and used his mouth, then left him alone for a while once he was done. At least this time, Gabriel had been able to shave off the irritating stubble that had grown on his face. He loved the look on other men, just not on himself.

Gabriel sighed as he sat with his back against the wall and thought about what his life had devolved into. He’d lost his freedom and dignity, and being dressed in nothing but a pair of underwear and Viktor’s big T-shirt, which sat baggy on him, seemed to amplify the feeling of ownership Viktor had over him. He hated what his life had become. Now more than ever, he wished he’d never been Frank Romano’s son. He felt like he’d been cursed from the start.

He stared down at his ankle. It was sore, but at least he didn’t need painkillers for it anymore, and he could stand on it for a short while before it started aching again. The swelling had completely gone down too. At least it wasn’t broken, and he knew he was recovering quickly. The only complaint he had other than boredom was that he wished he could do something other than sitting or lying around all day. He felt like life was passing him by, and all it did was depress him.

He needed to go outside. Needed to feel the warming sun on his skin and breathe fresh air. It felt like his body was suffering, but so was his mind. He missed painting on his days off and working in the small café in the city. He missed Enzo and their nights in, watching movies, talking, and partying together. Now it felt like his life had no meaning at all. He was supposed to be dead, but instead he’d been made into a prisoner.

Gabriel huffed from his place on the bed and stared at the door with a frown, waiting for either Sasha or Viktor to come in. It wasn’t uncommon for one of them to just unlock the door and walk in, whether that be Sasha with food or Viktor with a hard dick.

Oh God . Gabriel had to stop thinking about his captor’s cock—long, thick, and easily able to stuff his mouth and stretch his lips wide open. As much as he’d loved dick when he was a free man, thinking about his kidnapper in the same vein wasn’t the same. He wasn’t supposed to enjoy Viktor using his mouth, especially when he could kill him without hesitation. But he couldn’t help it. Viktor had a perfect cock, and it didn’t help that Gabriel already liked oral sex too.

Gabriel chewed on his lower lip. Just stop thinking about him .

After sitting alone and in silence for a while, Gabriel perked up when the door clicked, and he watched as it swung open. It was Viktor who made his appearance.

Gabriel swallowed. Did Viktor want to fuck his mouth again?

“You’ve been good,” Viktor said and tossed something rectangular at Gabriel. It landed on the mattress beside him.

Gabriel glanced down at the dark brown plastic wrapper and picked it up. It was a chocolate bar. He looked at Viktor. “I really want to go outside. Can I trade this for that instead?”

Judging by his silence, Viktor didn’t seem keen on the idea.

“Please,” Gabriel said. The thought of being trapped in here until he eventually died almost made his body lock up with fear. “I need fresh air. I need to see the sky, the nature. Please . I feel like I’m dying in here.”

Viktor watched him for a moment before he motioned upwards with his hand. Gabriel stood, leaving the chocolate on the bed, and limped a few steps to Viktor until they were face to face.

Viktor’s hand rested on the small of his back as he led him out of the basement, up the short set of stairs, and down the hall, where they turned into a mudroom. The same room he’d fallen in and sprained his ankle while trying to escape.

His heart picked up speed as they went to the door, and when Viktor opened it, cool fresh air hit him head-on. Gabriel followed Viktor’s lead as they went outside and onto a patio, beyond which Gabriel saw a grassy, well-kept yard with no one else in sight.

On the wooden deck was a small round table and chairs, but Gabriel chose to stay standing and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the white railing. This way, he could also lift his foot when he needed to rest his ankle.

He shut his eyes and breathed in the slightly cool breeze that feathered against his face and hair. There wasn’t much sunlight and he was shivering, but he didn’t want to go back inside so soon. He’d stay out here for as long as he could, listening to the chirping birds in the distance and enjoying clean air rather than the stale one back in the basement. Gabriel pushed the thought away. He didn’t want to ruin the moment by thinking about his prison.

When he opened his eyes, Viktor was standing beside him quietly as he gazed out to the yard ahead. His hand was still on Gabriel’s waist, and his thumb was rubbing small circles into his side. Viktor’s touch was soothing, and for a moment Gabriel melted into it.

