King of the Cage: A Dark Irish Mafia Romance (Devil’s Own)
King of the Cage: Chapter 32

“Giada! Are you okay?” a voice came to me from far, far away.

I blinked, the world gradually coming into focus.

I was on a soft bed. I sat up slowly, and Regina jumped to her feet.

“Oh my God, you’re awake. I’m so sorry this happened,” she rambled.

“Water,” I croaked at her.

“Right!”

She passed me a glass of water, and I quickly gulped half of it down.

“Are you okay?” she asked, a deep frown etched between her brows.

I shook my head. “Where am I?”

“My apartment.”

I stared at her. “What happened? Were those men part of The Enclave?”

Regina looked stricken. “No! I mean… kind of not. It’s Aldo Sepriano… he’s had a problem with you and Bran for weeks. He’s convinced Bran killed his brother.” She sighed. “He had his security team carjack you and bring you here. He wanted to give you a polygraph, like we did to Bran.” She tutted and shook her head. “Idiot. Archibald is seriously reconsidering his value to the society.”

“I have to call Bran,” I said quickly. “My driver was hurt, too.”

Regina nodded. “Okay, we’ll do that, just get yourself together first. Why don’t you wash up and come out to the sitting room, and I’ll find Bran’s number. Your phone got smashed, I’m afraid.”

Fury flowed through me. Aldo, that stupid motherfucker.

I nodded and slid out of bed. My clothes were all dirty from me being dragged to another car unconscious, and my palms were a mess of dried blood and small cuts.

“I’ll send someone with a first aid kit,” Regina said, wincing.

I went to the bathroom once she’d gone. Holy shit. That could have gone so much worse. What if Aldo hadn’t brought me here? What if Declan was seriously hurt?

My head throbbed, and I felt like shit. Aldo was out of control. He was dangerous. He knew about Enrico, and it was time to take him out. It was beyond time. Bran getting hurt had set us back, and in that bubble of falling for someone for the first time in my life, I hadn’t seen the danger closing in.

A knock sounded at the door.

“There’s a first aid kit on the bed,” a female voice called, not Regina’s.

“Thanks,” I called back and headed to the bedroom. The kit was a little box. I opened it, rooting through for some Band-Aids. A small piece of paper fell out onto the bed. I picked it up, about to stuff it back into the box, when my name caught my eye.

I smoothed it open, and my blood ran cold.

Giada. Regina isn’t who she seems. Don’t trust her.

I flew to my feet, clutching the note. What the hell? I started through the room after the girl who had left the box.

The living room of the apartment was large and Gothic-looking. The view from the windows showed that we were high up. The extended ceilings with cornicing, bay windows with velvet drapes, and massive fireplace reminded me of The Tartarus Hotel. With dread, I went to the window and stared down at the street, recognizing the position immediately.

It was The Tartarus. Archibald and Regina lived at The Tartarus Hotel.

Before I could fully process that, Regina came into the room. She had a phone in her hand.

“Oh! You’re done. Did you get the first aid kit?”

I nodded, my throat tight.

Regina isn’t who she seems.

Those words were haunting me right now.

“I’ve called Bran. He’s on his way,” Regina said with a smile.

Relief filled me. “What about Aldo?”

Regina sighed. “As soon as he showed up here with you, Archibald laid into him. This isn’t what we’re about, and besides, you and Bran are practically members. He’s walking a thin line.”

I nodded and wandered around the room as she watched me. I wanted to get out of there, but my gut told me to play along for now.

Huge gold-framed paintings of all sizes hung on the wall. I stopped in front of one and studied it. Regina came up behind me.

“This is impressive,” I said to fill the silence.

It was horrible to look at. In it, a picnic was laid out in a dark, lush forest. On first inspection, the food appeared delicious and juicy. But when I peered closer, I made out worms and maggots in the food. It was rotten. And a very familiar style.

“I think I’ve seen this artist’s work before. Aldo invited me and my friend to that show, actually. He said the painter was a member of The Enclave.”

