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Chapter Text

....

She shivered – soaked to the bone.

The rain had been coming down for an hour, and her cough wasn't getting any better. She thought about going back home, where papa lived, but, he was nothing more than a nasty drunkard. Being around him was hard for Starla and a scar on the back of her head was a reminder of his violent tendencies. She couldn't keep putting herself through that man's consistent abuse, not even if she loved him.

The skies roared, and Starla huddled up closer to the brick wall, trying to keep her chattering teeth quiet.

She needed sleep – never got much to start with, but just enough to keep her going. The icy rain and loud thunder were keeping her wide awake, making her afraid, sick, and, vulnerable.

Normally, Starla knew where she was at all times – she had to, to stay safe from the criminals that regularly prowled the streets of the city, but tonight, she had no idea what district she was hiding in. She just wanted sleep.

...

It wasn't the cold rain, or even the light thunder that woke Starla from her brief slumber. There were voices – strange ones, aggressive ones, closing in all around her.

Her heart beat faster, and the second she opened her eyes, a figure standing under the nearest streetlight at the end of the alleyway caught her attention. He wasn't too far for Starla to see that he was turned another way, presumably talking to somebody out of view.

"Shite." The girl swore to herself, fixed her wool cap over her head, and fumbled, as she stood.

Her untied boot lace, had somehow gotten stuck underneath one of the garbage cans she had made shelter by, and, moving quickly, she fell, and knocked over the metal lid.

"No!" Starla said to herself, and tried to collect herself from the cold, wet, ground, as quickly, and quietly as possible, but, the sound of the metal garbage can lid hitting the ground, had caused unwanted attention.

"I heard somethin' down here!" A man hollered from the other, darker end of the alleyway, and Starla panicked. His, and another man's voice echoed, with every word they yelled, and, sloshing footsteps could be heard.

Starla had to leave.

She snapped her head to the left, where a figure had been standing under the streetlight, which was now gone.

"Feck!!" The Irish woman swore under her breath and kept frantically turning her head to the left and to the right as she pulled a pocket knife from her soggy pants pocket.

She knew she could make a run for it, but the voices and sloshes were getting closer. This alleyway was deep – where was she?

Her frozen ears were ringing, and her nose was dripping. She had taken her mind off the issue at hand for a brief time to tie her boot, and that was when she shoved into the wall with a single hand to her chest, and held there.

"Agh!" Her body expelled a grunt from the quickness of the attack and the pain exploding in her back, and the crown of her head, eyes pinched shut.

There was now a vaguely familiar smell in the cold air. It wasn't that of the rain, or the garbage anymore. The smell was something – musky. It made her nostrils flare when she took in a slow inhalation, turning her head to the side so that she didn't have to look her new attacker in the eyes.

"Well, look what we got here!" The man half laughed, pressing his hand harder against Starla's sternum, and stepping a foot between hers.

It was sprinkling now, but the air was still cold. She was still holding on tightly to her pocket knife, but the man ripped it right from her and pocketed it for himself.

"Ya know where ya are, babes?" The man's breath was warm and sour against Starla's face, and she could hear amusement in his downtown voice.

She turned her head to look at him, and immediately sneered, and pushed her arms against him in an attempt to free herself from his pin. He just chuckled, clearly enjoying that.

He was dangerous – the tie, the vest, and the obsidian jacket gave it away. His slicked back hair with the buzzed sides was a hairstyle she'd often see among mobster goons, but he looked like more than just a man with the need to pick a fight.

"I'm talkin' ta ya', dollface, use ya' goddamn words!" He got violent and grabbed her face, pinching her cheeks with his cold fingers, and holding her head in place against the wall.

"He's over here!" Suddenly, another man called out, and he soon made himself seen. He looked slightly similar to Starla's aggressor, but he wore a flat cap, a leather jacket, and welded a baseball bat.

He was a bit taller, built bigger, but he didn't make her nearly as anxious as the man holding her face.

"Took ya long enough, shit, Lou!" The smaller man growled and returned his attention to Starla.

He inched his face closer to hers, grinning. Showing a bit of teeth.

"If ya don't wanna talk, I have somethin' else in mind that mouth a' yours can do for me an' my boy!" Dino sickeningly teased, his warm cigarette breath against her cheek, which was now flushed pink from his secure hold, and he slowly roamed inside her soggy coat with his free hand.

Starla opened an eye to see Lou smiling beside Dino, and she groaned against her throat like an animal in distress.

She raised her hands and began to smack at him, but the man was fast and had brandished her own pocket knife before her.

Her eyes bugged, but it still didn't stop her from growling and wriggling against the wall. Even after he pressed the tip of the blade against her cheek, moving it down around his own thumb as to not get nicked.

"Heh – boss will love ya, gotta a lotta spunk, that's for sure!" Dino smirked and took his hand out of Starla's soggy coat before putting it around her throat.

He looked her over and licked his lips. She was dirty, smelled like a wet dog, and wore the baggiest clothing she could find, but the man still looked interested in something more than a little scuffle. His and Lou's gazes made her queasy, but it gave her more reason to keep fighting.

"Geh oaffa meh!" Starla snapped and managed to clamp her teeth down onto the fleshy junction between Dino's thumb and index finger, and she did it hard.

The man immediately let her go, cried out and looked down at the blood. He swore at Lou and they both went after her just as soon as he realized she had taken off.

There were more of them on the outside of the alleyway, but, there were pedestrians, cab drivers – normal people who would look out for her.

That's what Starla thought.

Once on the outside, her eyes bugged again and she whimpered. Looking at the street signs.

She wasn't in Little Italy. She was in North Park.

Starla wasn't like everyone else. She was a bum – had no job, no education, except for what she had taught herself while living on the streets, and memories of her life back on the farm.

Memories of papa and mama before everything changed.

A few brute goons had caught up to Starla and grabbed her arms. One man was more than capable of holding her.

"Feck oaff!" She swore and spat in the man's face.

Dino and Lou made a return, and Dino viciously grabbed her by the hair, and tossed her into the side of his car.

Her body hit it with a thud, and she cried out from the worsened pain.

"Better stay still, don't want ya’ dentin' up my new set a' wheels!" Dino warned with a smirk and re-brandished her pocket knife, looking over the top of his car at the passing vehicles and passersby.

Lou and the others knew what Dino was readying himself for. Even if people saw or heard anything, that was all they could do.

Marcu Morello owned that district. He had everyone, even the police, in the palm of his hand. Starla was vaguely aware of the Morello Family, but she knew the dangers of living on the streets of a crime-riddled city.

She didn't even try to stand after her body hit the car and dropped to the ground.

Dino widened his stance and flicked his head at the others to stand by while he unbuckled his belt and popped the button of his ashy blue slacks.

He straightened out his back and looked down at Starla with a nasty grimace.

"Hey, look at me!" He demanded, stepping on her fingers with his polished dress shoe.

She hissed and used her other hand to push against his leg. Starla was now seated on her calves, and continued to push Dino, but it only resulted in him chuckling and slightly rocking on his heels.

"Geh oaffa meh, geh oaffa meh now!!" Dino was now laughing and decided against his previous affliction. He kneeled before her, and gently brushed her long, stringy blonde hair from her face.

"Ya' gotta pretty face under all that shit, babes," Dino quietly commented, meeting her hazel eyes without hardly any expression on his face. Her cheeks were wet, eyes red and puffy, and her skin was caked in dirt.

She immediately swatted his hand away and stood, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and yelled for Lou to open the back door of his car.

Lou did what he was ordered and Starla was forced inside the second the door was opened. The girl screamed and kicked the back of the bench seat, even tried to rough up the back windows.

Dino gave the other goons orders before he hurried into the driver's seat with Lou in passenger.

"Ya' keep it up an' I'll hurt ya' real bad!" Dino spat and turned back around. Started the engine and sped off like the rules of the road no longer existed.

No tunes. No sounds, but Dino and Lou arguing about something.

Starla tried to listen but exhaustion was quickly taking over.

//

She was startled awake by the jostling of the car and her eyes bugged the second the back door swung open and Dino appeared.

"Feck you!" She kicked her legs at him as he reached into the backseat for her. He seemed amused by her heavy Irish accent whenever she cursed.

"Haven't been around an Irish broad in a long time, doll! So please, keep spittin' those word at me!"

Dino teased her and grunted when taking a muddy boot to the side of the head.

That made matters worse.

Lou got out, slammed the door shut, and pulled open the other door above her head to grab her arms. He latched on to her biceps pretty quickly.

"Agh fuckin' whore!" Dino spat and backhanded her across the face, stunning her for the time being.

She saw stars, and no longer fought to keep her eyes open or away from the two men.

A sudden crackle of thunder escaped from the black skies, and Starla was lost to the world of unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

....

Starla was still wet and extremely cold, when she came to, which easily worsened her symptoms. She was shaking like a leaf flopped over Lou's shoulder like a used dish rag, and he casually followed Dino in through the back of the lounge bar as business was still open until 1 am.

Morello himself was spotted out in front by Dino, and he wandered over to the table, where Morello was playing a game of poker with a few off duty officers.

"Don Morello, ya' needed out back," The Soldato casually informed him, keeping matters private and formal. The officers ended their conversation and they, along with Morello, looked up at Dino.

His injured hand hidden in his jacket pocket.

"Thank you, Dino!" He calmly replied and stood up from the chair with a cheeky sigh.

"Well, gentlemen, we will have to finish this game another night!" Morello assured them with a charming smile and the taller officer nodded before standing up and giving him a pat on the back, heading towards the entrance with the younger officer in tow.

Dino and Morello watched them exit the bar, Morello keeping his smile until they were out of sight.

There were still a few patrons, but they were occupying the bar, minding their own affairs. Laughing and drinking away their worries. And the jazz band continued to play.

Morello didn't say anything as he walked past Dino, only assuming the younger man was close behind.

The music faded out of range once the two entered the back office.

"What do you got for me tonight, Dino?" Morello plainly questioned, brushing off the sleeve of his pristine white suit jacket, and looking up, only to go completely silent and stay that way.

Starla was fighting against Lou's hold on her arms, but it was futile.

Dino closed the door and Morello narrowed his eyes, and furrowed his brows on his way over to the panicked young woman on the far side of the room.

