A Second Chance: A Mafia Romance

CHAPTER 16

MELINA

"So, I wanted to wait till Leo left to ask you a question." Melina says as they walk to Thomas' office to get her cleaning supplies. Serena is going to help her clean.

"What would you like to ask me?"

"Why don't you want anyone to know you guys are together? I think it would be wise to let people know. Maybe all those scary men would finally leave you alone."

"I know if they knew we were together, they would, but the ladies might not be happy about it."

"Which ladies?" When they arrive at Thomas' office, Melina waits for Serena to walk in before she does.

"The other maids despise me because my mom and I receive preferential treatment from sotto capo. If they find out that the most desirable man among sotto capo's men is dating me, they will despise me even more and make my life even more miserable than it is."

"Can't Thomas do something to help?" Melina asks, grabbing the cleaning supplies and walking to the door with them. Serena helps her with some things.

"If I tell him, it will make matters worse for me."

"Hmm, I understand. You two look great together. I bet it's killing Leo that no one knows."

"Was it that obvious?" Serena asks, biting her lower lip.

"Yes, it was. If you don't mind me asking, how long have you two been dating?"

"Six months." Serena and Melina climb the stairs to Thomas' room to clean it.

"Six months, and you guys have kept it a secret, wow." Melina's mouth forms a big O as she says the word "wow." Melina's mind unintentionally drifts back to where she was six months ago. Her eyes well up with tears as she recalls one of the worst tragedies of her life that happened six months ago.

"Melina," Serena calls, bringing her back to earth.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Melina wipes a tear that fell from her eyes without knowing. Her heart breaks every time she remembers what happened six months ago.

"I was saying that up until today, we had done an excellent job concealing it. Leo got a little carried away."

"Leo must really like you to agree to keep your relationship a secret for this long."

"Yes, he does." Serena admits, blushing.

"God, I remember when I was like you. I'd even blush at just the mention of his name."

"Are you referring to your time with sotto capo? I thought you didn't like him."

"That's what everyone believes, but I fell hard for him." Melina didn't mind that Serena didn't believe her feelings for Thomas were genuine. She knows it will take a lot of convincing to get anyone to believe her. Mrs. Costanzo only believes her because she knows why Melina betrayed Thomas.

"That's hard to believe, considering you approached him to steal his money."

"I know, and that's why I don't bother telling him I do."

"Do you still love him?" Melina notices Serena's surprise as she asks her this.

"Yes, I do."

"If you really do, that would be amazing."

"I guess so, but enough talk about love. Let's get to work."

"Yeah."

***

Melina walks back to the maid quarters after a long day. She can't wait to get home and take a good shower. Serena had to leave her halfway through cleaning to attend to Linda. As always, she walks through the gardens on her way back; it has now become a habit for her. Melina notices a figure leaning against the wall near the greenhouse. The moon isn't shining tonight, so she can't see who it is from afar. The color drains from Melina's face on recognizing the person. She freezes, staring at him.

"Hello, Melina," Matteo says. He knows her name. That isn't good.

"Hello Matteo," Melina gives him a fake smile. She takes a step back away from him. He can't be here for a good reason at this hour. A yelp escapes Melina's lips as she bumps into someone from behind. She turns around to see Seth standing behind her. Where did he come from?

"Why do you want to flee? We haven't even said why we're here," Matteo says, pushing off the wall and walking closer to her. Melina's heart begins to race with each step he takes.

"Are you afraid we'll do something bad to you?" Seth whispers from her left side. They are slowly caging her in between them. Fresh sweat breaks out on her brow, and she starts to feel claustrophobic.

"No, I'm not." Melina shakes her head; her gaze divided between the two men as they close in on her.

"That's good because we just want to talk," Matteo says as he wraps a strand of her hair around his finger. Her breathing stops, feeling his breath fanning her neck.

"T-t-talk about what?" Melina moves a little to the left, taking her hair out of Matteo's hand, but this only brings her closer to Seth. She swallows hard, blinking to clear her eyes of sweat.

Melina screams as Matteo grabs her hair and shoves her face into his. "Talk about how I fucking lost my dick because of you."

"I swear to you, I didn't ask Thomas to do that to you. Please let me go." Her scalp is burning as he holds on.

"Do you really think I would believe that?"

"I swear it's the truth." Melina couldn't believe this was happening to her. The second time she does something good, and it backfires. The first was what got her here in the first place.

"You lying fucking bitch." Matteo smacks her hard across the face.

"I swear I'm not lying; please do not hurt me." Tears stream down her stinging cheek.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't be the one who hurts you. I'm just going to help my friend do what I wish to do to you. It's referred to as 'helping a friend out.' I'm sure you're familiar with the term."

"What do you mean?"

"You will see," Matteo smirks, pulling her by the hair to the nearest wall.

"What do you w-" Matteo slams her into the wall face forward, cutting her short. Melina's nose is shot with pain, and blood pours out. She's pretty sure it's broken right now.

"You'll wish you'd walked away that day," he whispers, pushing her against the wall.