“Thanks for letting me come out here,” Gabriel said.

Viktor turned his head to look at him, and they made eye contact. Gabriel maintained it, feeling himself getting sucked into Viktor’s bright blue gaze.

“I’m not going to kill you anymore,” Viktor said.

Gabriel clenched the railing in both hands as he stared at him. “What made you change your mind?”

“Your father doesn’t love you, and he doesn’t care about you either, so I have no reason to kill you anymore,” Viktor said.

Gabriel felt his stomach drop at the confirmation that his dad didn’t love him. He already knew that, but still, it didn’t stop him from feeling like shit because of it. He guessed his father disowning him had turned out to be a good thing, though he never would have thought something like that would save his life one day. “Are you going to let me go?” he asked. What else could Viktor do with him now? Gabriel couldn’t stop from smiling. Finally! He was going to go back home.

“No,” Viktor said.

Gabriel’s smile faltered. “What?”

“I’m going to keep you.”

Keep him ? Gabriel frowned. “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m serious,” Viktor said.

Gabriel released the railing and took a few steps back, his legs shaking. “You can’t do that. You can’t keep me here forever.” He started breathing faster at the idea of being trapped in that basement for the rest of his life, being used as a sex slave until the day he died.

Viktor took a step toward him, and Gabriel took another step back, gripping the railing in one hand.

“Viktor... I really want to go home,” Gabriel said. “Please just let me go. I promise I won’t tell anyone?—”

“Calm down,” Viktor said.

“I don’t want to stay here. I can’t!” Gabriel turned and limped toward the stairs leading to a cement path beside the grass. He didn’t know where he’d go, he just needed to get out of here.

Viktor seized his arm from behind and pulled him back towards the door leading into the house. A spike shot from his ankle and Gabriel grunted as he dug his heels into the floor and strained backward against Viktor’s grip.

“Lemme go!” Gabriel shouted.

Viktor let him go and then picked him up and carried him into the mudroom before walking into the hall. Gabriel turned his head and stared down the passage leading to the basement. Viktor didn’t turn down there and instead continued walking forward and into a large living room.

Gabriel glanced at his surroundings with wide eyes, trying to take in as much as possible. Mounted on the wall was a flat-screen TV, and in front of it was a glass coffee table and a cream-colored sofa in the shape of an L. Further ahead was a dining area with a long dark mahogany table and chairs, and beside that a large kitchen. It looked like a normal American family home.

He might not have been back in the basement, but being out here didn’t change his predicament at all . Gabriel was still in this house, and Viktor wasn’t letting him go home.

Was never going to.

Viktor carried Gabriel to the sofa and put him down before he sat on the coffee table directly in front of him.

“Gabriel,” he said, his voice deep and calm as he gazed at him with strong blue eyes. “I don’t want to hear you talk about going back again. You belong to me now. You’re my boy.”

“No,” Gabriel clenched his fists by his sides. “I don’t belong to you.”

“ Gabriel .” Viktor said, his tone firmer.

Gabriel swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as he maintained eye contact with Viktor. There was a crinkling noise and the sound of footsteps, and Gabriel snapped his attention in their direction. Sasha appeared from the hallway, dressed all in black and with two full white plastic bags in each hand.

He glanced at Gabriel, then nodded at Viktor before walking through the living room, not looking at them again. Gabriel watched as Sasha went to the kitchen and set the bags on the counter before beginning to take out their contents and put them into the fridge.

“Look at me,” Viktor said.

Gabriel turned his head to face his captor again.

“You’re not going back to your tiny apartment or to a life of partying and drinking,” Viktor said.

Gabriel frowned as he stared at him. Had Viktor been watching him long before his men took him? That would explain why he knew those details. Gabriel’s insides squirmed with unease. How hadn’t he noticed that he was being watched? This kidnapping was his fault. If he’d been aware that he was being stalked, then he might have been able to stop Viktor from taking him.