The lighting was soft – it was the perfect glow, coming from the chandelier above the large cherry wood table.

"Tell me your name, young lady," Morello wasn't an overly tall man, and what he lacked in height, he made up for in size.

He stood before her and looked down into her doe eyes. There was no aggression behind his statement, but Starla didn't feel the tiniest bit safe with him near. Lou dug his fingers deeper into her arms and the girl hissed.

She flicked her eyes over to Dino, playing door man, and started to wriggle again. Her long blonde hair swaying all around her face.

"Jus' leh meh goh, sir, a' gah nut'in foa ya'!" Her hazel eyes twinkled with tears when her head was gently lifted with a single touch of Morello's warm thumb on her chin.

He stayed quiet for a moment, taking in her expression – slowly flicking his dark eyes between hers.

Then suddenly, she noticed the interested curl in his lip.

"Irish, eh?" Morello lightly teased and let go of her chin, now brushing back hair from her face as she looked down.

"I admire that in you, miss!"

What kind of game was that man playing?

"Now, give me your name, and I'll give you a warm bed to sleep in tonight," Morello brought her name up again, and the infliction in his voice was different – colder.

She was shivering, despite the undeniable heat surrounding her. The man's offer was enticing, but Starla couldn't be swayed so easily.

She was smarter than that.

Lou tugged her backward when she lurched forward.

"Give me your name!" The white dressed man raised his voice and abruptly grabbed Starla's whole face, earning himself a little wince. Demanding her name.

There was a rogue-colored bruise across her cheek, but Morello didn't bother to ask about it. He looked down deeply into her eyes, dismissing the tear that rolled down her cheek.

"S-Starla McKinneh, sir!" She gave in, trembling from the cold and the pain of his fingertips digging into her damaged, dirty flesh.

He scoffed behind closed lips and smiled.

"You just earned yourself a warm bed – good girl!"

Chapter Text

....

As offered, Starla got a warm bed for the night with an added bonus – a warm shower and clean clothes that actually fit her.

Morello's lounge bar had a spacious second floor that was a man's paradise, where he hosted illegal card games and housed some of the loveliest dames. Ennio may have had a hold of the liquor racket, but that didn't mean that Marcu couldn't obtain his own.

After her shower, Starla hurried back into the room down the hall. Wrapped up in a plush towel – something that she didn't know existed.

The bruise was still there, and so was the metallic tang of Dino's blood. Soaked into her taste buds.

The taste brought back a memory that she had always tried to wipe clean off her cerebral slate. Alcohol would help for a while until it didn't – all it did now, was make her ill.


But, Starla knew that she couldn't live without it. Not yet. She was ill with it. She was ill without it.

Before closing the door, Starla was startled by the man in white. His big hand kept the door open, and his smile made her queasy.

His dark eyes stayed fixed solely on hers, despite her being covered in only a towel, and he invited himself inside. She watched him wander around with his hands in the pockets of his pretty blazer.


Silence stayed with them for a while.


He turned to face her and motioned for her to come and sit on the bed. Outside the window, the world was black, and the long opaque curtains waved gently in the cool, rainy breeze. Starla swallowed and gripped her towel tighter, taking careful steps towards the brick of a man.

Her eyes flicked over to the dress that laid there since before the shower. She couldn't wear that, but her old clothes were being washed, and she wasn't too keen on asking the Don if he had a pair of ladies' slacks.

She also wasn't ready to wear wet clothes again.


"Dino told me he found you in an alleyway near downtown," He looked down soon after.

"He also found this," Morello finished and with his lovely white dress shoe, he casually pushed Starla's leather pack out from under the bed and into view.

Her eyes bugged and she rounded her lips.

"Oh!"

Morello saw her face light up and raised a brow in curiosity. He inhaled slowly through his nose and back out his mouth when he softly chuckled.

"How long have you been living on the streets?" He already knew. Must've looked through her things.

Starla frowned and looked down.

"I won't judge you, sweetheart," Morello's tone was gentle and staring down at her, he touched her shoulder, immediately frightening her onto the edge of the bed.

Her heart was racing and her stomach was aching.

"Ten yee's, sir," Her accent got heavier any time she'd clam up in his company. Morello pursed his lips in thought and moved closer to her. Touching his thumb to her chin and getting her to meet his gaze.

His eyes roamed her. To the top of her head, all the way down to her toes.

"That's a long time for a young girl like you to be on her own," The white-suited man said, faintly smiling, gently brushing the soft skin of Starla's chin with the pad of his thumb.

She didn't know what else to say, so she nodded and blinked.

"Well," Morello began, and removed his hand from the girl's chin, keeping his sights on her.

"I won't let you live that way again," He insisted and something about his kindness felt fake – like a facade, perhaps.

Starla may be a young woman, but that didn't make her naive to the games that people played.

"A' cn't 'foahed tah' live here, a' 'ave noh moneh, sir," That was where she was totally misunderstanding.

Morello lightly smiled down at her again and shook his head.

"You most definitely will afford to live here – see cash for the rest of your life if you listen to me, sweetheart!" He softened his eyes and his smile slightly grew.

Starla dryly coughed and put her hand to her stomach, thinking that somehow her touch would keep it from growling so loudly.

Morello raised his dark brows and straightened out his shoulders.

"For a woman of the streets, you have plenty of meat on your bones, but you haven't eaten lately, have you?" Morello said with the same, chillingly gentle smile on his face, dark eyes looking down at her.

He read her like a book – saw right through her. Don Morello was a highly perceptive man.

Starla shook her head and loosened her fingers on the towel. Looking up at the man.

"Get yourself dressed, I'll be down the hall," He casually stated, turning around. Before exiting the room, though, he turned back to look at Starla.

That kind facade of his was gone, and a frightening seriousness took its place.

"We will talk business over a warm meal,"

After he closed the door and was gone, Morello's clean and musk scent remained in the room with Starla. She swallowed and looked down at the dress at her side – pondering her life.

Chapter Text

....

Had she been fooled?


Accepting a strange man's offer of a warm bed, after having been abducted by a goon of his, was out of character for Starla.

She had no where to go - nowhere to run at the time that the offer was put on the table.

Lou had her by the arms and Morello had her by the face.

And, Dino had the door.

Her only source of protection had been stolen from her during the brief assault in the alleyway.

She was lucky to have her pack with her, as it couldn't had been the kindness of Morello that she was able to rummage through it.

On her knees, Starla unbuckled the front of the wet pack and plunged deep inside of it with her arms. She had been able to tell beforehand that most of her belongings had been stolen but she didn't want to fully believe it.


"Noh!" She cried to herself, only feeling what she had for clothes and nothing else. No canteen of water, no half eaten pastries she had robbed off a stand at a bakery in Little Italy – no rags for her monthly.

What did they even do with her clothes? Her boots? Her fucking coat?


She needed to come up a plan to get out of there.

That man in white was not the Angel that he disguised himself as.


...


She had thought nothing of it as she put on her clothes that were in her pack, which consisted of – a cream button up blouse, a pair of ladies' tweed slacks, and a leather flat cap. Her suspenders were missing, along with her boots and the only pair of socks she had.

Did the Don really think a girl like Starla would put on a dress just because it was "all he had"? She would've easily worn that towel before slipping into a dress.

There wasn't a knock at her door when the doorknob jingled, and she held her breath when Morello walked into the room with another man at his side. It wasn't Dino, but he looked like another goon.

He was taller and a bit bigger than Dino. Looked a little more intimidating as well.

The younger man and Morello both looked her over in surprise.

The dress was still lying on the bed, and Starla was dressed up like a hood.

"Oh sweetheart, that dress I put out for you is made of French silk-" Morello got closer. Voice calm, and kind. The soles of his fine shoes making little noise across the wood floor.

"-Any other woman would've been fucking grateful!" Morello abruptly raised his voice and backhanded Starla the moment he was close enough.

The loud SWACK of flesh upon flesh filled the room. Joe snickered.

"Ah!" She cried out and fell onto the bed from the power of the domineering gesture.

It was the other cheek and this time, there was blood. Her nostril trickled crimson and the small cut across her cheekbone soon clotted. Morello had stunned her well – made her see the entire galaxy.

"Now, I suggest you put that dress on and be a good girl, Starla," Morello moved towards the bed and hummed, looking down at her. Head tilted slightly to the side.

The girl couldn't shake the discombobulated trance she was under, and hardly reacted when he leaned over her, his weight sinking into the bed. And an arm on either side of her head, caging her in place.

His breath was warm and the smell of his musk and cigars kissed her nose.

"If you don't, well, I'll just have my boy here teach you a lesson in respect!" That final word of his left spit across her cheek.

Her eyes stayed shut, even after he grabbed her jaw and forced her to look at him.

"Open your goddamn eyes!" Morello yelled and Starla obeyed.

Her eyes fluttered open and slinked up to see the man in white – his face mere inches from hers.

Another loud growl came from her stomach and Morello looked down.

Her blouse was left unbuttoned but only exposed the mid-section on her milky body.

"Put the dress on," The man's dark eyes returned to hers, and he let go of her jaw to rest his large hand flat upon her beautiful protruding ribs.

God, did she feel delicate.

A single push down with his hand, and Morello could easily crush the girl's bone cage into millions of little pieces.

A angelic gasp escaped her barely parted lips at the hot and heavy feel of Morello's thick hand on her cold flesh. It was his ring hand - the one that left a forever mark across her cheekbone. Her nose had stopped bleeding, and Starla trembled, watching Morello – watching his heavy cocoa eyes take in her expression. Her quivering lips.

The frantic pulse in the side of her neck, and, her lips again, just with his eyes.

"I won't tell you again," And with those gritty words, Morello moved off the bed with a soft grunt, straightened out his back and his blazer, and left the room with Joe close behind.


Silent tears poured out of her eyes while she laid there on her side, grabbing on tightly to the soft blanket beside her face, curling her knees up to her chest.

She didn't have a proper plan, but she wasn't about to give up.

Chapter Text

....

She knew all that she needed to know about Marcu Morello in just one night. He was an evil man. The devil in angels' clothing.

Starla had everything she could ever need – a place to stay and food to eat. But, at what cost? The cost of her virginity? Her dignity – her pride?

It was a living nightmare, being kept away from the world, forced to keep Morello's men and other curious takers from the outside of the Family, wanting more.

