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

“It’s so lovely to meet another member of The Enclave who I could really be friends with. Joining this group — it’s been an adjustment,” Regina said.

I barely listened. I watched Bran and Aldo talk across the room.

“I’m sure it has,” I murmured, and then her words registered. “You mean, Archibald was already a member when you got married?”

Regina nodded. “I didn’t know about any of this until—” She blew out an unsteady breath.

“It was too late?” I finished for her.

She blinked at me, a flash of emotion I knew well in her eyes. Desperation.

She shook her head and looked to the left where her husband stood, making small talk about politics.

“I… If you could excuse me,” she muttered and turned on her heel, quickly making her way out of the room.

Archibald’s wife seemed like she was barely holding it together. I got it. If I’d married a member of this shit show and found out afterward that my husband’s friends all liked to dress up in masks and hurt people, literally hunting them down to abuse them, I’d be pretty on edge, too.

I decided to follow Regina. Who knew how close she was to breaking, and maybe I could get the confirmation that her husband was the ringleader. Once I knew that for sure, we could take them out and land the entire society a lethal blow.

I walked quickly down the hallway that led to the ladies’ restroom, past those wooden confessionals.

Ahead, a woman strode quickly in the direction of an arched doorway.

“Regina?” I called.

The woman turned to glance back at me. I realized belatedly that the woman wasn’t wearing Regina’s designer getup.

The woman’s face caught the light for a second, and her gaze landed on me, before she turned away and slipped through the doorway.

I stumbled, surprised into falling over my own feet.

I’d only caught a glimpse of her face, but there was no mistaking who I’d seen.

Alice No Last Name.

“Alice?” I said loudly and took off after her. When I got to the top of the stairs, I found a winding staircase descending to the basement level. Was I going down there alone?

I could hear Alice’s footsteps echoing up the staircase. I followed. Alice was one of the reasons I started all of this, and I wasn’t going to let her get away, not when I was so close.

I jogged down the stairs and made it to a wide stone hallway just as Alice disappeared into a room ahead. I went after her. My footsteps rang out loudly on the floor. It was cold down here, and a whistling draft made it clear that a door to the outside was open somewhere.

I passed by a few rooms that appeared empty. Laundry and kitchen facilities. The Tartarus was so unpopular, it had so few guests, that those rooms seemed unused.

I carried on, heading for the doorway I’d seen Alice go through. Once I reached it, I was faced with a door with a sign on it.

No entry to guests or members. Authorized access only.

The door stood ajar.

Had Alice left it open on purpose?

I glanced around the corridor. I was alone. What harm could cause to check and see if I could find her? I pushed the door open and went inside.

Another corridor led from my position, with doors studded along the stone walls. This section of the hotel felt older than anywhere I’d been before. Alice was nowhere in sight.

I tried the first door, but it was locked. I peered through the window set in the wood.

I froze.

It was dark inside the room, but I could make out most of it. A hospital bed sat in the middle, and the walls held metal shelves, packed with medical supplies.

I went to the next door and tried it, then checked through the window. Same shit, but this bed had restraints tied to the railings on either side, and a small metal tray sat next to it holding all kinds of sharp metal implements.

The area was dark and dingy-looking, and utterly terrifying. Was this where they tested their mind-controlling drugs? Was this where Z Juice was born?

I pulled back, nervous that I needed to get back upstairs before anyone noticed I was gone. This was huge. This was a big step in finding out what we needed. We were on the right track, as awful as it had been to hear Bran being grilled about everything in his life.

“Does she love you?”

“No.”

It was the way he’d believed it so completely, his heart rate hadn’t changed. He hadn’t lied.

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.”

I shoved that little revelation out of my head and went to another door. I tried the handle, and it opened under my hand. Holy shit.

I pushed it slowly inward and reached for my phone. It was dark as hell, and I needed to see what was in here.

I turned my phone’s flashlight on and directed it toward the dark opening.

Metal bars caught the flashlight beam and reflected it back at me. I slowly took in what I was seeing. Metal bars of… large rectangular shapes, like those crates you put animals in when you had to move them.

But these weren’t animal-sized.

These were big. I couldn’t breathe. My heart hammered so hard my hands shook.

I thought I’d seen a lot of shit in a lifetime spent in the service of New Jersey’s biggest and baddest mob family, but I’d never seen people-sized cages before.

My hand shook even more as I brought it up and shined my light on the bars of the first cage, stepping farther into the room.

“Well, well, how could I have guessed that you’d be nosing about where you don’t belong?”

I jumped at Aldo’s voice. My phone clattered to the floor, shining the flashlight upward and catching him under the chin, making him look like a fucking ghoul.

“Someone’s been a naughty girl, Giada, and naughty girls get punished.” He leaned close to me. “And punishment in The Enclave really fucking hurts.” He appeared positively gleeful. His hand clamped around my arm, and then he dragged me away from the room.

I let him get me to the corridor before I tugged back.

“Let me get my phone,” I said quickly. “It’s new.”

Aldo snorted, but to my surprise, let me twist around and reach for my cell, still lying on the stone floor.

I positioned myself carefully.

“Holy shit, can you see that?” I exclaimed, pointing back inside the room.

“What?” Aldo snapped at me, leaning over to see.

I gathered all my strength, wishing I was taller for the millionth time, and then exploded upward. I hit Aldo under the jaw with as much force as I could pack into the back of my head. There was a crack, and he stumbled back.

“You fucking bitch!” he cried out.

