Page 9 of Merciless Queen (Moretti Mafia #1)

Harlow

Her voice was a distant echo in the fog of my mind. It was filled with…hope, a promise . Only there couldn’t be a promise when that voice was hers. She was dead, just like my mom.

“Come back home, Harlow,” she said, gently caressing my skin with her soft hands. I looked into her familiar blue eyes and winced like her mere presence gutted me.

I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the haze and make sense of the eyes staring back at me. My head shook violently, squeezing my eyes shut to banish the vision. “You’re not real,” I muttered, struggling to accept this reality. “I must be dead.”

Elizabeth laughed, moving my hair out of my face. “You’re not dead, sweet girl. I’m here. I’m real. Now let me see those pretty eyes.” My eyes fluttered open once more, tears swelling in my eyes because she was real, and she was here.

“There we go. Wipe those tears away.”

A sob ripped from my throat as reality crashed into me like a tidal wave, tears streaming down my face.

My chest heaved, making my breaths inconsistent and staggered.

My mind raced with the picture Vincenzo showed me, but she was here.

Sheer joy and terror collided in an overwhelming rush, leaving me trembling in its wake.

Elizabeth held me to her chest as we both cried, hers more put together than mine.

“Y-You di-died. H-He s-showed me t-the p-pictures.”

“I did die, but not physically. Mentally and emotionally. Cat’s people found me. They pulled me out of the river and nursed me back to health. I wanted to find you, Harlow. Vincenzo’s people said you died, but I should have never believed it.”

Her embrace was comforting; she felt like home.

That place would never be my home, but my mom and Lizzy made the hellish nightmare feel safer.

I wrapped both arms around Elizabeth, clinging to her like she was my lifeline.

She was the only thing I had left, even if we weren’t blood related.

In whatever life I had here, she was the only one who knew every dark, deranged thing done to me, and I her.

Five years was a long time to be away from the one person who survived hell with you.

For five years, I thought she was dead, but like before, she fought. She was always a fighter.

I pulled away from her, looking into her familiar blue gaze, wiping the tears from mine. She was really here—wherever here was. I glanced at the woman with her arms crossed and resting against the dresser. Her gaze was wicked, but I saw softness in her face. Who was she? Where was I?

This woman had an effortless presence that dominated the room.

She was ethereal, but terrifying. She looked like the ice queen boss who would bite someone's head off if they pissed her off. She was stunning, but she wasn’t approachable.

It was hard to describe how this woman’s demeanor was when I knew nothing about her, and my only human interactions for the last ten years were broken women, scared maids, and horrible men.

Stai zitto e forse non ti ucciderò. The words danced in my mind before her striking, green eyes penetrated my mind.

“Y-You took me.” Lizzy looked at her, and the woman furrowed an eyebrow. “Y-You d-drugged me.”

“I had the wrong information and took you, yes. I’m not going to hurt you, but you can’t leave my home.”

“Kidnapped with benefits?” I asked in a snappy tone. “W-Who are you?”

“Caterina Moretti.”

My body tensed.

From one monster to another.

“If you’re going to kill me, just do it.” My breathing picked up. “I’m not going back.”

Lizzy tightened her grip on me and my breathing evened out. “Breathe, Harlow. You’re safe.”

“He’s going to come for me.” I lifted my hand up, seeing the ring still on my finger.

“I’m his. He wants me. I don’t think he’ll stop until he has me back.

If he gets me, he’ll…” God, I didn’t know what he would do to me.

“I can’t go back. He said I would be his wife or in his bordello.

I took his bed and his ring, because being his wife is better than being trapped in that house. ”

Lizzy caressed my arm reassuringly. “That’s where I was before you found me.

It was a place we were sent to for punishment.

When girls would try to escape, they would be gang raped and tortured until they died or begged to live.

I refused. I was gang raped. Beat. Cut. Stabbed.

Raped with random items, including a broken pipe.

” I flinched, leaning into her more. “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. He won’t get you. We’ll protect you.”

Caterina walked up to me and grabbed my hand, which made me jump, and removed the ring from my hand.

“You aren’t his. He won’t touch you again.

” She pocketed the ring and turned to Lizzy.

“I’ll keep her here under my protection.

Food. Medicine. Therapy. Whatever she needs, just like I did with you. ”

“I don’t need a shrink,” I argued.

Lizzy brushed my hair back. “Yeah, you do. You know you do. Ten years is a long time to be with a monster like Vincenzo Mancini. It’s scary talking about everything you’ve been through, but you need it.”

I shrugged. “I-I guess.”

“You need to see a doctor, too. The trauma could mess with you internally as well.”

Caterina left the room, and Lizzy adjusted herself so she could be in front of me.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” I said, still in disbelief that she was in front of me. “I’m so sorry. It’s my fault. I never should’ve gone with you.”

“It’s not your fault. I wanted us to be safe, but they were smarter. Never blame yourself. I would go back and do it again regardless of the outcome.”

“I watched you die.”

“Me too. I should be dead. I almost did die. They threw me in the river, but one of Cat’s men saw and fished me out.

I was rushed into surgery, and it was bad.

Sepsis. Organ failure. Multiple fractures.

A skull fracture and a brain bleed. I fought like hell to survive to save as many people as I could from the trauma I endured.

” She grabbed my hand, tears filling her blue eyes. “W-What did he do to you?”

My mind flashed back to that night. After they made me watch for hours, Vincenzo took me to his favorite room.

“I—uh…he…” My thigh burned as I rubbed the brand.

I pulled up the hospital-like gown, showing Lizzy where Vincenzo burned his name into my inner thigh.

“He said I was his and he would make sure I remembered who I belonged to. He raped me in the middle of the club before taking me to his favorite room.” I shifted uncomfortably.

“H-He kept saying it was my fault you died, why my mom died. He branded me so everyone would know I was his. He taunted me with death, but kept me alive while he tortured me. H-He made me beg to live when I wanted to die.” I wiped the tears from my eyes.

“I still think death would be the better option than dealing with these demons.”

“You know, I thought the same thing. When I woke up, I wanted to die. I had nightmares. No one could touch me. I tried to kill myself by jumping out a window—well, trying to. I couldn’t get the damn thing to open, so I punched it.

I’m not going to lie to you, Harlow. It’s going to be hard.

It might be one of the hardest things you will have to endure in life.

Scream. Cry. Sob. Do what you need to, but just never give up. ”

“It’s not that easy, Lizzy. How can something be fixed when it’s completely shattered?

He broke me. He took my mom from me. I’ve been trapped with a monster for ten years.

How am I going to function as a normal person?

I never even finished high school or went to college.

The only use I have is what’s between my legs. ”

Elizabeth pulled me into her arms again and hugged me tightly. She smelled like vanilla, and it tickled my nose. “You are worth so much more than that, baby girl. I never want you to think that you deserved what happened to you.”

She said it like she believed it…