At night, Starla could hear the other women. They seemed to enjoy it, but of course that's how it was. They couldn't disappoint the needy gentlemen of the night. Disappointing them would be disappointing Morello, and no one wanted to have to deal with him more than they already had to.

—

Marcu had made her a promise on the first night. He was going to keep her untouched – unbroken…

Starla didn't have a clue, but Marcu's private auction was a major gossip around much of the city. She heard quite a bit of questionable things floating around. Coming mostly from the other women and some of Morello's men, but nothing interesting enough. In just a short amount of time, the Irish girl had a couple of regulars; one being an officer of the law, and another, Billy Ghillotti, the son of the city councilor.

He treated her the foulest. He did everything that he was allowed to get off, never forgetting to humiliate her in the process. Billy was the youngest out of the handfuls of men she had seen naked or with their cocks out. She couldn't keep living under Morello's rules - couldn't keep letting him take control. He had all of her under his thumb, in his pocket. Any place he could stuff her.

Food was given to her because of him. Clean clothes, daily showers, and a warm and comfortable place to curl up in at night. She had it all because of him.


Being allowed to roam only the second floor, with a man on watch duty, wasn't a healthy way to live. Starla was being completely taken advantage of in every sense, had been from the second her eyes met Dino Sondrini's.


--


It was late, and Starla was seated by the open window, breathing in the smells of the lively city. Chin in her hand.

She'd be a liar if she were to say Lost Heaven looked like a pile of shit – that was so far from the truth. It was beautiful and so were the people that lived in it. Starla didn't know many beautiful people. Only other bums, hoods, and forgettables like her.

But,Tony Barrelli was a beautiful person. He took her into his home when she was 14, after finding her scrounging for food in the trash cans behind his restaurant.

They were close for a while, until his wife caught the girl stealing from their home a month before her 19th birthday. He had no choice but to let her go, and she was on her own again, like she never even knew him. She was too accustomed to the streets. It was second nature to her to run back to them, even when her heart ached and still did for the loss of a wonderful person.

He was the only beautiful person she knew, who wasn't her mama or papa, or even her uncle. The girl had no clue she had been dozing off until someone had barreled into her room, startling her to her feet.

Blinking her eyes, she came to see that it was Dino. The stench of whiskey entered the room with him and he kicked the door closed with his heel. Sneering at her.

Starla swallowed and backed up, seeing that his hand was empty – no money under his thumb.

"A' doan do not'in wit'ou moneh!"

Dino wasted no more time, and came at her, ripping her away from the window. She cried out and shoved her forearms against him but he was stronger and much quicker. Immediately swinging her towards the bed and forcing her upon it.

"Boss says this one's on the house for the way ya' treated me last week, doll face!" Dino growled and Starla continued to fight.  He was now settled above her, knees around her waist squeezing her to keep her secured to the bed, and his hands worked on unbuckling his belt.

"Noh, geh oaffa meh!"

He raised a brow and shook his head, back straight, and eased down the zipper of his dress slacks. Starla pinched her eyes closed and tried to kick her legs, but his weight made it impossible. His ass was seated perfectly above her hips. Dino reeked of booze and cheap cologne.

"Nah ah, doll, ya' mine ta' night!" The Soldato said lowly and pulled himself free from his boxers. Licking his lips before smiling like the filthy bastard he was.

When Starla turned her head, Dino forced it right back, looking at the scar left over her cheekbone by Morello.

"Shame that he hurt ya' like that, ya' know," As Dino leaned over her, the bed dipped and a little creak sounded from the frame. His face was too close to hers, a loose strand of his ashy black hair hanging in her sights. She didn't know that Dino had a soft spot for her. Not like he'd ever let her know, not on purpose. His voice was too soft, but his cock was still as hard as stone.

"Now, open ya' pretty mouth for me, babes, an' we'll have a good time, yeah?" She had no other choice.

Chapter Text

....

Days, weeks, and an entire month flew by. Starla was no longer just making money giving grade-A hand jobs and delightfully sloppy head.

Morello had learned a lot about her and thought she'd make a good thief, considering her years of experience while on the streets. His men were not trained properly for such stealthy situations. They proved their worth behind firearms and their fists, and that's what mattered the most to Morello.

She mostly worked alongside Dino and Lou. Marcu and his men were amazed at how much cash Starla had brought in on a weekly basis. She was young, beautiful, when dressed appropriately, and manipulative as a cat.

She was soon to be transferred to the best room Morello had on the second floor in the lounge bar, meaning Florence had to collect her things and take Starla's old room.

 For the most part, she and the other women got along. Kind of had to, for business. A lot of them looked out for Starla as she was the youngest out of all of Morello's dames, but Florence? She was envious of the Irish girl.

Had even gotten the poor girl into a lot of trouble in the beginning just because she could and it was easy to do.

Morello himself though, kept a watchful eye on McKinny. She was his best girl, the word would come from every man in the Family, even the Don. Starla was special, but still didn't see it. Marcu was the Devil, and he didn't deserve her trust. Not after what he had done to her and to the other women. Because of Marcu, those women knew no other life but the one he had forced them into.

.

"Ya' still gonna hold that auction, boss?" Dino asked, expelling a cloud of cigarette smoke, slapping down another playing card onto the table after some pondering. Morello raised a dark brow and looked over at Dino with just his eyes before laying down his winning hand and smirking. Sondrini sat forward in his chair and swore under his breath. He'd been beat again.

"Why you ask?" Morello curiously questioned, sitting back in his chair and puffing on a fresh cigar. Waiting to take the stacks of cash off Dino's hands.

Sondrini was quiet for a moment and shrugged, no longer making eye contact.

"Never forget that she's a whore, Dino," Morello warned and stood up to collect the twin cash stacks on the table. The Soldato made a face before looking up at the Don, nodding.

"Course, boss," He agreed and stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray atop the table.

Morello eyed him suspiciously, easily hiding away the stacks of cash in his inner blazer pockets.

"Now, make sure she's ready for tonight, the auction will be held at the Hotel Corleone at 8:00 – I don't need any trouble." The man in white said before waltzing away from the table and on his way down the stairs.

Dino scoffed and leaned back in his chair. Leaned so far back he was now balancing on the two hind legs, feet kicked up on the table after having made room for them.

He crossed his arms behind his head for a brief time, stretched them out, and expelled a groan before scrubbing his face with his hands.

The Soldato got to thinking – where the fuck was Sergio going to be tonight?


-------------------‐‐-------------------------------------------------------------


{Salieri's restaurant}



In the back meeting room, conversation was just beginning.

Sam inhaled from his cigar and casually set the Lost Heaven paper down on the table, sliding it over to Salieri, standing, for he was about to give the boys an exciting job.

The Don already knew about Sam's plan but Paulie and Tommy had no clue – not entirely.

"You boys up for trip ta' the newly remodeled Hotel Corleone?" Trapani raised a thick brow, exhaling the smoke as he talked. Flicking his eyes between Tom and Paulie.

The two looked at each other and Paulie made a face when he looked back across the table at Sam.

"Sounds like a fun time if the place weren't full of Morello's goons!" The plum suited enforcer had a point, but he and Tommy would be going together. Paulie looked over at the paper and Salieri slid it over to him for reference.

"Hear me out boys, there's a private auction bein' held there ta' night," Trapani began, putting a finger on the table.

" - an' trust me when I say youse two ain't never seen a dame so fine!" Sam said with the tiniest smirk and flashed them a wink, despite both Tom and Paulie being focused on the event in the paper.

"So ya' gotta be in with Morello ta' get in?" Paulie asked looking up at Sam and then over at Salieri.

"Course," Sam chirped with a shrug and took another puff off his cigar.

"This is Marcu Morello we're talking about, Paulie, he wants to rile us up, it's what he's good at," Salieri said with a sigh as he leaned back and took a sip from his glass of whiskey.

Tom was still quiet, even more so after reading the event in the newspaper.

"So, Tom, whaddaya think?" Lombardo gently nudged him in the elbow with his and smiled when their eyes met.

Tom licked his lips, slid the paper back to Sam and sat there, pondering. Frozen in time. Sam snapped his fingers to break the trance he was in.

"Tom, auctions like these happen all the time, among the wealthy, jus' never announced like that," Sam tapped his fingers on the paper to get Tom to look. He did but he couldn't get rid of the nasty feeling in his gut.

Paulie patted Tom on the back and chuckled.

"It's gonna be alright, Tommy, Sam knows what he's doin' an' hey! we get in for free!" Paulie said aloud, trying to liven the mood, but Tom was still stiff as a plank of wood.

"That's a young girl there talkin' about, Salieri, it ain't right!" Angelo grovelled and pushed a new cig between his lips, hands a bit shaky as he lit the tip.

Ennio nodded, but they all knew how soft Tommy was with the women.

Silence filled the space for a brief time.

"What can ya' do, Tom?" Lombardo spoke up and shrugged.

"Jus' do the job." Sam reiterated indifferently, making Tom nearly choke as he swallowed.

They went over the details again and again until Tom gave in. He had to do it for Salieri. For the Family.

Chapter Text

....

The time was ticking by ever so slowly, and Starla's constant staring up at the clock wasn't helping.

Ghillotti had soon left the room after being serviced, leaving a plump stack of cash on the bedside table. He always paid the most and humiliated her the most out of every man who had the pleasure of dropping a wad of cash and their trousers.


She was allowed more rest than the other women which she always took advantage of.

Starla yawned and smacked her lips, inwardly cringing at the foul taste of Billy's cock left on her tongue. He was the only taste she couldn't easily forget.

She left the bed dressed in a powdery pink silken nightgown and wandered over to the window where she spent a lot of her time reading the books from the bookshelf in the corner of the room, stealing swigs from the small liquor bottles she'd pocket from the bar just down the hall.

Starla was a smart girl – she always replenished the bar in the late hours of the night.

Not knowing that some of the women were awake at those times, too.

Glug.

Glug.

Glug.

Glug.

"Youse the first girl ta' ever be put on display, ya' know?" Bernadette, one of Morello's oldest girls grumbled after waltzing into McKinny's room, surprising her.

Starla kept quiet, looking over at the brunette woman standing over the threshold. Eyes slowly blinking. She never had anything to say to anyone. Maybe it was because of her strong accent being a pain for others to understand or maybe she just didn't want to say anything.