Regina smiled faintly and nodded. There was something about her smile… a secret pride?

“Wait, is it you? S, the painter? It’s you, isn’t it?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I don’t publicize it or put my face to the work, but it’s my passion.”

I turned back and eyed the painting. There was no denying the talent or technique in the oil painting.

“You said you used to have a career, was this it?”

She shook her head. “God, no. It was totally boring, chemistry, of all things. No, this is a calling. I love to paint.”

“You’re very good at it,” I muttered and sat when Regina gestured toward a couch. I perched awkwardly on the edge.

“Just relax and let’s have some tea.”

“You live at the hotel,” I said.

She nodded. “We have for years. It’s home. A little unorthodox, but at least it’s a penthouse,” Regina laughed.

I stared at her. How could home be a place where terrible things happened regularly?

“Didn’t a bunch of women committee suicide from up here somewhere a few years ago?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Regina’s eyes widened. “I’ve never heard anything about that.”

Hmmm. Sure. I continued to look around.

Someone wheeled a little trolley in with tea, like a maid from some period drama. It seemed Regina liked to cosplay as lady of the manor.

I reached out to take the teacup and froze.

Alice No Last Name stood in front of me. Her hand shook slightly as she held the tea out to me. Her eyes urged me to take it. Slowly, I took the cup and wrapped my hands around it.

“Thank you, that’ll be all,” Regina said primly when Alice lingered.

She was wearing a maid uniform. What the hell was happening?

Regina’s phone rang then, and she huffed loudly. “I need to take this. I’ll only be a minute.”

She strode out of the room, and I was up and crossing over to Alice as fast as possible.

“What are you doing here? Are you okay?”

The torrent of questions hit Alice, and she blinked at me, twisting to stare over her shoulder at the door Regina had just gone through.

“I’m okay, you’re the one who needs to get out of here. Didn’t you read my note?”

“Yes, I read it… I don’t know what it means.”

Alice gripped my wrist. “It means you need to get out of here. Now.”

“Regina called my husband, he’s coming for me,” I started.

Alice shook her head. “She didn’t call anyone. She’s lying. You need to find a reason to leave.”

“Come with me,” I urged.

Alice shook her head. “No, not now, I can’t. They have too much on me… I can’t go against them more than I already am.”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything?” Regina’s voice oozed across us.

Alice sprang back and dropped her gaze to the floor.

“No, not at all,” I said, forcing a bland expression. “I just love the tea. I wanted to know what kind it is,” I improvised.

Regina glanced at my cup. “But you haven’t drunk any,” she pointed out.

I grabbed the cup and took several long swallows. “There you go. It’s so good.”

Regina watched me, and then her face split into a wicked smile. “Is it? That’s nice to know. I’ll be sure to take your feedback into consideration.”

“What?” I asked, clenching the cup in a death grip.

“So, Giada, tell me how you know Alice?”

“We met at my boss’s wedding and hit it off. I was just wanting to catch up.”

“And you have so much in common with a former drug addict turned hooker?” Regina drawled. Her entire demeanor seemed to have changed. Gone was the eager-to-please, mildly apologetic billionaire’s wife, and in her place was a powerful, confident woman who knew exactly where she was and what she was doing.

I shrugged. “She made me laugh, and that makes her my kind of people.”

Regina nodded. “You do like to laugh, don’t you, Giada? I suppose that’s why you fell for your husband. He is funny… charming, strong.”

She shivered, and something very close to jealousy ran through me at her obvious admiration of the man who had forced me to become his wife.

“I’ll be sure to pass you compliments on to Bran… or you can do it yourself. He’s on his way, right?”

Regina smiled at me and shook her head. “I think we both know he’s not.”

“I don’t know that. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t call him.”

Regina kept smiling at me as she rounded the coffee table and approached me. I fought the urge to step back.

