Mafia Lullaby: A Dark Captive Romance

by Alta Hensley

  Costello stilled her with a hard glare. “Don’t.” He pointed a finger at her.

  “But she didn’t know that he was supposed to be her daddy,” Ariana pointed out. “He’s going to hurt her.”

  Costello squatted down in front of her and grasped her chin. “Listen to me, little girl, unless you’d like to join her, you can’t argue here. You can’t get involved. These girls don’t have forever Daddies. Here, they play with every Daddy, and they don’t ever get to say no,” he explained.

  A loud shriek from the corner made Ariana jump.

  “He’s going to whip her as long and as hard as he wants to, and no one is going to save her.” Costello firmed his grip when she tried to look at the scene unfolding in the corner. “That’s what happens up here.”

  She swallowed back another protest. “Okay, I’m sorry I got upset,” she whispered. With one more warning glare, he let her go and went back to standing guard.

  The scenes she imagined were sweet compared to what she witnessed.

  Spankings happened at the blink of an eye. Some girls were draped over benches while others were thrown against a wall while the men spanked them with canes, belts or thick paddles. The sobbing never seemed to end. The louder the girls cried; the more men filled the room to pick up a single girl to be theirs for the night.

  “Costello. I didn’t think I’d see you up here.” A man with silver highlights running through his dark hair stepped up to them.

  Ariana focused on him, thankful to be able to look away from the girls being abused around her. Every time she heard a cry or scream, she had to clench her teeth to keep from yelling out. Her jaw ached.

  “Adam, good to see you. We’re trying something new with the girls downstairs. Letting them observe a night in the playroom.” Costello looked down at Ariana briefly. It was a quick glance, but she caught the warning in his eyes.

  Don’t act up.

  “Ah.” Adam nodded thoughtfully then swung his gaze down to Ariana. “And what’s your name?” he asked in the same voice he would use with a small girl.

  She hated that tone, and worse, she despised having to return the playacting.

  “My name’s Ariana.” She grabbed hold of Costello’s hand. “This is my daddy.” She held on to him fast. Adam’s leering made her stomach ache.

  “Well, he’s your daddy for now,” Adam corrected her, lowering himself down to his haunches in front of her. “But you need a forever Daddy, don’t you?” he asked. His eyes roamed over her, taking her in.

  “I...” She wasn’t sure what the right answer was supposed to be. Would it be bad to say she wanted a different Daddy than Costello? Or was she supposed to tell these men she only wanted Costello as her daddy?

  “It’s okay. I know it’s hard to think with all these things going on here.” Adam placed his hand on her knee. “I’m sure your daddy is training you really well so your forever Daddy will be happy as punch to have you.” He grinned and squeezed her knee.

  She looked up at Costello. Why wasn’t he stopping this man from touching her?

  “Do you want to show me some of the things your daddy has taught you?” His hands slipped further down her legs, just below the lace hem of her dress.

  “No.” Costello reached down and placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder, stilling him. “She’s only allowed to observe tonight. No playing.”

  Adam looked up with a frown. “Not even a few minutes?”

  “No.” Costello shook his head. “Besides, she’s only been here a short time. Not long enough to know how to do the things you like.” Costello gave Adam a knowing smile. “You’d be wasting your time when you could enjoy a girl more experienced.”

  Ariana pushed Adam’s hands away from her with her free hand.

  “Ariana,” Costello snapped at her. “That was very rude. Apologize right now.”

  Her tongue thickened in her mouth. Apologize for not letting the asshole fondle her? Never.

  “Ariana,” Costello warned. “Now, unless you’d like a punishment right here?”

  “No!” she almost shouted.

  “Then do what you’re told.” He pointed to Adam, who had gotten to his feet and was now staring down at her with a confident glare.

  She huffed and turned her attention to him. “I’m sorry I shoved you.”

  “It’s all right. You’re not used to other Daddies yet. But I’m sure Costello will teach you everything you need to know.” Adam patted her head then turned his full attention to Costello. “When is her adoption date?”