"Please let me go; I swear I didn't tell Thomas to do that to you." Melina turns her head to the side against the wall, her eyes widening in terror as she notices Seth working his pants. She struggles to get off the wall, shaking her body to break Matteo's grip on her neck. He rips her underwear from beneath her dress with his other hand. Melina's heart sinks, fearing the disaster that is about to befall her. Am I cursed or something? Why the hell am I getting raped all the time?

"I can't wait to fucking have her," Seth says, as he approaches her, licking his tongue.

"Act quickly. Sotto capo will be back soon," Matteo warns, holding Melina still against the wall.

"Please stop, please, I am begging you." Melina continues to fight to get free, thrashing more against the wall. Tears stream down her face in waves. Her stomach drops as she feels her dress lift. This time, she knows there is nothing that can stop this monster from taking her. She closes her eyes and braces herself for the pain to come, but instead, a loud voice sends shivers down her spine.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Thomas yells as he approaches the scene. Matteo immediately lets go of Melina, who collapses to the ground, drained of all her energy. Seth also steps away from her.

THOMAS

He walks toward Melina and bends down to her level. He looks at her torn underwear on the ground, and his face reddens with rage. Pushing her hair that's sticking to her face, he notices her bruised cheek. His nose flares up as rage wells up in his eyes. Thomas stands up and walks back to the two men who have just signed their death warrants.

Thomas is furious about what he walked into. He couldn't believe these idiots had the audacity to fuck with Melina. Grabbing their heads, he slammed them into the wall they pushed Melina against. Both men fall to the ground after knocking off the wall. Picking their heads off the floor, he slams them hard into each other. This is only a warm-up. They'll wish they'd never thought of fucking Melina by the time Thomas is done with them.

Thomas takes out a cigarette from his inner breast pocket and lights it. He walks to Matteo, who has blood flowing from his bruised nose, and presses the bud into his right eye. Matteo screams scaring the nearby birds away. Thomas punches him in the face, breaking his nose even more, before moving on to Seth.

"Kneel," Thomas commands Seth, who has a few missing teeth and a bloody fractured nose. Seth scrambles to his knees in front of Thomas. "Take your dick out." Everyone's eyes widen.

Thomas crunches down to Seth's level and grabs him by the back of his collar. He punches his ribs with every word he says, "I said fucking take your dick out." Seth groans in agony as his ribs split in two and scrambles to get his dick out.

Standing back up, Thomas reaches into his breast pocket for a pocketknife. "Now cut it," Thomas says, throwing the blade in front of Seth. His eyes widen in terror.

"Please, sotto capo; I swear I'll never do it again. Please do not subject me to this." Seth grabs Thomas' leg, clutching it like a lifeline.

"You made a mistake. I'm not your fucking sotto capo because if I was, you wouldn't fucking try to touch what's mine." Thomas roars down on him, kicking him off his leg. Seth flies back beside Matteo.

"Please, sotto capo, I have been loyal to you all these years. Please don't deny me the opportunity to have a family."

"Because of your loyalty, I might consider letting you live if you cut your dick off."

"Really, boss?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll do it," Seth says, picking up the knife from the ground. Everyone looks on in anticipation as he brings the blade up to his dick. He is still hesitant, but he begins working as soon as Thomas unlocks the safety on his gun. Thomas watches without flinching as Seth cuts his dick off, screaming in agonizing pain. Blood pours from between Seth's legs.

"Good, now feed it to him." Everyone looks at Thomas as if he has two heads.

"I advise you to fucking eat it if you want me to consider sparing your life," Thomas tells Matteo, who only has one good eye. Matteo gags as he looks at Seth's dick on the floor. He picks it up on the ground with trembling hands, cringing as he brings it to his mouth.

"Oh my God, he's going to eat it!" Melina watches, with her hands covering her mouth. Thomas could see how difficult everything was for her to swallow. He's so fixated on making them pay for what they did he forgets she won't be able to digest what he's doing.

"Face the wall," he tells her, saving her from more gruesome things about to happen. Melina does not hesitate and walks up to the wall. When Thomas is certain that she is not looking, he returns to Matteo. He smirks, seeing Matteo has done as he asked. Matteo doesn't keep it in his mouth for long; convulsing viciously, he spits it out and spills his guts on the floor.

"Do you know what amazes me in all of this?" Thomas picks up his knife and looks at both men. He smiles, seeing his beautiful handwork. This is the least bloody Thomas has ever been.

"We don't know, boss," Seth mumbles.

"I'll tell you," Thomas says as he stabs Matteo in the stomach. Matteo groans in pain, wrapping his hand around the blade but doesn't dare to remove it. "That you two fools thought you could rape Melina and get away with it." Thomas moves the blade back and forth. "You two are the biggest fools on this planet." Then he pulls the blade from Matteo's stomach and stabs him in the heart. He pulls his gun from his waistband and shoots him between the eyes.

"I really liked you, Seth; it's too bad you had a friend like Matteo."

"Please, boss, you promised to spare my life."

"No, I promised to consider, and I have." He shoots him between the eyes as well.