She wasn't there to make friends.

Starla was practically gawking at the other woman, swallowing, carelessly giving the silent treatment another go.

Bernadette frowned and death-gripped the side of the wood door.

"You get to get out, and for what? Being so young and beautiful??" She stomped into the room and closed the door behind her, raising her voice just loud enough for only Starla to be concerned with.

Bernadette was a beautiful woman and Starla understood her viciousness towards her and in general.

Morello had forced all of the women there to do his sick bidding. Turned them into fleshy puppets who played their part how he wanted or they'd get hanged by their own strings.

Starla blinked and corked the bottle of whiskey she had hidden between her side and the wall as inconspicuously as possible, but the glazed look in her eyes silently alerted the older woman.

It was late but not late enough. Time made Starla anxious.

"Ah'—ah' have a plan..." Starla finally spoke up softly, eyes heavy, and after her barely incomprehensible words came out, it was clear to Bernadette that she was muddled out of her mind.

McKinny wiped her slobbery chin, and rested the side of her head against the wall beside the window sill.

Bernadette didn't want to believe it, but it was true.

Starla was stealing booze from Marcu.

That knowing could be the end of her in the wrong hands, but Berna didn't want to see Starla be forced to play anymore of Morello's twisted games. She was too young for the life of a whore.

She was embarrassed, cheeks flushed from both embarrassment and her drunkenness.

The older woman, dressed beautifully as always in one of her many evening gowns, sighed and made her way over to Starla. Her 2-inch heels clacking quietly across the floor.

Being so close to her, Bernadette could taste the whiskey in the air, and the stench mixed poorly with her rose perfume.

She kneeled down to Starla's size and grabbed the bottle, shooting her a disappointed glare.

"If youse get caught drinkin' without permission, the Don will cause ya' unspeakable harm, now how long ya' been doing this?" Bernadette was furious with the girl but wasn't aggressive.

Not even when she grabbed Starla by the chin to try to focus the girl's glazed eyes on hers.

Nothing came out of the Irish girl, except for the most raunchiest belch that Bernadette had ever heard from a lady.

It was so obnoxious that anyone loitering in or manning the hall, even down the hall by the bar or the game tables, could've heard.

Starla then slumped forward into the older woman's half concealed bosoms and let out a low, half open-mouthed whimper. Bernadette didn't have any reaction until the girl began to cry and shake.

"Ah' cahn' be here!" Starla's accent was far heavier than Bernadette remembered and she clung to her like a lifeline.

The older woman silently held McKinny and soothed her with long fingertip strokes down her back and through her pale blonde hair.

She felt warm but trembled like she had been out in a winter snow storm.

"I will help ya' get outta here, I promise."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

{Salieri's restaurant}

Tom silently followed Paulie up into Vinnie's shop, nearly smacking directly into his back the second that Paulie stopped walking.

"How does Sam know what she looks like, Paulie?" Tom suddenly asked, staring mindlessly at the back of Lombardo's overcoat. Vinnie waved the two closer to give them their weapons needed for tonight's job.

Paulie shrugged.

"Maybe he an' the Don scoped out tha' place beforehand, don't really care, Tom, let's jus' follow Sam's plan an' get the hell outta there!" The older Mafioso boldly insisted and grabbed the shotgun, his beloved baseball bat, and waited near the door for Tom to get himself figured out.

Vinnie saw that look on Tom's face before.

"Yer good at what ya' do, Tom!" Vincenzo reached over the counter and slapped Angelo on the shoulder, giving him a knowing smile.

"Come on, Tom, we don't got all night!" Paulie announced loudly, a sigh punctuating the end of his sentence.

Tom cracked his neck and gripped his gun with intent.

"Yeah," And with that uttered, Tom followed Paulie out of Vincenzo's shop and down to Lombardo's midnight blue motor.

Angelo swallowed his emotions and that was that.

Chapter Text

....

Tom knew the plan; get inside the Hotel Corleone undetected before the auction and take the girl. It was a very risky job, considering the fact that Morello was only holding such a grand event to grab the attention of Salieri. But Salieri was a smart man. He used his head.

It was also likely that the Hotel was going to be bustling with life tonight and that there were going to be road blocks and much of the police force out there.

That's why Salieri had sent two of his boys to get it done.

Tom was an excellent shot, and good at keeping his head down, while Paulie was a master at physical confrontation and going ham. When the moment called for it. He and Tom were a great team and both Salieri and Sam knew it. But, all three of Salieri's boys together was even better.

.

Paulie tightened his grip atop the wheel as he took a sharp right.

"What does the Don want with the skirt anyway?" Tom asked and swallowed, grazing his eyes over to his partner.

Paulie sighed and looked out his window for a second before refocusing his attention on the busy street.

"Ya' been in the family long enough ta' know that the boss don't have ta' give us a reason fer the jobs he gives us, Tom," Paulie lowly answered and took another right down an empty street, and a sharp left where they were now hidden from the public eye.

Nobody had followed them, which was a good start in and of itself.

Tommy swallowed again and looked down at the tops of his hands over his lap.

"Look at it this way, Tommy, we get ta' see the finest dame around! If that don't change yer mood, nothin' else I have ta' say will!" Lombardo clapped Tommy on the back and smiled from ear to ear.

The younger associate shrugged and looked sheepishly over at Paulie.

"I wanna do the job right, but I gotta do right by the girl, ya' know?" Tommy uttered quietly after clearing his throat.

The two Mafioso’s stared at each other for a time. Paulie's childlike expression soon turned into something serious for he knew how Tom was with the ladies and Lombardo never liked to see him so glum.

"You'll do fine, pal, jus' do what ya' gotta do, an' I know you'll do the right thing!" Paulie cheered, keeping his warm hand on Tommy's back.

"Ya' always do!" Lombardo then cut the engine and pocketed the keys in his overcoat, pulling out his chained pocket watch from his ashy black slacks.

He let out an obnoxious sigh as he relaxed back in his seat and looked at the time.

"Well, we got a helluva lot more time ta' kill than I thought," Paulie eyed Tommy with a quirked brow, curious as to what they could accomplish with all the time they had.

Tommy sighed and rested his head against the seat staring blankly up at the car's interior.

"Smoke?" Angelo abruptly pulled out his cigarette case from his overcoat pocket and opened it, directing it at his partner.

Paulie pursed his lips and plucked one from the case, sitting upright.

"Don't mind if I do!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


{Morello's Lounge bar}

Things were hectic.

Florence and a few other bitter women had told Marcu about Starla's stealing and that Bernadette was helping her run away before the auction.

Floe was the snobbiest of all Morello's whores, but it could've easily been a change of personality ever since Starla came around. Jealousy was such an ugly expression, and Florence should've already known that.

Sergio had pointed out her wrinkles on a couple occasions for she always had a plan to see Starla crumble. Always a deep set scowl on her once beautiful face.

All because of Starla.


All because of Sin.

Chapter Text

....

It was finally time for Salieri's boys to strike.

Paulie drove Tommy to the spot, having done a wonderful job of stealthily bypassing all the traffic and road blocks.

"Ya' got this, Tom!" Lombardo looked at his associate with a half smile and cut the engine.

They were hidden in the faint blackness of an alleyway. The nighttime skies roaring as Tommy smacked in the clip of his revolver before casually sliding it back into his overcoat. Looking over at the burly Mafioso.

The stench of tobacco and Paulie's overpriced cologne made Tom's head ache and his stomach churn, but he was only fooling himself. Hoping to find a better excuse for his nervousness. He knew the real reason why he felt queasy, and so did Paulie, who didn't need any more reminding.

"Thanks Paulie," Tom gruffly replied, reaching for the door handle with a slight tremble in his fingers. He pushed open the door and shut it quietly, looking all around and pulling down the brim of his fedora.

Lombardo got out soon after. A creak sounding and then a loud slam.

"Get goin', hotshot!" Paulie nasally chided with a bat over his shoulder and a shotgun leaning against his leg.

Tommy swallowed hard and nodded, sneaking out from the shadowed alleyway. Not soon forgetting the protection that Lombardo always provided.

-------------------


{Morello's Lounge bar}



It was nearing time for the auction and yet, Starla had to go and ruin everything.


He had Dino and Lou take care of the whores – had them locked away in their rooms while Marcu took Starla some place private.

Poor girl was dealt another one of his malicious backhands, and it only took one to knock her out of that disgusting inebriated state he had found her in — the heavy stench of whiskey and death permeating the interior of Marcu's beloved import.

She was currently in a horrific state of panic.

There was so much blood, so much gore.

Starla's eyes, they wouldn't close, no matter how hard she tried to deny ego the sense of sight.

She tasted crimson metal tang on her tongue.

Possibly even gulped down a bit of flesh during the despicable attack.

Starla had been too close.


.


Marcu had killed Bernadette.

Shot her where she stood. A single bullet betwixt the eyes, sullied by fear and regret.

Starla should've known the repercussions of gossiping, planning, behind Marcu's back.

She should've known that Florence and the other women weren't going to stick their pretty necks out for her. They all wanted to see McKinny fall.

Maybe even more than they wished the same for Morello.

.

Marcu weaved through traffic like a man hellbent on causing as much harm as possible.

Ignored stop signs, lights, and even people who crossed the street. The violent motions and rocking of the vehicle made Starla undeniably sick.

The man in white shot a brief glance over his shoulder at the girl loudly dry heaving over the leather seat. He quickly licked his lips and finally made it to the countryside with one last sharp turn that made the tires squeal.

His forehead was damp with sweat and he panted heavily as he stomped on the brake on the side of the highway, stirring up dust from the gravel and dirt.

Starla was surely going to vomit all over Marcu's fine leather seats if he didn't pull her out soon.

"Keep your damn mouth closed!”

-----------------------------------------------------------

{Salieri's Restaurant}

Sam was busying his time with a game of billiards with Carlo when they both heard, over the radio, that Don Morello's private auction had been put on an indefinite hold.

Carlo put down his stick and eyed Sam from across the billiards table.

"Shit, gotta get Tom an' Paulie outta there!" Trapani sighed and mindlessly replaced his playing stick in its proper place, moving unblinkingly into the other room and up the flight of stairs to Salieri's office.

Sam didn't bother to knock, seeing that the door was already open and Salieri was waving him in.

