Episode 1

Amanda had just arrived home from work when she heard raised voices coming from inside her house and saw two heavily armed thugs standing outside the door.

The first thing that crossed her mind was that her reckless younger brother had gotten into trouble again. When she entered, the scene she saw left her in panic. Her brother was injured and tied to a chair, being punched by a muscular man, while another elegantly dressed man watched everything from the humble sofa in her living room.

As Amanda was about to run to help her brother, a man she hadn't seen before grabbed her arm, preventing her from reaching him.

"Please, whoever you are, stop! You're going to kill him," Amanda pleaded desperately, tears streaming down her face.

"Whether he lives or dies now depends solely on you, bella ragazza," the man on the sofa said with a deep, authoritative voice that only made Amanda more frightened.

"What do you mean? I don't understand, sir," Amanda responded, feeling relieved that the man had stopped beating her brother at the command of the man who was undoubtedly his boss.

The man stood up and walked towards her. Despite the terrible situation, Amanda couldn't help but notice that he was tall, masculine, and very handsome. She had seen his face plastered across newspapers and famous magazines. It was Vicenzo Salvatore, one of the most powerful and feared mafiosos in all of Italy. He was so powerful that even the authorities dared not interfere with him.

He approached her closely and ordered his henchman to release her, gently caressing Amanda's pale face with his large, strong hands.

"Your brother gave you to me as payment for a massive debt he accumulated in one of my casinos," Vicenzo said.

"You're lying! My brother loves me, he would never do this to me," Amanda said, pulling away from his touch but with tears still rolling down her face because she knew that a gambling addict was capable of anything. But to sell her as an object, that was hard to believe.

Vicenzo smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes and put both hands in his pockets.

"I hope you listen to me and don't interrupt me again, for your own good, ragazza. Because one thing I don't tolerate is being interrupted when I'm speaking, especially being called a liar by a little girl who still smells of milk," Vicenzo said, clearly angry.

"Anyway, continuing. When your brother said he would give you to me as payment, I, being no fool and wanting to know the merchandise I would be acquiring, went to your workplace at that Thursday nightclub where you work as a waitress, and I saw that you're worth much more than the debt your brother owed me. So, I paid him a more than fair amount for you."

Amanda listened in horror. How could her brother, who promised to take care of her on their mother's deathbed, do something so monstrous to her? With bruises and tears in his eyes, her brother couldn't even look her directly in the eyes, and Amanda could confirm that everything the man was saying was true.

"In fact, I don't even know why I'm wasting my time explaining all this to you. You must know that I'm a very busy man. Without further ado, I will only ask you one question because I'm feeling generous today. Would you prefer to accompany me willingly to your new home, while your brother scum stays alive? Or should I kill your brother right here, right now, and his debt will be paid, and you can carry on with your insignificant life as usual? So, what do you prefer?" Vicenzo said, finishing his speech and pulling out a golden pistol from the holster in his jacket, holding it close to her brother's head, causing him to close his eyes in fear and beg for mercy.

In that instant, Amanda went to her brother and hugged him, crying.

"Alex, I should hate you for what you've done to me and the miserable life you've condemned me to, but I can't," Amanda said, sobbing, now kneeling in front of her brother, gently caressing his injured face.

"But despite everything, I understand that he did it out of desperation. I just don't know if I will be able to forgive him one day," Amanda continued, very sad and hurt.

"I hate to interrupt the Mexican drama. But as I said, I am an extremely busy man, so are you coming or not, ragazza?" Vicenzo asked, without any compassion, observing the two siblings crying. Alex, full of regret and guilt, and Amanda, whose life was destroyed by her brother's gambling addiction.

"Yes, sir, I will go with you wherever you want, as long as you leave my brother alone and forget that he exists," Amanda said, standing up and wiping the tears from her eyes.

Instantly, Vicenzo holstered his gun and stood very close to her.

"As far as I recall, I didn't say you could impose any conditions. I just asked if you will come with me and keep your brother alive or not?" Vicenzo said, angry, crossing his arms in front of him. But this did not intimidate her; she wanted to make sure he would leave her brother in peace.

"And what guarantee do I have that you won't come back here or send one of your thugs to kill him?" Amanda said, raising her head, looking him straight in the eyes.

This was outrageous; Vicenzo had personally destroyed one by one of his enemies for much less. How dare that brat, smelling like milk, doubt his word.

With a quick movement that caught Amanda off guard, he grabbed her by her long brown hair, threw her onto the couch, and straddled her.

"Listen here, little girl, enough with the games. Are you listening to me?" Vicenzo shouted at Amanda, very close to her face, now holding her wrists on either side of her head with an iron grip.

"Never doubt the word of a capo again, do you understand?" Vicenzo shouted, furious. But soon, the fury in his eyes was replaced by another feeling that Amanda could identify as lust, just like the men at the "club" she worked at always looked at her, especially when she wore the ridiculous schoolgirl costume that the owner forced her to wear to attract the crowd.

Amanda also felt something burning inside her, something she had never felt for any man before, and this feeling only intensified when he slowly scanned her body with his beautiful brown eyes, full of desire.

Vicenzo also didn't understand how he found himself in that exact moment with an erection as hard as a rock because of that insolent little girl who, due to the age difference, was nothing more than a little girl to him, despite being 36 years old.

In that instant, he got off her and thanked God for wearing a coat, so neither Amanda nor the other men present in the room could see his violent erection just from approaching and smelling the rose perfume of that insolent girl.

Amanda remained seated, rubbing her delicate wrists that he had pinned against the couch with his hands.

"Have you not answered yet? Are we clear?" Vicenzo asked, motioning for them to untie her brother.

"Yes," Amanda replied, getting up from the couch and approaching her brother again.

"Alex? I'm leaving, aren't you going to say anything?" Amanda asked, very desolate.

At that moment, her brother caressed her face and spoke.

"Well, what can I say? I am scum, as Mr. Vicenzo said. Only scum would do what I did to their own sister. But if that serves to at least console you, I regretted it and was going to run away with you, far away, with the money he gave me. That's why I asked you to pack our bags. I didn't know there were men watching us the whole time,"Alex said, tears in his eyes."

"Well, I think you've said your goodbyes to your little brother. Come with me," Vicenzo said, already impatient, grabbing her by the arm and practically dragging her out of the house.

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