I swayed, my head throbbing, as I straightened up and ran.

“Get her!”

Wait, what? I slid to a stop when those creepy security guards materialized from behind me. I’d been so focused on getting away from Aldo, I hadn’t even noticed them. They grabbed me by the arms and held me firmly in place. Aldo straightened up and pinched his nose. Blood streamed down his chin.

He winced but chuckled. “You’ve just made your punishment so, so much worse, Santori,” he goaded, his voice thick.

“It’s O’Connor,” I heard myself say. What the hell? I had to have hit my head really hard this time.

“Whatever. Take her upstairs. She must be judged.”

Great. I really was a natural at getting into trouble.

The security guards hauled me upstairs, and I decided not to fight it. I could at least keep some kind of dignity. They brought us to the main hall, where all eyes turned in our direction. Bran had been talking to Regina, and his eyes widened when he saw me. Aldo strode into the room behind me.

“O’Connor’s wife broke our rules and assaulted me. She was poking around where she isn’t allowed, and she attacked me. She must pay reparations.”

Everyone watched as Archibald approached us, Bran hot on his heels.

He glared at the man who still held my arm, and everyone got quiet.

“Let go of my wife,” he said quietly.

The security guy glanced at Archibald.

Bran chuckled. “I won’t ask again.”

The man let go, and Bran stepped in front of him, shouldering him back roughly to place his hands on my shoulders.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

I shook my head.

“What happened?”

“She was sneaking around in off-limits areas, that’s what,” Aldo cut in.

“Allow her to speak,” Archibald cut him off firmly.

I swallowed hard. Bran had excelled at lying earlier; now it was my turn.

“I got lost. This place is so big, I got turned around. I was looking for Regina… we hit it off earlier.” I sent a hopeful smile at Archibald’s wife.

She smiled back worriedly and then moved to take her husband’s arm. “She’s right, we were talking, and I left. She must have been trying to find me.”

“Bullshit, she was snooping, nosing in the basement for something, fuck knows what.” Aldo narrowed his eyes at me. “What did you see, Giada? Share with everyone.”

I glared at him. We both knew what I’d glimpsed in that room, but admitting that right now in front of a roomful of people who were in on that evil, and keeping it secret, seemed like a bad call.

I shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean. I was looking for Regina.”

“You heard her, she got lost, she didn’t mean to go to an off-limits area. Drop it, Sepriano.” Bran’s voice was powerful.

People nodded along with him. That was the power of his confidence and charisma.

“Well, she certainly meant to hurt me. She attacked me when I tried to redirect her to the right way. Look at my fucking face!” Aldo’s voice rang around the room.

People shifted uncomfortably and eyed each other.

“Do we have rules in this society or not? Violence against other members is prohibited, and they aren’t even full members yet. I want her punished. Now.” Aldo turned a satisfied expression to me.

“Rest assured we’ll speak about this at home, and it won’t happen again,” Bran announced authoritatively.

“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way in The Enclave. We’re traditional in some ways, like you experienced during the first initiation. We have rules, and you told me you could follow them. She must be punished,” Archibald said heavily.

Bran laughed, but there was no warmth in it. “No one touches my wife but me.”

“Then you might volunteer to give the punishment,” Archibald suggested.

Bran’s smirk died, and he glared at the president of the society like he’d like to skin him alive.

“Whether you do it or we ask for a volunteer, it must be done. You understand, we can’t have one rule for everyone else and another for you and your wife.”

I wet my lips. Damn it. Unless this was the end of our journey into The Enclave, I’d have to endure the punishment. We were so close to knowing the details about the drug production and who the real head of the snake was. It had to be Archibald, right? But what if we were wrong? We couldn’t come this far only to fail now.

“It’s my fault. I’ll take my punishment,” I blurted quickly.

“No, you won’t,” Bran snapped. “It’s my fault. She knows that another man is never to touch her… so she acted aggressively, as she’s been instructed to do.”

I stared at him, wondering where the hell he was going with that far-fetched narrative.

He glanced at me. “So, if anyone is getting punished, it’s me.”

“Bran!” I protested.

He ignored me completely to continue the staring competition he and Archibald seemed to have going.

“You really want to take the punishment?” Archibald tipped his head to the side and considered Bran.

“Would a man ever say no, when his wife would bear the alternative? It’s my fault. Punish me if you must, but I have to tell you, it’ll take a strong arm to teach me a lesson.” Bran smirked, and the tension in the room wavered under his unrelenting charm.

Archibald studied us before shrugging. “As you wish. Since the members are already gathered, it’s best to get this over with. We will convene in the ceremony room. I will ask for a volunteer with a strong arm, as you put it.”

“Looking forward to it.” Bran’s voice was arrogant and unbothered.

Regina hovered around Archibald as he stalked from the room.

“My men will escort you shortly,” he called back to us.

The crowd descended into a flurry of whispers, but I ignored them all to look up at Bran.

He threaded his fingers through mine.

“Are you really all right?” he asked me.

I blinked at him, caught off guard by the unexpected concern.

“Yes, I am, but I should be asking you that,” I pointed out.

He gave me a lopsided smile that shattered my heart. “Ask me later.”

“What do you think the punishment is?” I asked, chewing my lip. Guilt swam in my gut.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I’ve endured worse. Did you see anything interesting?”

I nodded, and Bran grinned.

“That’s my clever girl.”

The security guy stepped forward and nodded toward the end of the hall. “Time to go.”