"I heard the news," Salieri said with a little sigh from his desk, keeping his composure and staring knowingly across the way at Sam, who also, despite everything, managed to remain calm.

"Take some muscle, and Sam, get our boys back!" Salieri told him with a nod and Trapani nodded in return.

"Yes, boss!"

----------------------

{Corleone Hotel}



Something wasn't right.

By the time that Tom reached the back of the hotel, his breathing was far from unsteady, his mind panicked.

Traffic looked a mess as he peeked over the side of the grand hotel. People seemed to be going back to their vehicles ‐ some even getting hostile towards the on-duty officers.

The street lights, amber headlights of the cars, and the opening lights directed at the hotel entrance illuminated much of the surrounding area, but Tommy wasn't going in through the front.

He was going in through the back.

.

Tommy carefully opened the door, earning himself a creak, and continued to keep his head down after slipping into what looked to be the kitchen.

The smells in the air were savory and warm, making him ravenous, when just seconds ago, he was feeling ill. Somebody was sure to be close by, considering the amount of food laid on the counters and boiling on the stove top.

He had to be extra careful.

-----------------


Marcu had thrown Starla out onto the shoulder of the road, and she lifted herself off the ground, unsteadily onto her hands and knees.

The air was cool against her blood and gore spattered skin, and her once elegant updo was now in a state of disarray.

Long pretty pale blonde locks matted together with blood and fleshy bits of Bernadette.

"You ruined everything, you stupid whore!" Morello shouted into the darkness of the eerily vacant highway, brandishing Starla's switchblade as he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet.

She cried out, her tears having made a mess of her makeup.

"You stole from me!" He barked and held her tightly when he slashed her good across the cheek. Paying no mind to the string of red that connected to the blade for a second before spattering onto his white shoes.


"Agh!" Starla babbled out in pain, feeling the warmth of her own blood pour down her cheek. Her hands trying in vain to stick up and defend its vulnerable human vessel.

Soon, passing vehicles livened up the otherwise dead highway, but that was all they did. Pass by like they didn't just see Don Morello viciously assaulting some floozy.

He growled and raised his lip, proud of the damage and fear he'd caused, pulling the small woman closer until her arms were pinned against his broad chest.

His breath was sickeningly warm and smelled of mint and tobacco.

"I could kill you for all the shit you pulled, darling, but," He began lowly and rather, ravenously, his dark cocoa eyes flitting between hers before grazing themacross her trembling lips.

She winced at the pressure of his fingernails suddenly digging into her scalp and flashed open her soiled eyes.

Starla could try her damnedest to pry the bloody switchblade from Morello's giant hand, but she had a far simpler plan.

It wouldn't be easy ‐ far from it, but it could save her life.


Without wasting anymore time, Starla got on her toes and pressed her snotty lips into Morello's, pinching her eyes shut as she brushed herself against him.

She could distract him for a moment ‐ grab the switchblade and jab the tip straight into his gut and twist.

But Morello was a clever man.

He let out a wild grunt when he threw her into the side of his vehicle with a single flick of his wrist and shot her a wicked sneer.

"S-sir, noh, ah' cahn', ah' doah wan' ta' die, please!" Starla shakily begged, obviously weakened from the collision into the vehicle, struggling to stand again.

Morello, too, was spotted in Bernadette's blood and flesh, more so than Starla.

He had been the one to shoot her and cave her beautiful face in with just his two fists.

It was a show of dominance.

"You were my best girl, Starla, but you betrayed my trust – you are no longer useful to me, doll," As he was casually mumbling on, Starla stared with wide eyes, watching him pull out a fine revolver from his white blazer and point it down at her.

It was the same one he killed Bernadette with.

"N-noh...!"

BAANG!

She had been shot, but not in the head.

Right in the gut.

Everything around her went pitch black and frigid.

Starla's senses weren't working like they were meant to, and in just a matter of seconds, she fell into a realm of nothingness.

....

"I gotchu', honey!" A strange voice rang in her ears, but that was all her senses, her brain, could recognize. They were just words. No emotion, no infliction.

Chapter Text

....

She had only come to once.

Her stitches were still nice and taut, and all the ugly colors were finally fading, blending into the natural paleness of her skin.

Tommy's broken nose had healed up nicely after being snapped back into place, and so had Paulie's leg gash. All that Sam suffered during the night of that job was pain in the gut of his ego after having his overcoat spattered in blood.

A few days passed since then and Starla had been holed up in the doc's house where she was being monitored and taken care of while unconsciousness kept her bed-ridden.

.

"I still can't believe the amount a' luck that was on our side that night!" Paulie chirped after taking another swig from his glass of whiskey, leaning back in the booth to get comfortable.

Sam hummed and took a hit of his cigarette, looking out the window for a second.

"Morello's gonna be on the look out fer the girl, but the Don's gotta plan," Sam casually replied, gazing over at Paulie and then shooting Tom a look across the table.

Tom pursed his lips and tapped his fingers on the table, leaning back.

"I could take 'er in, let 'er stay with me for a bit," He commented lowly with a little shrug, and both Paulie and Sam snapped their eyes on him like he had said something strange.

Lombardo looked at Sam and raised a bushy brow, smirking, before grazing his eyes back to Tom.

Sam, too, raised a brow in curiosity and sat back, ashing his cigarette without taking his eyes off Tom.

"An' have Morello's goons bust down yer door? Bad move, kid!" Trapani quipped and took another hit of his cigarette, scratching an itch on his jaw.

The boys went silent, save for Paulie's slurping from the glass in his hand.

Sarah left the bar and kindly offered Paulie another refill, grazing her eyes over to Tommy before walking away. Sam raised his brows and sat upright, narrowing his ashy blue eyes at the man seated across from him. Lip twitching.

Tommy swallowed hard and flicked his eyes over to Paulie who was happily enjoying his drink. Eyes staring off in Sarah's direction.

"She's just a kid, Sam, besides, the doc has his own shit ta' deal with, an' if any fool comes bangin' on my door, they're gettin' shot on sight!" Tommy assured the older mafioso and immediately, Paulie reacted with one of his obnoxious nasally chuckles.

"Damn right, Tommy!" Lombardo cheered with a raise of his glass and Tommy smiled, casually pulling out his cigarette case from his blazer breast pocket. Giving Sam a look as he put a fresh smoke between his lips.

Sam licked his lips and crushed his cigarette with slight aggression into the ash tray, a little crease in his brows, nudging Paulie so he could get out of the booth.

"Better let the boss know, if that's what yer trying ta' do, Tom," Trapani said carelessly, unblinking as he shot Tom and Paulie one last look before waltzing into the backroom.

It was bizarre to Tom how Sam could shut everything off just as easily as shutting off the lights. But, it was how he chose to live. How he best handled things.

Paulie threw back the last bit of the whiskey and slammed the glass down on the table with an obnoxious belch to which Tom gave a frown.

"Up fer’ a game a' pool, Tom?" The burly mafioso asked, slapping Tommy on the back, nearly knocking the breath out of him, and he gave Paulie a faint smile and shook his head.

"Nah, I'm good, I'm probably gonna check with the doc an' see how the girl's doin'," Tom rasped and Paulie nodded, sliding out of the booth.

"Tell tha' doc I says hi!" He loudly added and strutted up to the bar for another round or two of whiskey. Tommy waved at Paulie and flashed Sarah a friendly smile before leaving the quiet restaurant with his mind set on one thing.

.

Her heart, it was still beating, and her eyes, they were still able to see.


Where was she? And where the hell was Morello?


"Oh, why hello there!" An unfamiliar voice spooked Starla from her groggy head space and just like that, all of her senses came rushing back, causing her to panic and lurch forward.

"No, no, don't do that, dear, you'll irritate the stitches!" Said the unfamiliar man as he grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back down onto the bed.

Starla frowned and immediately curled in on herself from the hot stinging sensation in her lower abdomen.

The doctor stood from her bedside and hurried out of the room to fetch a glass of water and a clean wash rag. After he soon returned, the man set the glass of water down on the bedside table and carefully seated himself at her side, looking down at her.

"How are you feeling, dear?" The generous stranger queried, showing an aura of confidence as he gently touched the back of his hand to Starla's clammy forehead.

She swallowed hard and darted her eyes about the room.

Truthfully, she felt nauseous and on the verge of falling unconscious but was she about to tell the stranger that?

The girl shook her head and furrowed her brows, causing a slight confusion in the doctor's presence.

"Well," He started and put the cool rag to Starla's forehead before dabbing it on her rosy cheeks.

"You are quite the lucky gal!" The man assured her with a little smile, but that smile of his faded as soon as he looked over her facial scar.

The stitches across her cheek were taut just like the ones across her abdomen, and the swelling was gone with a bit of rogue bruising in its wake. Starla tilted her head slightly to the side and quirked a brow as she looked at the doctor.

"Wha' happ'nt, mister?" McKinny asked and the confused expression on her face told the doctor that she truly had no idea what had happened.

There was then a moment of silence and the doctor drew away the rag from the young woman's face, turning his eyes toward the wall for a time. He let out a sigh and returned his attention to Starla, but the sudden knocking at the front door got him up in a hurry.

"I will be right back, dear!" He assured her and set the rag down before leaving the dimly lit room again.

There she was, all alone once again, but this time she was in an unfamiliar place that smelled of warm vanilla, rubbing alcohol, and musk.

It was the home of a generous man, who surely had to have a wife.

Footsteps and muttering voices could be heard from beyond the open doorway and Starla gripped the top of the covers, hoping that if she draped herself with them, she'd disappear.

That didn't happen, and she was only left embarrassed when the doctor returned to her bedside and gently tugged on the covers.

"Starla, dear, this is Mr. Angelo, he has been coming to see you since the, uh, incident!" The doctor kindly informed her, and the moment her eyes flicked up at Tommy, her cheeks flushed something awful.

Tommy removed his hat and examined her with a smile. Hoping not to look too concerned.

"You're healing pretty good!" The mafioso quipped and Starla pinched the covers, pulling them up to try and conceal her flustered self.

She still hardly had any idea why she was there, and Mr. Angelo was making it hard for her to want to figure out why.

Starla remained silent, flicking her eyes back and forth between the two men.

Tommy's brows twitched and he looked over at the doctor.