“Why would I go through the trouble of getting Aldo to snatch you, to just let you go? You see, Giada, darling, I know what you saw downstairs the other day… The basement might look like something out of the Dark Ages, but we have CCTV, too. Imagine the De Sanctis family’s ‘IT guy’ forgetting to check out if her snooping was caught on camera.”

I did back up now. I didn’t want to be within reaching distance of this crazy bitch.

I shrugged. “So, you have some kinky setup in the basement, but that doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

Regina smiled. “Sure. Since I wasn’t born yesterday, I don’t believe you. I think you and your husband have ulterior motives in joining us, and I have to protect The Enclave from harm.”

“So, what’s with the cloak-and-dagger shit? Just refuse us entry.”

“Why would I do that, when watching you race around in my little maze is so much more fun? Besides, Brandon O’Connor is too impressive to waste like that.”

I stared at her, dark possessiveness rearing up inside me. I felt sick, I was scared, and this bitch thought she was going to get my husband?

I thought over this revelation and glanced at the paintings on the walls.

“S, the artist, is you… and its S for The Sentinel, isn’t it? Your husband’s a front, that’s why he acts more like a carboard cutout than a human.”

“The lights have been on for Archie and no one home for years. He didn’t like the life in The Enclave. He wasn’t born into it, like me. So, he takes his daily medications, and he does what the fuck I tell him to, since that’s all he’s good for. I can’t be the face of The Enclave, because the members aren’t ready to accept a woman, and besides, who wants to be a target?”

“You’re the chemist? You said you used to be a chemist, right?” Everything clicked together in my mind. God, I’d been slow.

Regina nodded. “Yes, I was, for a while, but nothing I wanted to make ever saw the light of day. Luckily, when Daddy died, I was in a position to continue making my own concoctions… He always saw the brilliance of my ideas.”

“You made Z Juice,” I pointed out, obvious as hell at this point, but I had to hear it to believe it.

“Hmmm, quite the fun little party drug, isn’t it? The members like it. Some of this city’s rich and powerful joined for access to it.” Regina studied her nails, arrogance painted across her features. “Of course, they want the drugs and the fun times it gives them, but I get their money, connections, and power in return. That makes me a queen in this city… or a king, actually,” she giggled.

The sound was truly terrifying.

My mouth felt oddly numb, and I was shocked to find a dribble of saliva dripping down my chin. I wiped it off, and Regina watched with interest. Then, the weakness set in. My knees literally gave out. I sank onto the couch behind me. Alarm bells rang in my head, but they felt muted and far away.

“I have big plans, and my chemistry talent will continue to come in handy. Now, Z Juice is all well and good; Alice here can tell you how many times it’s made her job easier.” Regina glanced up at Alice, who stood rigidly beside us.

“But some members, the most rich and influential… they don’t want a doll. They want a fighter.” Regina crouched beside me. “What you’ve downed in your tea is the newest drug in my collection. No zombie effects… you give it to the girl after she’s beaten, when the fight has gone out of her, and you’re done with her… and she just forgets. She forgets all of it, and it never comes back. I call it Reset Juice. What do you think? I always had a flair for marketing.”

I felt so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open.

“I’m interested to see how you’ll get on with this. Like I said, you’re test subject number one.”

Whatever sedative was in the tea had to be fast-acting, because before I could do anything at all, I was powerless on the couch. Regina reached into a slim box on the table and pulled out a long syringe. Fear like nothing I’d ever known before hit me.

“Don’t do this. If I go missing, my husband and brother will find you and punish you for this,” I managed to get out, even as fear clawed at my throat. What was she going to give me?

“Sure, they would… but you won’t be missing, Giada.”

The needle pierced my arm, and I cried out. Cold rushed through me. The fight went out of my limbs.

“You just won’t remember any of this.”

Regina crouched before me, her red, patent-leather heels looking like congealed blood against the white carpet. She reached out and stroked my hair, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop her.

“I liked you, Giada. I think we need a do-over. Let’s get off on a better foot when we meet again for the first time.”