My ears rang.
The world around me blurred as his words echoed in my head.
"…that child is mine."
"No…" I whispered, shaking my head. "That's impossible."
The man in front of me the terrifying mafia boss everyone in the room feared looked completely certain.
His dark eyes never left my face.
"Impossible?" he repeated calmly.
My heart raced wildly.
"I've never even met you before!"
A low chuckle escaped his lips, dark and humorless.
"Oh, we've met."
He stepped closer.
Too close.
I could smell his cologne now dark, expensive, intoxicating.
My pulse thumped painfully.
"Three months ago," he continued slowly, "masquerade party at the Royal Crescent Hotel."
My breath caught in my throat.
The memory crashed into me like lightning.
The masks.
The music.
The champagne.
And the stranger I spent the night with.
My legs nearly collapsed.
"That… that was you?" I whispered.
He watched my reaction carefully.
"So you do remember."
Heat flooded my face, mixed with horror.
That night had been the biggest mistake of my life.
Ryan and I had been fighting constantly. I'd gone to the party with friends just to clear my head.
One too many glasses of champagne later…
I ended up in a hotel room with a mysterious stranger wearing a black mask.
I never saw his face.
I never even knew his name.
And the next morning I ran before he woke up, ashamed and terrified of what I had done.
My stomach twisted violently.
"Oh God…"
The man the mafia king closed the file in his hands.
His voice turned ice cold.
"So the child you're carrying… belongs to me."
Panic surged through me.
"No," I said quickly. "It could be Ryan's."
The room went silent.
The man's expression darkened dangerously.
"You think I don't know how to count months?" he asked quietly.
Fear crawled down my spine.
He turned toward one of the men behind him.
"Bring the doctor tomorrow morning."
"Yes, boss."
I shook my head frantically.
"You can't keep me here! I didn't agree to any of this!"
He looked at me like I had just said something amusing.
"You didn't have to."
My heart pounded.
"Your boyfriend already signed the contract."
Those words cut like knives.
Ryan.
The man I trusted.
The man I loved.
He sold me.
Tears burned my eyes but I forced them back.
"I'm not property," I said weakly.
The mafia king's gaze sharpened.
"No," he agreed.
Then he stepped closer until there was barely an inch between us.
"But you are carrying something that belongs to me."
His hand slowly lifted.
For a terrifying second I thought he might touch my stomach.
Instead, he brushed a strand of hair away from my face.
The gesture was gentle.
But his voice wasn't.
"You're not leaving this mansion."
My chest tightened.
"You can't lock me up like a prisoner!"
He tilted his head slightly.
"A prisoner?" he repeated.
Then his lips curved into a dark smile.
"You should be grateful."
My stomach dropped.
"Grateful?"
"Yes."
His voice lowered to something dangerously calm.
"Because the man who sold you…"
His eyes turned cold as death.
"…won't live long enough to regret it."
A chill ran down my spine.
I suddenly realized something terrifying.
This man wasn't angry.
He was planning something.
Something far worse.
He turned toward his men.
"Prepare a room for her."
One of them nodded.
"Yes, Boss Dante."
Dante.
So that was his name.
The man looked back at me one last time.
And the intensity in his eyes made my breath catch.
"Take good care of her," he ordered.
"After all…"
His gaze drifted slowly to my stomach.
"…she's carrying the future heir of my empire."
My entire world tilted.
Heir?
Empire?
What kind of nightmare had I just been dragged into?
As the guards began leading me upstairs, one terrifying thought echoed in my mind.
Ryan didn't just sell me.
He sold me to one of the most dangerous men alive.
And now…
I was trapped in his world.