The Mafia's Good Girl
The Mafia’s Good Girl – Chapter 27

~ Violet ~

“YOU DID WHAT?!”

Dylan was screaming his head off as Violet explained to him on the phone why she didn’t come home last night. He assumed that she was with Jesse and maybe she was having such a great time with him, she stayed out. Dylan trusted Jesse as a complete gentleman, so he didn’t worry too much. But when he found out that Violet went to see Damon and she agreed to this deal, Dylan was livid.

“Dylan, calm down,” Violet said to her brother. She was pacing around her bedroom in the morning after her first night there.

“No! I’m getting the cops! I’m getting you out of there right now!” Dylan snapped back.

“Don’t do that!” Violet said quickly. “Do you realize how ridiculous you sound? Bringing the cops to a Van Zandt estate? Don’t do anything stupid, Dylan. Besides, he’s not holding me here against my will. I signed up for it,”

“I can’t believe you fúcking did that, Vi! What the hell? Two nights ago we’ve agreed that you won’t do it and now you’re there!?”

“I know, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” she said with a long sigh. “It was a spur of the moment kind of thing…”

Technically, it wasn’t really a spur of the moment. Violet knew exactly what she was doing last night. She made a conscious decision to leave Jesse behind, she took a cab for half an hour to get to the estate, and she had a conversation with Damon before signing the contract. She had every chance to step back and say no throughout all of that, but she didn’t.

“I’m so fúcking mad, I don’t even know what to say to you anymore,” Dylan g*****d in frustration and Violet could only look down at her feet, looking guilty as hell. “And what am I gonna tell mom?”

“…Just tell her I have some work to do and I’ll be away for a month,” she replied in an uncertain tone. “But after it’s over, our lives are gonna be changed forever,”

Violet continued pacing and she stepped into the en-suite bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and caught her reflection. She almost couldn’t recognize the person standing in the mirror. She was the girl who made the decision to leave her family behind for an entire month.

And for what exactly?

“Plus, you and mom can visit me here anytime. Damon said so. We’ll just have to set up an appointment,” she said again as if that could correct her mistake.

“You want me to bring mom to the estate of the mafia?” Dylan said in a mocking tone. “Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?”

“Dylan, she doesn’t have to know. No one has to know,” she insisted.

“People talk, Vi. As soon as they found out you’re linked to the Van Zandt family, you’re gonna be in deep trouble,”

“I’m not linked to the Van Zandt family. I just work here for a month,”

“That’s literally the same thing,”

Violet fell silent and thought about Damon’s words. She was so focused on giving a better life for herself and her family, she didn’t consider the implications of working with such a dangerous crowd.

“God, you’re so naïve. You don’t realize that you’ve sold off your whole future and freedom, don’t you?” Dylan said again, nailing the nail on her coffin.

Violet shuddered at his words. Once she left the estate and people knew about her connections to Damon Van Zandt, she might a target for extortion, blackmail, or even revenge. The Van Zandt family had a lot of enemies and they were always looking for ways to bring them down.

That’s why Damon said I’m a liability. People will look at me and think that I’m a Van Zandt property!

Violet quickly shook her head as if to deny it all. She refused to let that happen. She didn’t come all this way just to suffer. She was going to make this work, one way or another.

“Everything’s gonna be okay, Dyl. If worse comes to worst, we can all move out of New Jersey. The best facility for Alzheimer’s is in Texas. I’ve been wanting to bring mom over there anyway,” she said reassuringly.

Dylan didn’t say anything for a while, but Violet could hear him sighing in frustration. Violet understood that Dylan was mad at her decision and worse, he felt powerless because he couldn’t stop her.

“God, Violet. I just hope you know what you’re doing,” he said finally.

Me too, Dyl. Me too.

“I do,” Violet said in a firm tone. “Trust me on this,”

Dylan didn’t say much after that. He knew that once Violet made a decision, no one could stop her. All he could do now was reassure their mom that Violet was okay and wait until the thirty days are up.

Well, twenty nine days now.

After saying their goodbyes, Violet turned off the call and put her phone down. She let out a long sigh and stared at her reflection. She had bags under her eyes, she looked tired, and she had bruises all over. On her neck were traces from the leather collar and Violet’s hand went to touch it.

Do I really know what I’m doing here?

Flashes from last night came back to her mind. She remembered how rough Damon was with her. She was made to wear a collar like a dog. She was bent over on a table and he used her body mercilessly.

“I know you’re still new to this, so I’ll take it easy on you tonight,”

Violet turned her body to the side and pulled up her nightgown. She saw bruises all over her thighs and h**s. There was also a clear imprint of Damon’s hand on her butt cheek and it made her swallow hard.

Was that him taking it easy on me?

There were moments from last night where she was enjoying herself, but these bruises reminded her that she was playing with fire. Violet pulled down her nightgown and covered it up. She didn’t want to think about these bruises for now. She proceeded to turn on the water and washed her face, letting the cold water bring some senses to her brain.

But in that case, what will happen to me when he’s not taking it easy?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Violet’s head went to a dark place every time she thought about Damon, so she told herself to stop thinking about it. Worst comes to worst, she only had to endure him for 29 more days and she would be free.

Free to do anything. To be anywhere. To start a brand new life.