"She doesn't know what happened, does she?" He quietly asked.

The doctor shook his head, seeming as disappointed as Tommy. But it wasn't all that bad. Not being able to remember what had happened to her wasn't such a terrible thing.

---------

{Vincenzo's shop}

He chugged from the half full bottle of whiskey and let out a wild belch, slumping his ass against the work table behind him as he stared into oblivion.

Hoping tonight he wouldn't drink himself to sleep.

They all knew it was Vincenzo who had found that girl the night of Morello’s auction and sure, Salieri and the boys praised him for being at the right place at the right time, but, Vinnie couldn't help feeling like all of the attention was being put on Tommy.

"Kid's gotta crush, tha's all!" Vinnie belched again after another swig and laughed to himself before setting the bottle down and looking over his weaponry.

Chapter Text

.... 



 An entire week went by which had been more than enough time for Starla to completely heal when the stitches had been carefully taken out.  
 

Her discombobulated thoughts were set on one thing, and that was to find Morello and get back her belongings, but Ennio had planned an arrangement to meet her in advance.  
 

She had said her goodbye's and thank you's to the generous doctor, even gave him a gentle hug, and that same morning, she had been encountered by Mr. Angelo and a pair of finely dressed men at his sides.  
 

Starla hadn't gone so easily, but with some gentle persuasion on Tommy's part, she had gotten into the car, having sat as close to the door as possible while the man on her left had watched her as he had smoked.  
 

It had been the most uncomfortable car ride she had ever experienced.  
 
----------- 
 
{Salieri's Restaurant}  
 
 
 

Starla was quite the firecracker, which was to be expected of someone so young, and especially after having been coaxed into the back of a mysterious car.  
 

She had already been at Salieri's for an hour, fussing and hardly paying any attention to Ennio and his boys, and they weren't even half way through the meeting.  
 

Paulie manned the door so there was no chance of the girl making an escape, while Tommy did his best to keep her calm.  
 

"Hey, sweetheart, come sit down, we still have much to talk about, and if you keep up with your wild antics, you won't be leaving any time soon and I know that's what you want," Ennio assured her and gave her a kind smile from across the table.  
 

Sam took another hit of his cigarette before exhaling shortly after and taking a sip from his cup of coffee.  
 

He casually leaned back in the chair and watched the blonde girl trying to push Paulie out of the way. It was quite amusing, and it certainly was to the burly Soldato, who hardly budged.  
 

Tommy shot a quick glance over his shoulder at Salieri who gave him a nod.  
 

And, with that go to gesture from the boss, Tom lurched at Starla from behind and grabbed her arms, carefully locking them behind her back.  
 

"You're safe here, its alright!" Tommy tried to reassure her, but she was quite the ball of energy. And he couldn't blame her.  
 

"Leh meh outta here!" She cried out, struggling against Tommy's secure grip. Her long blonde hair flying all around her and her flat cap falling to the floor.  
 

Paulie let out a low nasally chuckle and bent over to pick up the girl's hat.  
 

"Ain't going nowhere actin' like that, dollface!" Lombardo's careless expression slightly hardened as he fluffed out the hat, brushed it off, and nonchalantly stuck it back atop Starla's head.  
 

She shot him a wicked glare and flared out her nostrils, watching the corner of his lips curl into a grin.  
 
 
She wasn't fighting much anymore, seeing that they weren't getting any closer to finishing up whatever this ordeal was, and she finally allowed herself to relax a bit in Tom's loose grip.  
 

"Ah' just want'a see mama again, an' tell'er ahm' sorry!" McKinny quickly signaled defeat with a pitiful sigh and a drop of her head.  
 

Her thoughts were as chaotic as a tornado and it was made evident to Salieri and his boys from the language her body was speaking. 
 
. 
 
All was quiet in the stuffy meeting room for a moment before Sam shifted in his seat and stood up. Tom and Paulie immediately transferred their attention onto Trapani as he waltzed over to Starla and just stood there before her. Blowing smoke from his lips.  
 

"Caitlyn's a wonderful dame, but she ripped me off," Sam's aloof confession made Starla lift her head and behold him with tears in her eyes.  
 

He then puffed from his cigarette, eyes narrowed with the smooth intake, and exhaled the smoke to the side without looking away from the girl's eyes.  
 

Paulie and Tom shared a stupefied expression before they flicked their eyes over onto Salieri.  
 

"A-ah' don' unterstant!" Starla shook her head and pulled in her bottom lip, feeling a sudden sense of fear bubbling up inside her gullet as she gazed up into Trapani's smoky blue eyes.  
 

Salieri cleared his throat and his boys then solely  focused their attention on him. Including the girl.  
 

"I've known the McKinny's since they immigrated to the city in 1919," Ennio calmly admitted, taking a sip from his coffee. Tommy gulped and Paulie frowned.  
 

"And ya' knew 'bout this, Sam?" Paulie lowly inquired, unfolding his arms from his chest, quirking a brow as he looked at his older associate. 
 

Sam just shrugged and released another cloud of smoke into the room.  
 

"Some things are better left unsaid but tha' boss's girl had ta' go and get herself picked up by Morello," Trapani said indifferently and danced his heavy eyes back onto Starla.  
 

"Ah'm no one's girl, an' ah' doah know you, mister, ah' doah know any a' youse!" Starla barked and started fighting against Tommy's hold once again.  
 
 
Nothing made sense.  

Chapter Text

.... 

It wasn't papa's love for the bottle that had pushed mama away. That was a blatant lie Caitlyn had told her little girl to spare her the heartache when she got older. 
 

Paulie and Tom couldn't believe what they had heard. Neither could Starla.  
 

"Our affair didn't last much longer after Don Peppone caught word," Ennio said with a sigh that sounded a lot like one of relief, and looked down into his coffee mug. 
 

Paulie looked down and furrowed his brows in a way that reflected a range of emotions. Tommy then exhaled through his nose as he sat Starla down in his chair and held her shoulders. Sam, he stayed standing and sauntered over to Salieri's side like a loyal hound.  
 

"Mama was a-a whore from ta' start?" Starla's voice cracked and hearing herself utter such a crude word about her mother made her sick.  
 

Her teary eyes looked off toward Salieri and she began to blubber the second that he nodded.  
 

She suddenly bowed her head and sobbed into her hands. Tommy swallowed hard and unwittingly dug his fingertips into her shoulders. He shortly trailed his eyes off to Paulie who was sat at the table beside Starla, silent and lost in thought.  
 

Somehow, all of the cigarette smoke was getting to Tom, and he got caught up in a coughing fit.  
 

He was flustered and did a terrible job at hiding it, but no one paid him any mind.  
 

"Ya' coulda' told me, boss," Paulie spoke up loudly in a quick attempt to drown out Starla's cries, and voice his obvious disgruntlement. Brows furrowed and body turned in Salieri's direction.  
 
 
"You know now, and so does the girl!" Salieri assured Paulie with a nod and directed his boys' attention to Starla with a wave of his hand.  
 

She continued to sob and Tommy squeezed her shoulders after catching his breath, eyes looking toward Paulie who shifted in his chair, tapping his thick finger atop the table.  
 

"That washed up broad stole from Sam an' tried to strangle me, boss, and we got 'er rat of a daughter sitting right there, trying ta' sway us with 'er blubbering!" Paulie roared but maintained his composure, moving forward in his chair. Exploding in front of the Don was a mistake Paulie had only made once.  
 

Sam flicked his eyes onto Starla, watching her slightly wriggle under Tom's hands, and Salieri finished his lukewarm coffee, sitting back in his chair, and taking in his enforcer's reasonable ramble.  
 

"The girl will not mess with the family, Paulie, and she knows that, don't you, sweetheart?" Ennio transfixed his eyes onto Starla, seated to the left of Paulie, and watched her submissively raise her head.  
 

Her hazel eyes sparkled underneath the fair illumination in the room and she nodded.  
 

Tommy eyed Paulie suspiciously and pursed his lips.  
 

"So you all know this girl?" Tommy soon asked, confusion and curiosity taking over, and Salieri, Sam, and Paulie all looked at one another before turning their eyes onto Tom.  
 

"Tha' Don an' I do, but not Paulie, he only knows tha' girl's whore of a mother," Sam answered casually, taking a long hit of his new cigarette before sitting back down at the table across from Paulie.  
 

"I honestly had no idea tha' whore had a kid, Tom,  but man, ain't that woman a real kick in tha' teeth - woulda' robbed me blind too if Sam weren't there!" Paulie half laughed before falling silent when the girl started crying again.  
 

Sam leaned back in his chair, finishing his coffee, and Salieri scratched his chin. Paulie drummed his fingers atop the table, and Tom made a face as he pulled out a handkerchief from his leather jacket pocket, and showing it to Starla.  
 

He didn't say anything and the girl took it with a sniffle.  
 

Sam scoffed and Paulie hummed.  
 

"Heh, such a softie with the dames, I tell ya'!"  Teased Paulie with a low nasally chuckle, patting the top of his hair for the hell of it. The burly mafioso loved his hair even more than he loved getting laid, which he absolutely loved.  
 

Starla frowned at Paulie's unnecessary remark and wiped her eyes with Tom's musky handkerchief, nearly losing herself to his smell after brushing it along her dribbly nose. 
 

"T'ank you," The girl muttered bashfully, handing Tommy's handkerchief back, which he took with a warm smile.  
 

All eyes were on them, and Paulie had even drastically shifted in his chair just to witness the silent affection between Tommy and the girl.  
 

Sam blew a plume of smoke into the air, letting it float above his hairline, relaxing in the silence.  
 

"Anyways, boss, what's tha' plan with tha' girl, an' what about Morello? Don't ya' think he's out lookin' fer her?" Paulie inquired, leaning slightly back in his chair. 
 

Salieri blinked and rubbed his chin in thought.  
 

"She will work in the kitchen where she won't be seen, and she will do so until Marcu's search goes cold," Salieri announced, pulling out a cigar he had in his vest pocket and settling it on the edge of the ashtray while he continued on with the plan.  
 

Giving his mafiosos and Starla his full attention.  
 

What he was about to utter next was going to sit like bile in the back of Tommy's throat.  
 

"Once everything calms down, she will do her part at the motel, but be treated with respect and be properly taken care of," He finished, flashing his boys a knowing look, which they understood.  
 