  “At the next party,” Costello said. His jaw clenched, and his hand took hold again and tightened around Ariana’s.

  “I’ll have to be sure I’m there.” Adam grinned. “Jeanie, my last little girl, had a problem with the Lullaby. It stopped working so well and when we tried to up her dose, it was too much for her. I had to let her go.”

  Let her go?

  Ariana’s throat clamped down around the wretched sound begging to escape. He made it sound like he’d fired her, but Ariana suspected the girl was gone forever.

  “Daddy?” She finally controlled her horror to tug on his hand.

  “It’s all right.” He wiggled her hand and kept his conversation going with Adam.

  She forced herself to ignore them. She didn’t need to hear anything else. She would never get adopted. She had to find a way out of this. Costello would keep her safe.

  Another shriek hurt her ears, and Ariana turned to face the sound. Another girl, the one who’d been drinking from the dildo bottle, was bent over the arm of the couch she’d just been snuggled on with her daddy. Her dress had been flipped up. The man who’d been feeding her the bottle was now pushing his cock into her mouth while a second man spread her asscheeks far open and was shoving his dick into her asshole. Tears were running down her face, and Ariana had never seen a more terrified person before.

  No. No. Fucking monsters.

  Ariana pulled on Costello’s hand again. She needed to get out of there before she went into a full-on panic. Not to mention, the feeling of guilt for not doing anything to help the girls almost suffocated her with despair. She couldn’t take any more.

  So many cries.

  So many howls and pleas of mercy.

  No, Daddy. Please, Daddy. Stop, Daddy. I can’t, Daddy. No more, Daddy.

  This was too awful to endure for another second, and all she had to do was be a spectator.

  “I’ll let you get back to the show.” Adam chuckled and walked away.

  Costello pulled Ariana to her feet and leaned closer to her ear. “Watch and remember, Ariana. The lube I used, the care I took when I fucked your tight asshole this afternoon, isn’t being used here. This is what little girls in the playroom go through. This is the exact reason that I am so strict with you.”

  The girl was being used from both sides and no one would help her. It was nothing like when Costello had touched her, used her. He’d been rough, but she knew he wouldn’t cause harm. The girl over the couch would be in pain later, maybe even torn.

  “Did you like it when Daddy fucked your little asshole?” he whispered into her ear. “Do you want me to do it again?”

  She licked her lips, unable to tear her eyes away from the terrible scene before her.

  “Not like that.”

  “No, Ariana, Daddy will never hurt you like that,” he promised, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I think you’ve seen enough. Let’s get you to bed.”

  “You’ll tuck me in?” she asked, using her little voice as some of the other Daddies were watching them and she didn’t want to break character for even a second.

  “Of course. You’ve been a very good girl tonight.” He smiled and took her from the playroom.

  The memories of what she’d seen and heard would be burned into her mind, but if anyone could help wipe away the horror, it was her daddy.

  Four tens and an ace of diamonds.

  Costello stared at his hand, the music and the chatter fading into the backgroun
d. Not a bad hand, but looking around the table at the other men, he couldn’t read them. His head wasn’t in the right place.

  “You gonna bet, or what?” Gianni shoved his elbow into Costello’s arm.

  “See and raise.” Costello tossed a few more chips into the pile. Marco threw in his portion and called.

  “Okay, show them.” Gianni put his cards down. “Full house.”

  “Shit.” Marco tossed his cards into the pile with Tony following.

  Costello slowly laid out his cards. “Four of a kind.” He grinned.

  “Son of a bitch.” Gianni slapped the table. “This guy’s barely paying attention to the game, and he’s winning most hands.”

  “Lucky night, I guess.” Costello racked up his winnings and put the chips into neat piles. He’d rather be upstairs tucking Ariana into bed, but being with her three nights in a row wouldn’t look good. He’d been asked to join the card game, and that’s where he needed to be.

  “Tony, grab me another beer, would ya?” Marco waved his empty bottle in the air toward Tony when he opened the fridge.