“From now on,” Viktor said, keeping his intense focus on him. “You’re mine, Gabriel. My toy. If you fight me or Sasha, or try to run, I will make you regret it.”

Gabriel swallowed, his mouth dry and his eyes burning with impending tears. Even if Viktor wasn’t going to kill him anymore, he knew better than to mess with dangerous men like him. He hated the basement, but right now all he wanted was to go back in there and be alone, to grieve everything he was forced to leave behind. But he couldn’t move. All he could do was sit there, frozen to the spot.

Viktor stood to his full height, and Gabriel looked up at him, feeling tiny in comparison. As his captor’s words sunk in, he felt his stomach flip.

“How long until dinner’s ready?” Viktor asked as he looked ahead and away from him.

“No longer than an hour,” Sasha said, sounding calm as he chopped something hard with a knife.

“Good.” Viktor looked at Gabriel. “You can stay here until then.” He reached down and picked up a cuff with a chain attached to it from the floor. He then grabbed Gabriel’s uninjured ankle and secured the cuff around it.

Without a word, Viktor glanced at Gabriel before walking out of the living room. Once he was out of sight, Gabriel peered over the side of the sofa and saw that the chain was connected to the foot of the furniture. There was no way he could get out of it. With a sigh, Gabriel leaned back against the cushion, listening as Sasha gently stirred a pot in the kitchen.

His eyes wandered the room. The walls were an off-white, and the living room was illuminated by a yellow-hued light. There was a round clock on the wall, steadily ticking away, and for once in what felt like forever, Gabriel was able to see the time. It was almost five in the evening, and he was starting to get hungry.

Footsteps approached him and Gabriel turned his head to watch as Sasha walked into the living room.

“I guess turning on the TV won’t hurt,” Sasha said before picking up the remote and clicking on the flat-screen.

“I just want to go home. Can’t you help me?” Gabriel asked.

Sasha shook his head in the negative, a slight crease between his dark brows. “Sorry, kid.”

Gabriel went quiet, knowing it was all in vain. If Sasha were able to help him, he would have done it by now. Sasha turned and walked back into the kitchen, and Gabriel stared at the TV, listening as he resumed preparing dinner.

Before sitting captive in an enemy mob boss’s home, Gabriel used to browse his phone or watch his favorite streamers on a video app from the comfort of his couch in his apartment’s small living room. Now his life had turned upside down, and he couldn’t help but think about just how much he had taken his life and freedom for granted before his kidnapping.

Before long, Sasha set a bowl on the coffee table in front of him. The chain trapping Gabriel to the sofa was long enough to allow him to extend his legs and sit upright, so it was easy for him to lean in close to the table and eat his dinner. From the looks of it, it was beef stew with potatoes and carrots.

“Thank you,” Gabriel said once he finished eating, and he set the spoon into the empty bowl. Sasha took it and walked away, and Gabriel listened as he started cleaning up.

Footsteps made Gabriel turn his head to look toward the mouth of the living room. Viktor walked in, his eyes locking on him immediately. Gabriel felt a jolt from the pit of his stomach hit his chest at the sight of Viktor in blue jeans and a white T-shirt, muscular and fit, staring at him.

Glancing away and focusing on the TV in front of him, Gabriel listened as Viktor walked behind the sofa. He heard the clinking of a bowl and cutlery, then the sound of a chair scraping against the hardwood floor.

Gabriel looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with Viktor. He was sitting at the dining table and facing the living room, his dinner before him and a spoon in his hand. Feeling his heart pick up pace, Gabriel turned his head to face the TV again.

He could still feel Viktor’s gaze on him like he was devouring him with his eyes. It made him feel on edge, like prey in the sights of a predator. A deep primal feeling came with the territory, and although Gabriel was scared, there was a part of him that sensed a dark desire from Viktor, a type of wanting that he hadn’t experienced from any other man before.

Sitting still and tense, Gabriel kept his eyes on the screen before him, but he couldn’t focus on it. Despite the news channel talking about the latest crimes, weather, and other happenings in New York, all Gabriel could think about, and all that consumed him, was Viktor.