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Your Life or your Freedom?

Inside Salvatore’s suite, the air was filled with smoke. As it slowly dissipated, the figure of a tall man seated on a couch came into view. He crossed his legs gallantly, puffing out smoke from his mouth with an aura as deadly as he was. With his inky black hair, thin eyes, and a pointy nose, he embodied the perfect definition of a Greek God. His muscular figure and the tattoos adorning his right arm only added to his dangerous allure.

A knock on the door interrupted his solitary moment. “Come in,” Salvatore’s voice resonated through the room.

Ponce, his closest ally, entered the room with his usual cold expression. Walking towards Aurelio, he shared the update on the successful mission given to Callixta. “Salvatore, the mission you gave Callixta was successful. The thief has been caught, turns out to be a girl,” Ponce reported.

Salvatore smirked, exhaling smoke from his lips. “Godfather is still on his trip to Spain, so you’re in charge. What should we do with her?” Ponce inquired.

“She’ll be fed to the tigers by noon,” Salvatore responded with a sinister tone, and Ponce nodded in acknowledgement.

~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~

Dahlia slowly opened her eyes, squinting against the brightness of the sun. As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was in an arena, chained up with a large cage in front of her. A groan escaped her lips as she attempted to move her hands, only to find them immobilized by the chains. The sound of men’s voices drew her attention, and she widened her eyes upon noticing their menacing gazes.

Before she could fully process her surroundings, a whip landed on her back, eliciting a cry of pain. Callixta, the strongest female mobster in the clan, approached her with a cruel smile. She had earned the name “Iron Lady” for being trained alongside Salvatore by the Godfather himself. It was only Callixta and Ponce who addressed Salvatore by his name.

“You’ll regret ever doing that, you ugly thing,” Cheetah taunted, delivering another lash with the whip. The force of the blow tore Dahlia’s white dress, leaving a painful wound. Callixta then grabbed her hair, yanking her head back, and slashed the whip across her face, leaving a long, ugly cut on her cheek.

Tears escaped Dahlia’s eyes and down her cheeks.

“It wasn’t me, I swear on everything that I hold dear. I didn’t steal from you, please spare me”, Dahlia cried but her words were met with a punch that landed ruthlessly on her face.

A girl hummed as she walked into the arena and her eyes scanned the room until she spotted a guy that looked quite similar to her and with a wave, she walked up to sit with him. She was Kat Cirino, an incredibly intelligent hacker and computer genius and at nineteen, she led the clan’s hackers and she always had a bright smile on her face that accentuated her dimples.

“I thought I was going to miss the execution”, she said.

“I hoped you wouldn’t. The thief turned out to be a girl and the situation is getting even more interesting”, Killian, her twin brother said. He was an excellent marksman that had never missed anyone or anything he trained his snipers on.

“That’s so sad. She’s too pretty to die so young”, Kat pouted, and her brother rolled his eyes, looking at how eager she was to see what was going to happen.

“You can’t expect anyone to have mercy on her simply because she’s young and pretty. The penalty for what she did is death which should be meted out to her”, Killian retorted with a smirk. “She’s really sexy though, it really is a shame”.

“It’s almost time for the tigers to be fed”, Kat said, trying to divert the conversation.

Dahlia cried out in pain as yet another lash landed on her already tattered and blood soaked dress, the torture seemingly endless.

“It’s 11:58”, Callixta said, instructing one of the men, “Release the tigers when I tell you to”. Dear gripped Dahlia’s heart and she began to struggle against her bounds.

She raised her head an found herself staring at a cage that housed two hungry looking tigers who were packing around, anxiously waiting for their release.

Tears streamed down her face. He did she even end up in this mess? Was this really young to be the end for her?

“The boss is here”, One of the mobsters announced, causing everyone to stand up as Salvatore entered the room, accompanied closely by Ponce.

Salvatore’s cold gaze swept over the room, hi bored expression making everyone feel insignificant. He took his time, walking slowly until he reached the seat that was kept for him. His lazy eyes landed in Dahlia and his brows raised ever so slightly. He was reminded of the girl selling ice cream that he had encountered earlier.

“It is her”, he thought.

“It’s noon. Release the tigers”, Callixta declared, and the henchman began unlocking the cage. Dahlia closed her eyes tightly, prepared for the what was to come.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and the man who was in the process of opening the cage cried out in pain, clutching his injured hand. Salvatore had fired the weapon, saving Dahlia from the impending danger.

All eyes turned towards Salvatore as he stood up and made his way slowly towards Dahlia. A hushed silence from over the crowd.

“Salvatore…” Callixta whispered, bit he paid no attention, focusing solely on Dahlia. He crouched in front of her as gently lifted her bloodied face with his finger.

Salvatore stared at her with a slight smirk dangling on his lips. He didn’t know why but something about her intrigued him, made him want her.

Dahlia couldn’t help but tremble in fear. The intensity of his presence was overwhelming and intimidating.

“I will spare your life but only under one condition” , He murmured.

Dahlia stared at him with wife eyes. Could this be her savior? The one who would save her from this calamity? Were her desperate prayers going to finally be answered?

A glint of hope appeared in her eyes but that Ray of hope was immediately crushed by the nest words that rolled off his tongue.

“You will become my property, my possession. I’ll do whatever I want with you, anytime, anywhere…”, Salvatore said monitoring her expression as her eyes widened.

“So, what is it? Your life or your freedom?”.

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