  “So, what’s this I hear your Ariana is going to the adoption party already?” Gianni asked while collecting the discarded cards from the kitchen table.

  “It’s Frank. He thinks we can speed up the training program and get them out faster.”

  “Yeah, but three weeks?” Marco asked, puffing on his cigar and filling the air with the thick gray smoke.

  “If he wants to move the girls faster, why not just dose them and sell them? Why bother with this whole program?” Tony asked, placing a beer in front of Marco and taking his own seat. Gianni shuffled the deck.

  “I know Johnny would be happier if he stopped the program and just used the House like a whorehouse,” Marco piped in then sucked on his stogie again.

  “How do you know that?” Costello asked. Hearing Johnny was unhappy with Frank’s leadership one time didn’t mean much, people grumble, but hearing it a second time meant there could be something there.

  “He complains sometimes.” Marco sipped his beer. “You know how brothers are.”

  “Brothers maybe, but Frank’s his boss. The head of the Romero family. If he has gripes, he shouldn’t be spreading them around.” Tony jabbed the table with his finger.

  “Why would he have gripes?” Costello asked with a laugh. “He runs around with his little computer programs and cash rolls into his accounts.”

  “Maybe Frank’s not as generous as we think he is,” Marco offered. “I dunno. I’m just sayin’ maybe Johnny’s gotten into Frank’s head, and now he wants to speed up production.”

  Speed up production.

  Costello stared at Marco. That was the reality of the House. They kidnapped innocent girls right off the street and turned them into a product.

  They were a fucked up manufacturing plant.

  If he hadn’t been the one to get Ariana to train, she’d be with one of these guys and on her way to being sold to some asshole who wouldn’t give two shits about her wellbeing. They wouldn’t appreciate her snark or enjoy watching her face light up when she got to a fun part of a book. They sure as hell wouldn’t understand her temperament. And they wouldn’t care. They’d beat her first and never bother asking questions later.

  Costello dragged his hand through his hair. Fucking hell.

  “So, Johnny wants to just run girls the way he runs the guns?” Costello asked, fishing for more information. Marco knew Johnny better than the rest of them.

  “I don’t get too involved.” Marco waved his hands then pointed at Gianni. “Hey, you gonna deal?”

  Gianni dealt out the next hand. “Shelby’s going again to the adoption party. If she doesn’t find anyone there, Frank’s going to put her in the playroom permanently.”

  Costello fingered the tops of his cards. “Better than the alternatives,” he said, but he wasn’t sure he believed his own words.

  A quick end.

  Or a lifetime of being drugged and servicing men against her will.

  Gianni flipped through his hand but his eyes were dark, and his jaw line tensed.

  “You got the hots for your girl?” Tony laughed.

  “No. Of course not. Just another girl. Just a job.” Gianni pointed to the middle where the pile of chips waited. “Marco, your bet.”

  Marco focused on his hand. “I’ll bet five.” He tossed in two chips equaling the five-hundred-dollar pot. “If you don’t care, why worry about where she ends up?”

  “I’ll call.” Tony tossed in his chips. “Marco, you’ve never lost a girl to the playroom. Feelings for the girl or not, it’s not easy.”

  “I guess. But they’re just Lullaby girls. Either they get bought by an asshole or they live upstairs playing with different assholes. An asshole’s an asshole.” Marco laughed. “Costello, your bet.”

  Costello tossed in his five hundred. “The adoption party at least tries to line up the girls with a decent match. If the client’s happy, they treat the girls better. Which means the girls behave better, which means they’ll keep them on the Lullaby. The girls don’t perform right because they’re matched wrong, and they stop getting their supply.”

  “And the girl probably ends up face down in her bathwater,” Tony added.

  “How many?” Gianni pointed at Costello.

  He looked over his hand and trashed the three of diamonds, leaving him with a Jack, an Ace, a seven, and a six, all clubs. Gianni dealt him one card to replenish his hand and made his way around the table.

  “But the amount of money Frank puts into this place.” Marco started up again. “He’d make four times as much if he didn’t spend so much time getting these girls ready.”