After she took a shower, Elena came into her room to bring her breakfast and some fresh clothes. Someone must’ve gone shopping because Elena and the maids brought over more than ten bags of clothes filled with anything and everything she’d need. Violet also learned from Elena that Damon had gone out for work. He would be out all day and it made Violet feel rather peaceful. She didn’t have to worry about him for the next ten hours or so.

Violet ended up spending the afternoon roaming around the garden with carefree steps. She was looking for Talia, her only friend in this place, and she found her watering some flowers on one side of the hill.

“Talia!” Violet yelled and waved her hand.

“Violet?” Talia gaped and almost dropped her watering can. “You came back!”

The two girls raced to each other and collided into a hug. They were laughing, smiling, and jumping up and down.

“I can’t believe this!” Talia squealed in excitement. “When Damon told me about his offer to you, I didn’t think you’d take it,”

“Yeah well, I guess I don’t have that much integrity in me,” Violet shrugged and snorted a laugh.

“No, I’m not talking about that,” Talia shook her head. “I thought you were so mad at him and what he did to you, you’d never set foot in this place again,”

“I was for a bit, but then…” Violet paused for a beat before continuing, “I don’t know. At the end of it all, Damon’s not that bad,”

“Damon’s not that bad?” Talia scoffed. “That’s the first and probably the last time I’ll hear that from one of his girls,”

One of his girls?

“That’s right. I’m not the only girl here, aren’t I? Where are the other ones?” Violet asked.

“He’s keeping them in a backup facility outside the estate, but he’ll bring them in here anytime he wants,”

“Am I the only girl living in the estate then? For that purposes,”

“Well, his old Number One, Sabrina, used to live here too. But he kicked her out last week,”

“So… does that make me the new Number One?”

“I guess so,” Talia replied.

Right. Until our deal’s over and he’ll kick me out too.

Violet was remembering Sabrina and how Damon treated her before. She remembered the way she acted around him and the things he made her do. Violet wondered if she would suffer the same fate as that girl.

“How do you feel about that?” Talia noticed the look on Violet’s face and asked cautiously.

“It’s fine. It is what it is,” Violet shrugged and smiled. “I was the one who made the choice. I knew what I was getting myself into,”

Talia gave her a small smile and her eyes darted to Violet’s neck. Violet was wearing a scarf to cover the bruises, but there were some parts that were still visible.

“Violet, what happened to your neck?” Talia narrowed her eyes and she looked worried.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Violet waved her hand and fixed the scarf around her neck.

“But it’s—“

“It looks worse than it is,” Violet stepped back and smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it,”

Talia looked at Violet for a moment and let out a sigh. She was sorry knowing the kind of fate Violet was subjected to.

“You know, I think you’re really brave,” Talia said finally.

“Oh, I don’t know about brave,” Violet laughed and shook her head. “I’m just desperate, I guess. I want a better life for my family and myself. And this happens to be the way out for us,”

Talia looked even sadder when she heard this. She then linked her arms around Violet and led her towards the cottage.

“Oh Violet, you have such a good heart,” she said with a sigh. “But hey, enough talking about that. How are you? What have you been up to since you left? You didn’t text or call me,”

“Well, a lot of things happened and I got pretty busy. I’m sorry I didn’t call,” Violet said with a sad smile.

“Don’t be. I just missed you, that’s all. But hey, tell me, how did Damon replace you? What did he say to get you to come back?” Talia was in her interrogative mode as she opened the door for Violet. “He didn’t threaten you or anything like that, did he?”

“No, he didn’t,” Violet laughed and stepped inside.

“Okay, I need the full scoop. Let’s talk over tea,” Talia smiled and closed the cottage door behind them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Violet and Talia spent the whole afternoon talking about girl stuff over some chamomile tea. Violet told Talia everything from how Damon saved her at the bar to how she left a cute policeman on a date to choose Damon, and that was how she ended up here.

Talia listened attentively and nodded along. At one point, she even said, “Hmm, this is interesting,”

“What is?”

“Damon doesn’t usually deal with girls by himself. He always has someone else to do it for him,”

“Well, maybe he just happens to be around the area…” Violet shrugged.

Talia didn’t look so convinced, but they continued talking. Talia then shared about her life at the estate and how she and Adrian were planning to have a baby. The girls ended up talking all through dinner and even after that. They were having so much fun catching up.

When Violet finally returned to her bedroom, it was already ten o’clock at night. It was late but Damon still wasn’t back yet. He was probably still at work and she figured she would have the night off, so she didn’t bother putting on the collar and she just left it on the nightstand.

Violet was tired and sleepy, and her body was still sore from last night. After brushing her teeth and changing into her nightgown, Violet climbed up the bed and snuggled under the duvet. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming about flowers in the spring and the fresh green grass.

Time passed by and the moon grew higher in the sky. The stars were twinkling in the night and Violet was in the middle of her sleep when she suddenly felt a shadow hovering above her head. Though she was asleep, she felt like someone was watching her. She stirred on the bed and the duvet was pushed to the side, revealing her body to the air. Violet could feel the shadow growing even bigger and she couldn’t shake that feeling off. Violet pried her eyes open slowly and saw a tall figure standing over her. It was dark in the room, so it took her a moment before she realized who that person was.

No, it’s not a person at all. It’s the devil.