Starla didn't like what Salieri had said, and it caused her to abruptly lurch out of the chair and scurry over to the door.  
 

Tommy and Paulie reacted immediately. The legs on Paulie's chair scraping across the floor as he got up.  
 

The door had been locked from the outside by Carlo, so her constant jingling of the knob was only causing her mind more panic when she realized the door wasn't going to open, even after ramming her shoulder into its solid frame.  
 

"Calm down, sweetheart, it's gonna be alright!" Tommy smoothly uttered, being the only one allowed to get near Starla. Hands extended in a gentle manner.  
 

Paulie flicked his eyes onto Tom and then back onto huffing girl.  
 

"Gotta be a good girl an' listen!" Lombardo lowly remarked.  
 

She shook her head rapidly after turning to the gentlemen in the room and thumping her back against the door.  
 

Salieri settled the cigar between his lips and lit it up with a matchstick, puffing a few times before withdrawing it. Sam inhaled from his cigarette and held it for a while before slowly expelling the smoke as he and Salieri watched a new scene unfold.  
 

"Starla, you will be taken care of, I promise, just relax and we will get this meeting wrapped up pronto!" Ennio said softly and met her eyes with a smile but she was too afraid to return the gesture, only lashing out at Tommy when he'd get too close.  
 

There was no way Paulie was getting anywhere near Starla without her going into full fight mode.  
 

"I want ta see mama!" She growled and angrily wiped tears from her flushed cheeks, keeping her back pinned to the door.  
 

Her chest heaved and her eyes darted. 
 

Salieri nodded and puffed some more on his cigar.  
 

"Come sit back down, and we will let you see her, just relax, Starla, you are in safe hands now!" 

 
  Somehow, she didn't believe Don Salierl. 

Chapter Text

.... 

There was a whole new set of rules to follow, when before, which seemed so long ago now, there was none.  
 

But, surprisingly enough, a tiny part of Starla felt safe. For once since her immigration to the warful city.  
 
 
Salieri gave off a bizarre sense of gentleness that she wasn't used to, but she equally respected and feared him for it.  
 

He knew exactly how to properly run an underground business. 
 

His words, his rules, played like a mantra inside Starla's clouded head.  
 

They were simple. 
 

Be respectful. 
 

Be a lady. 
 

Be kind. 
 

She liked the way his voice uttered them, and how his smile reached his honey-hued eyes with each word.  
 
. 
 
The meeting wasn't yet over. Even if Starla's stomach rumbled and Paulie got a bit antsy.  
 

"One thing I want to make clear with you, Starla, is that you will not be keeping any of my boys company, not yet, I want to see you grow as a woman and bring life to the motel first!" Salieri explained ecstatically, raising his hands off the table to get his point across and make the girl feel more comfortable.  
 

Paulie and Tom gave each other a look, and Paulie sat forward in his chair again, curious about Salieri's motel plans.  
 

Sam already knew how things were going to go.  
 

Starla, quieter than ever, looked down at the table top, took in its natural color under its varnished shine, and swallowed hard, picking her nails under the table.  
 

"I neet ta' know what happent ta' me, Mr. Salieri, sir!" She finally spoke up, meekly, but nonetheless, uttered words that they all could hear when she lifted her head, and gave Salieri her eyes.  
 

There was so much smoke permeating the room that the pollution of it caused her eyes to dry out and her throat to tickle.  
 

Salieri nodded and ashed his cigar.  
 

"Of course you do, sweetheart, and I will talk more with Vincenzo about it after getting you settled," The Don reassured the girl with a warm smile and she put her hands over her stomach as it rumbled.  
 

"About the motel, boss, how are we gonna keep the girl a secret? S'only been a few weeks since takin' it back," Tommy curiously asked, placing his hands on the back of Starla's chair, and Salieri saw it as a good question. But, he already had it all planned out.  
 

Sam grazed his eyes onto Salieri and took another hit of his cigarette before setting it on the ashtray.  
 

"Go ahead, Sam, you know the plan, tell the boys!"  The Don happily insisted and leaned back comfortably in his chair.  
 

Paulie flicked his eyes onto Sam and Tom coughed. Starla, she couldn't handle lingering in Trapani's cold gaze for too long, so she kept her head down.  
 

"So, plan is, we keep the doors open ta' the people we protect," Sam casually explained, plucking his cig from the ashtray to steal another hit.  
 

"As fer' the outta' towners and the rest a' the city not directly involved with Morello, they're required ta' pay extra, show proper identification, and they are then free ta' enjoy their stay at the Don's motel, simple as that!" Trapani finished with a shrug and a slight tug of a grin.  
 

Paulie lifted a bushy brow and leaned back, laying his hands over his lap, humming in contemplation. Tom also thought over the plan, and it sounded legitimate. Salieri's plans always were. But, Tommy couldn't help thinking about Starla and her role in the new racket of the family's.  
 

Weren't they doing exactly what Morello had done but without the maliciousness and intent to cause the girl harm?  
 

"Whose gonna look after the girl?" Tommy was quick to question, now leaning his arm across the back of Starla's chair, finally getting tired of standing.  
 

Starla would've turned her head to look at him, but he was so close to her that every word he spoke left goosebumps on her skin.  
 

Her cheeks flushed from the sudden heat crawling up her neck, and she used her hair as a barrier to keep the men from noticing while they conversed.  
 

"I have a couple a' guys who will be on watch duty during her stay at the motel," Salieri collectedly answered and bit his cigar.  
 

Starla kept her eyes closed and delved as deep as she could, into her own scattered mind to try and find the lost memories of her time spent under the control of Marcu Morello. There were only bits and pieces.  
 

"Can't I go out at all?" The Irishwoman queried, her rough accented voice grabbing the attention of the others around the table.  
 

Salieri puffed on his cigar before setting it back down.  
 

"The only way you're gonna have independence like that, Starla, is if you change your entire look and learn to speak like one of us, do you understand?" The Don answered and watched her brows furrow.  
 

The scar across her cheek was quite a distraction, which Sam had already mentioned many times to Salieri.  
 

Tommy suddenly put a hand over her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.  
 

"I ton't want t'at, sir, can't t'ere be anoter way?" Starla garbled and pulled her hat from her head, twisting it in her hands.  
 

Salieri made an uncertain expression  and shrugged.  
 

"I can't risk business, sweetheart, you know the kind of people we are, so, if you want some independence, you're gonna have to change everything about yourself, and to be honest," He began, his fatherly tone smooth. Eyes solely fixed on Starla. 
 

"I'd hate to see that happen," Ennio admitted and admirably looked her over from his seat. 
 

She felt a long-lasting uneasiness wash over her and was surprised to find out that she was blushing.  
 

Before anymore time could be wasted, Salieri put his hands in the air and smiled brightly at everyone. 
 

"Anywho, whose hungry?" 

Chapter Text

.... 

 He knew that the girl was alive. 
 

Morello had shot her in the gut for a reason.  
 

The man wanted her to live in fear of him. 
 

Wanted her pretty eyes to always be looking over her shoulder through any alleyway or busy street she'd wander.  
 

Morello wanted Starla to know, that no matter what happened, no matter the amount of makeup she'd use to try and conceal her scar, no matter how many eyes she'd gaze up into, and, no matter the bottles of booze she'd guzzle down, she'd always see his face. 
 
 
Feel his hot breath.  
 

Hear his words, taste his poison on her tongue, and, catch a hint of his masculine scent whenever the wind blew. 
 
. 
 

He had paid Caitlyn a lovely little visit at the Corleon hotel.  
 

She hadn't been busy at the time of his unexpected arrival, and had gotten more of Marcu's attention than she ever had in the past.  
 

He had lusted after Caitlyn the first time that he had seen her cavorting with Ennio in the shadows of the city streets, but Don Peppone would never had allowed his boys to get romantically involved with a whore.  
 

Salieri's secret had gotten out on that very same night.  
 
. 
 

As Marcu peered down into Caitlyn's teary jade eyes, he gave a boastful smile. Allowing it to grow so wide that many of his facial muscles ached.  
 

Marcu hadn't laid with a whore in over 10 years, and he wasn't about to do so now, despite the lovely display of skin Caitlyn put on.  
 
 
"Your precious daughter is a whore now, too," The ballistic man roared into the flushed skin of the woman's cheek, his weight causing her to sink deeper into the mattress, and stifle her sobs.  
 

Marcu's thick hands remained on either side of her head, having pinned her long, wavy locks of red hair, while he kept her caged to the bed.  
 

"But, she's a hell of a lot better than you ever were!" His degrading bark left Caitlyn conflicted. She had no idea which emotions to convey as Marcu had an explosive personality and anything, at any given time, could set him off.  
 

He reeked of cleanliness and shoe polish, and with those given scents, Caitlyn's face powder, and skin cream created quite the overwhelming concoction that permeated the entire room.  
 

"She, she's a goot gurl, Marcu, n-not a whore!" Caitlyn meekly uttered, cheek cradled in the sheets and knuckles turned white from death-gripping the sheets at her sides.  
 

Morello scoffed behind his smirking lips and grabbed a hold of the whore's face, forcing her to look up into his eyes.  
 

"You'd love to think that your only child was a good girl, wouldn't you?" The man in white snarled, showing his canines, and squeezed his knees tighter around Caitlyn's hips.  
 

She pinched her eyes closed, letting silent tears roll down her temples, sickened by the fact that Morello couldn't stop himself from chuckling.  
 

He lived to control others. 
 

It was a rush, an unexplainable kind of high that even his filthiest sexual encounter couldn't match.  
 

"Your girl has been marked, doll, and she knows who now rules her world!" Marcu lowly boasted and out of nowhere, gingerly grabbed Caitlyn's throat, caressed it with his rough fingers before adding his other hand to take the life from her.  
 

The whore immediately kicked her legs and clawed at the man's hands, gagging and fluttering her eyes at the immense pressure. 
 

With every panicked inhalation, the walls of her throat further closed, his thumbs pressed down, and she tasted and gargled her own blood.  
 

He was too strong for Caitlyn to defend herself from, but she couldn't give up so easily. Morello wasn't going to be the last person that she saw. 
 

"Ending your pathetic life will have your whore of a daughter running right back to me!" He grunted and shifted his weight above the struggling whore, squeezing harder, intently watching her pretty aged face turn sickly blue. 
 