  “Why don’t you leave the math to Johnny,” Costello said and tossed in some more chips, calling Gianni’s bet and raising him another three thousand.

  “Too much for me. I’m out.” Tony folded his cards.

  “Johnny’s younger, knows technology better than Frank.” Marco looked at his cards. “I’m just saying, maybe Frank should listen to him a bit more, that’s all.” He studied his chips for a minute then tossed his cards down. “I’m out.”

  “Who says he doesn’t listen to him? All Johnny does in our meetings is go over projections and charts. Frank never stops him from having his time with the numbers.” Gianni folded his hand and motioned to Costello to show his.

  “Frank won’t like it if he finds out Johnny’s been complaining about his leadership of this family,” Costello said with a bland tone.

  “You wanna have that chat with him?” Marco huffed a laugh.

  Costello chuckled. “I want nothing to do with that conversation.”

  “You gonna show your hand or what?” Gianni shoved his shoulder.

  Costello looked at his Jack, Ace, seven, six and the four of spades he’d added, making his Ace-high flush. Still, it was far better to leave the others guessing. “ Nope.” He shook his head and tossed his cards face down into the discard pile.

  “Hey, guys.” Maria rushed through the kitchen door. “Sorry to break up your card game, but there’s an issue upstairs.”

  “So, handle it.” Marco waved his hand at her and started to collect the cards.

  “All four of your girls got into a fight at story time. Nancy is about to burst into flames. The night nannies just arrived, but you need to get up there.”

  Costello’s jaw clenched. She’d promised she could make it through the entire day without needing him to be called in. One fucking day. It shouldn’t be so hard for an adult to manage herself.

  “What happened?” Gianni asked as they followed Maria to the stairs.

  “I don’t really know. I was getting the cookies out for the girls and then the four of them all started shouting and pulling hair. I think it had something to do with one of the blankets.”

  “Who started it?” Costello asked, the dread already sinking into his stomach.

  Maria looked over her shoulder as they reached the second floor. “Ar
iana pushed Mae first from what I could tell. They’re all sobbing. It’s a mess. We’ve taken the other girls to their rooms.”

  Marco had his belt off and folded it his hand before they even reached the dayroom door, leading the charge. As soon as they stepped inside the room, Costello found Ariana.

  Standing behind a sobbing Mae and Courtney, Ariana had her face covered and lowered. Her shoulders were shaking.

  “Courtney, come here right now.” Marco’s voice boomed, startling the girls.

  She wiped her cheeks and shuffled slowly over to Marco, sobbing harder when she took note of the belt swaying in his hand.

  “Let’s go. You can give me your excuses later.” Marco grabbed hold of her arm and yanked her toward the door, delivering one hard swat with the belt across her jammie-clad ass. Her howl faded as he dragged her down the hall.

  Tony and Gianni grabbed their girls and ushered them from the room, though with much less flair, leaving only Ariana to be dealt with.

  “Nancy must have taken the other girls to their rooms, but she saw everything, Costello,” Maria warned him.

  “Maria, go see if the night nannies need help. I’ll be putting Ariana to bed tonight.” He lasered his glare onto the bowed head before him.

  Maria shuffled from the room, leaving the door open probably for their own departure. Costello took a moment to inventory the room. There was a blanket on the carpet with a large tear in it, probably from their tug of war. A fucking blanket.

  She put herself at risk over a fucking blanket.

  “Bring the blanket, Ariana.” He snapped his fingers at her and pointed to the torn material.

  She looked at him through lowered eyelids.

  “I’m not playing, little girl. Get the blanket and let’s go.” He held his tone.

  She scrunched up her lips like he’d just annoyed her but snatched the blanket from the carpet and headed to the door.

  “When we get into your room, you’ll take off your pajamas and get your bare ass into the fucking corner. You want to act like a child, you will damn well be treated like one. I don’t want to hear a word out of you until I ask for it. Do you understand me?” he said to the back of her head as he walked behind her.