Kidnapped By The Italian Mafia

(Marco's POV)

There were few things in life that were better than getting high and getting s.u.c.k.e.d off by two women at the same time.

Today was one of those days where I experienced something better than that. Pure, una.d.u.l.terated relief when I pinpointed the exact location where Katarina had been hiding in Portugal.

One of my sources in the country had called me and announced that he had found someone who matched her description entirely. When I received a picture he took while following her, I was positive it was her.

Lina was smiling a snobby smirk that just screamed the 'I told you so' that she had repeated multiple times since I had found out.

"Yes, you told me so. Shut up already."

"You didn't trust me. You thought I was lying but I wasn't and now you look stupid!" She cackled from her place in the kitchen and I was close to shutting her up for good. Maybe a ball gag was needed for this one.

"Who is that?" My mother asked from the other side of the line. I had called to tell her the good news so she wouldn't lecture me every time we talked anymore.

"Lina."

"Marco…" She sounded disappointed, prompting me to release a deep sigh because I knew what was coming. So much for celebrating together.

"I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it. This isn't what I called for."

"Another prisoner roaming in your home? Don't you remember the last time you did that?"

"Katarina bested me but I don't have to worry about that with Lina. She's harmless."

"Then why is she your hostage?" She sighed again, slow and frustrated. "Really son, if you weren't such a misogynist like your father, you wouldn't even be in this position."

"I may be a lot of things but I am not a misogynist, okay? Womens rights are human rights and I treat all of you with respect."

"Except you constantly underestimate women and disregard their success. You were bested by a woman once, and you will continue being bested by them until you learn better."

I rolled my eyes. Here we went down this route again. I knew what women were capable of, I had seen my mother singlehandedly hand people their asses on a silver platter throughout my entire childhood. But that was my mother. Nobody else was as smart as she was.

"I don't undermine women, mom. We were all bested by Katarina." And wasn't she the one who told me that I was being 'too harsh' by sending Katarina to the hostage ward? I wouldn't bring that up, though.

"Then maybe wake up and start being suspicious around the women who are in your home."

"Not every woman in my home is out to get me."

"Ave Maria." I could practically see her pleading to the heavens. "The captive ones, Marco. You know what— you found Katarina, now act fast before you lose her again."

And then she hung up on me because of course she did. When my mother was tired of repeating something to me, she just didn't talk about it very much.

I sighed and sank down into the couch, tossing my phone onto another cushion of the couch in the process. Maybe I was too stressed. I needed to relax, in my opinion, but how?

I'd done everything from drinking to taking a nap and eating something delicious. I even resorted to reading. What hadn't I done to try and relax?

Oh yes.

"Lina, come in here!" I waited for a beat before adding a little flair to my order. "Now!"

She immediately came scampering into the room, even though she seemed to be concealing a little smirk.

"Yes?"

"Why are you so smirky?" I eyed her suspiciously. She was definitely planning something but it wasn't anything obvious or else I would have figured it out.

"I'm happy for you. You found success when you found Isabella." Lina smiled small and shy. "One step closer to our goal."

"My goal. It's my goal. I haven't forgotten that you're working for that woman." And I doubted Lina would give up and switch sides so easily, especially when she was literally my hostage. "Why are you so invested in this?"

"I might work for Katarina but I don't like her." Lina shrugged coyly, looking down at the ground. "She threatened me."

"With what?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because that's not how threats work. I'm not just going to tell you my secrets." She crossed her arms and gave me a look. "And don't tell me that you can help me out of this."

I looked at her for a solid second and tried to find a link between her and Katarina. Lina knew where she was but she didn't have any communication with her so any threat Kat might have tucked away beneath her sleeve had to hold fast if she didn't want to tell me why Katarina threatened her and with what. Wait... "It's Isabella, isn't it?" My eyes snapped towards hers again and I watched them widen. "Did she pass on a secret message from Katarina or something?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She stared down at me in a fixed way that would have fooled anyone, but I knew better than to fall for her act again. "What are you saying?"

"You both work for Katarina, I'm not stupid. Was there some sort of code she slipped you when I wasn't looking? You're planning something, I know that much." Lina looked at me like I was a lunatic. "You know where Kat is."

"I told you, I don't know where she is, she did not tell me!"

"You're lying."

"And you are obsessed." Lina squinted at me. "I do not know if you want to find Katarina to save your own skin or because you're secretly in love with her. You are like a hound!"

"Careful," I warned her, leaning back in my seat comfortably. "Your next words could be your last."

"You wouldn't be so defensive if I were lying." She insisted annoyingly.

"Are you deaf or do you lack common sense?" Lina blinked at me with confusion. "If Katarina goes to Salvador then he comes to us with raging lead and we're all f.u.c.k.e.d. All of us."

"Are you scared of Salvador?" She raised an eyebrow at me, much like Kat would do whenever she was challenging me. This solidified my suspicions that they had been in contact because Katarina had habits that would rub off on everyone around her. "Because it's really sounding like you're scared of the Spaniards."

I just wanted to kill her. She got on all of my nerves, every single one of them. "Lina, I am alone."

"Yeah and king of the mafia. All of it is at your disposal." Lina sat down on my l.a.p and looked at my face. "Take advantage of it."

"I don't inherit until my father dies."

"King regent, then. The point still stands." She moved so that she would be straddling me and started tracing patterns on the collar of my t-shirt. "You know I'm right."

She did have a point. Lina had a good head on her shoulders when she wasn't being Katarina's little minion. I hadn't killed her because she was useful to me for hostage and other purposes. When we weren't fighting, she was throwing herself at me. It was nice.

"You're wasting your time working for Kat. When Salvador finds out about what happened, she won't hesitate to throw you under the bus."

Lina shook her head with a smile on her face. "That won't be the case. She needs me."

"For what?"

"I can't tell you that, either."

"I can just torture it out of you." My hand sn.a.k.e.d around her waist. There were many ways to get what I wanted and Lina was constantly playing with fire. I didn't want to burn her but I would if she pushed me too far.

"You can't hurt me, Kat will kill you." Lina blinked at me. "Isabella noticed the bruises on my wrists."

We both looked at her wrists at the same time, examining the marks that were there. They weren't that bad. Worst case scenario, she would assume Lina was into kinky s.e.x. Which she wasn't. If Katarina had seen the marks, she would have definitely thought that it was from kinky s.e.x, since she apparently liked that herself.

"I don't have to hurt you to torture you."