1 Pilot

Jaden's POV

"Touch her again and I'll rip your fucking arms right off of your shoulders! Do I make myself clear?" I shouted at my father. I hate him. I hate the way he treats my mother. Yes, I know he is supposed to be feared and that he has to keep and maintain that title, but he should also maintain the title of protecting what is his. My father only wants the title of "king of the underworld".

Unfortunately for him, that title belongs to me. I am the king of the underworld. Mafias around the world fear and tremble at the sound of my name. In some countries, my name means "doom" and "cursed".

I am known for the most brutal killings. Some say I kill for business... That is true but to me... I kill for pleasure.

"Don't you dare to ever speak to me like that again! Do you hear me, Boy?!" my father shouted in return. He never called me "son" or "Jaden", but I couldn't give a fuck. I never really wanted to be his son. Who wants a father that hits his mother?

"Touch her again, I will... She's your wife and my mother!" I fought back when his hands gripped tighter around my mother's throat.

"Yes! She's my wife! I can do whatever the fuck I want with her!" my father shouted as he tried to push me against the wall while pushing his arm against my throat. I laughed in his face. "Mom, go upstairs," I said.

"Grace!" He called out my mother's name. "Stay right where you are," he commanded. I saw the terror in her eyes and it made my blood boil. I wanted to kill him, but my mother will never forgive me if I do. No matter how badly he treats her, she still loves him.

That's something I'll never be able to understand. Kind of ironic, considering her name's meaning...

"Mom, go upstairs. I'll handle this," I said as I placed my hand on her shoulder. I hate seeing my mother cry. It breaks my heart. Not that I'll let anyone ever know that I have one. As I watched her leave, she took each step with a burden.

"You are going to regret that, boy!" he said, exclaiming the word "boy". He never called me his son.

"She is your wife! Not your slave! She's the woman you love, not some fucking thing you picked up on your way home. Damnit, Harvey! She is a good wife. She's a fantastic mother to your son, the heir to this underworld. You are the one who's going to regret everything!"

He reached for my neck, but I grabbed his arm and pushed it down hard. "I don't want to fight you. So, let's drop this," I said and walked away. That's what my mother taught me to do. But what my father taught me was to never begin a fight, but to end it.

I walked up to my mother's room and knocked on the door. I could hear the sobbing in her voice as she said, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Mom," I answered.

She unlocked her bedroom door and let me in. Before she closes her door, she always makes sure that my father isn't around.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She fell onto her bed in a sitting position and clapped her hands on her legs. I could tell she was in pain.

"Well, my beautiful boy, I'm okay. I sometimes wish that I never met this life. But then I remember the good I got out of it. I got the love of my life and I had a beautiful baby boy," she said with a tear running down her cheek.

"Why is he the love of your life? Mom, he's such a dick to you. He treats you like a fucking bag full of shit! And-" before I could continue, she turned her face away in shame and cried.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to upset you further. I only want you to be safe and away from that... monster. I hate that he hurts you. He's supposed to protect you and love you."

"I know, my son. But it's just so complicated. It will all make sense the day you take a wife. But when you do, I want you to promise me that you'll protect her and love her."

"I promise, Mom. I swear it..."

I could help to not think about her words. That is if I take a wife. I don't know what my mother has done to make my father that upset to have her around. She has to stay in her own room like a prisoner. I will never do that to a woman I love. Like that's gonna happen. I have a responsibility to the mafia. I can't fall in love. To love is like a bullet to the brain.

"He has to marry your daughter. Claudia will make a fine wife for my son..." I heard him say. He's arranging a wife for me? I don't think so...

I have a few women I could take as my wife. All the women I've slept with will do anything to be my wife. I took out my phone and called Paul.

"I think it's time..." was all I said and waited for him to come and get me with the car.

***

Gabriella's POV

I never thought that this would be the way I die. I haven't even gotten the chance to live yet. I'm barely nineteen years old. Why today? Why now?

I heard other girls as well. They were crying and sobbing. I knew that we were going to die. But not if we worked together to get out of here.

"Hey, are you guys hurt?" I asked in a whisper.

"Who are you?" one girl asked.

"My name is Gabriella. Are you guys okay?" I asked again. I could hear them shuffling around. If I could just get this fucking blindfold off...

"I'm Zoe."

"I'm Emily."

"I'm Julia."

"Is it just the four of us?" I asked. They've probably been here longer than me, so they should know.

"There are others. But they're long gone. We don't know what happened to them. They come for us, one by one and drag us away, putting us in glass cages."