Caitlyn's eyes fluttered closed and she ceased her kicking, coughing blood.  
 

"P-pl-please!" She suddenly managed to garble, only further marking Morello's face in her blood and spit, leaving crescent indents in his brutalizing hands.  
 

Morello deepened his gaze and unexpectedly pressed his lips into Caitlyn's, feeling the dryness of her plush lips.  
 

He continued to strangle her and pressed his body flush to her, crushing her to the bed, and viciously pierced his tongue through her colorless lips, tasting her blood.  
 

It required certain things to awaken Marcu's libido, and hearing the whore gargle and gasp, feeling her only slightly struggle now, got his blood pumping.  
 
. 
 

Caitlyn's light was fading fast, and her pulse was slowing down.  
 

Marcu swallowed her every gasp as he sloppily kissed her, loosening his grip when he knew that she was finally gone.  
 

He then slowly pulled his lips from hers, a thin string of blood connecting them, and he licked it away before moving off the deceased woman, and casually straightening out his blazer.  
 

"See you, sweetheart!" Marcu plainly added as he left the room and didn't bother to close the door, sauntering down the hall. 

Chapter Text

.... 

Starla had made quite a bit of cash working at the Don's motel, waitressing and entertaining men in the late hours of the night.  
 

The men who came around were respectful, and never once questioned why they weren't allowed to properly fuck her. The deal she'd made with Salieri was that whatever she was willing to do was fine with him, whether that'd be penetrative sex or oral.  
 

She had informed him of her experience with men.  
 

Straight up lied to his face when she had told him that she had had sex before but had been brutalized by past lovers and clients while under Morello's rule.  
 

Starla had more to offer the men that frequented the motel than just her body, and Salieri's respect for her had grown immeasurably.  
 

Some men paid extra just to listen to her talk in her native tongue or massage away their aches with her silky, skilled hands.  
 

Not every man that came to the motel to see Starla wanted her body. And not every man was just any Joe shmoe.  
 

Sam and Paulie had come around a couple of times between them, out of curiosity, not for pleasure, to see what all the hubbub was about.  
 

Starla McKinny wasn't like any other whore residing in the city. She was young and too innocent for her own good.  
 

She slightly intimidated Paulie, but in a way that kept his curiosity.  
 
. 
 
After pulling taut the back of her velvet crimson corset and flattening the front of her black skirt, Starla inhaled and exhaled softly from her mouth, looking herself over in the full-length mirror in the corner of her room.  
 

The weather was gloom but the fragrant mid-spring breeze seeped into the room through the open window, bringing a little smile to her face.  
 

She was getting ready to meet her next client, and who was one of her favorites. 
 

He was going to be here any minute.  
 

While waiting, Starla made sure that everything was perfect.  
 

Her makeup was light, her long, pale blonde hair was pinned up in a girlish bun, her mother's pearl earrings sparkled in the slit of sudden sunshine, and her body was scantily yet beautifully clothed in his favorite outfit.  
 

The bed was made and her floral perfume filled the welcoming space.  
 

She batted her eyes when the door creaked open and her well-groomed client entered the room. A genuine smile brightened her pretty face at the sight of Vincenzo, and he gave her a little waggle of his brow and a charming grin.  
 

"Always such a doll, aint ya?" He purred and closed the door as he delightfully ogled her and licked his lips.  
 

Starla bashfully looked down and brushed a tendril of hair behind her ear with her fingertips, listening to Vinnie's soft creeping footsteps.  
 

He was tall and handsome. Gentle and kind.  
 

When he got close enough to her, Vincenzo settled his heavy hands upon her hips and slowly backed her up into the side of the bed.  
 

She sat down, her heavy hazel eyes focused on his, and knew exactly what to do, until he grabbed her hands in his and shook his head.  
 

Starla gave way to a little frown, but when Vincenzo touched his thumb to her chin, and directed his head to the bed, she knew to lay back.  
 

"I ton't —" She was immediately cut off with a finger to her lips.  
 

"I wanna taste you this time, princess, s'that alright?" He asked with a warm smile, not moving another muscle until Starla gave him an answer.  
 

She never had a man ravish her before, but the idea was enticing. 

Chapter Text

.... 

Starla laid upon the cotton sheets as delicately as a porcelain doll, gazing up at Vincenzo with the warmest of eyes.  
 

Her first physical wasn't until next week, and Vinnie didn't know of any of her past sexual escapades or if she had been sullied by the hands of disease, but what he did know was that the girl had no visible filth.  
 

She was perfect in his eyes.  
 
. 
 

It was always a bit strange how Salieri had his boys get poked and prodded, yet after their mostly clean results, none of them were still allowed to fuck the pretty Irishwoman, whether it'd be with their cocks or fingers. 
 

And anal sex was never spoken of, although Paulie was pretty crass and open about some of the things he did at the Blue Tropics, especially when he and Sam got to drinking after a stressful job.  
 

Tom usually tried not to stick around too long after Sam would get drunk, as he knew well that he'd only add perverted fuel to Paulie's obscene flame.  
 
 
"Ya' got us all by the balls, dontcha' know that, sweetness?" Vincenzo teased in his usual low, raspy tone, bending slightly at the waist to grab Starla's feet which were dangling off the foot of the bed.  
 

Starla reflexively jerked at the man's unexpected handling and lifted up on her elbows, parting her lips to let out a hurried breath.  
 

Vinnie quirked an ashy brow at her and slowly towered over her. Arms on either side of her.  
 

Mr. Ricci was old enough to be her father, and more than half her size. He nearly resembled Marcu's overwhelming body structure, which was more than enough to send her into a brief cerebral panic.  
 
. 
 

The things he'd usually pay for were handjobs and the girl's healing massages. And, as much as it would excite him to ravage her throat and make a mess of her pretty face with his cock, Vinnie cared too much about her to make his day dreams a reality. 
 

"Ey doll, what's the matter?" Vinnie asked, showing genuine concern as he stroked her temple with his fingertips, and leaned his lips into her ear.  
 

The bedframe and springs creaked under his weight any time he'd move, and Starla began to tremble.  
 

Vincenzo was immediately alarmed and cautiously left the bed, looking down at Starla curled into a ball.  
 

"Oh princess, don't do that, what can I do?" Vincenzo felt real worry for her and truly wanted to make her feel better.  
 

"H-he's gonna kill me too!" The girl quietly sobbed and buried her wet face into the pillow above her head, turning over onto her belly.  
 

Vinnie sighed and rubbed his forehead.  
 
 
"Morello ain't gonna touch you, never again!" He barked and didn't realize how worked up he had gotten until he noticed his fists.  
 

The mood was entirely ruined but that didn't mean that Vincenzo wanted to leave.  
 

"Ey, I'm here, you can cry to me, darlin'!" He knew that mentioning that bastard wasn't going to solve Starla's problem, so, 
 

Vinnie decided to return to the bed, first sitting down beside her, letting her take her time to get comfortable with him there, and flashing her a toothy smile when she pulled her face from the pillow.  
 

"But, but you pait, ton't ya' want'a be pleast by me?" Starla sniffled, her light mascara hardly leaving any marks on her flushed face, and Vinnie shook his head.  
 

"Not right now, doll," The man rasply replied, wiping away her tears with his thumb.  
 

"Lemme make youse feel better, kay?" Vincenzo said quietly with a nod, flitting his honey eyes between her own, and gently pinching her cheek.  
 

Starla wiped her nose with the back of her hand and moved over, allowing the man to settle down onto the bed beside her. It had been far too long since she had been cared for in such a way, but the girl was quick to revel in the opportunity.  
 

She promptly laid her head against Vinnie's chest,  settled her hand next to her face, and moved in close.  
 

He was a walking heater.  
 

Vincenzo gently chuckled to himself and wrapped his strong tattooed arm around Starla and caressed her face with the other hand.  
 

He'd never admit it, but Vinnie never wanted this moment to end.  
 

During the last few months, Vincenzo had been banned from many of the gentleman's clubs for being too rough with the whores, but with Starla, he only wanted to be gentle.  
 

She was smaller than any woman he had laid with, and had so much life in her still that not many of the city whores possessed.  
 

"Youse can talk to me 'bout anything!" Vinnie quipped and gave her cheek another teasing pinch before turning his head.  
 

Starla breathed in the clean scent of his shirt and the soft hairs sticking out from under the low neckline.  
 

A little hum had escaped Vinnie's chest and Starla's throat tightened and her heart started to beat like a drum.  
 

"Vinnie," She bashfully uttered his name, cheeks aflame, and fingers clenched into the side of his shirt, surely wrinkling the fabric.  
 

He hummed in response, raising a brow and softly tracing the shell of her ear with his thumb.  
 

Her eyes looked up to find his and there was something there that made Starla thoughtlessly react.  
 

She moved upward, her right leg hooked over his waist, and ghosted her lips over his. It was such a bold move that had Vincenzo immediately starving for more.  
 
. 
 

Starla never kissed a man with harmless intention.  
 

The two nights that Mr. Trapani had come around, he had just left one of the gentleman's clubs inside the city, had already gotten his sexual appetites fulfilled for those two evenings, yet he still thought about Starla enough to come into her room, look her over with that bone-chilling stare of his, and touch her face before leaving.  
 

He hadn't said a single word either time.  
 
 
Paulie, he was a bit sweeter than Sam. He had been drinking the two nights he had come to her room.  
 

Plopped down on her bed, called her a silly pet name, before somehow managing to hobble back out of the room and downstairs to play poker with the others.  
 

Sam and Paulie were definitely a strange pair, and maybe they knew her secret. 
 

Maybe they stayed away, didn't pay her, didn't touch her for she was a virgin, and they knew it.  

Chapter Text

.... 


Sneaking booze, it was one of the many things Starla was good at.  
 

She couldn't remember the first time she had ever tasted liquor on her tongue, but she did remember how much better it made her feel, and how, that after a few swigs, every pain, every worry, and every bad memory had vanished.  
 
 
Since being off the streets, for as long as she had, Starla had an almost endless supply of beer, liquor and wine, and, at first, it had been too easy to get her hands on without anyone really taking notice.  
 

She wasn't under Morello's rule anymore, and even though Don Salieri was a kind, respectful man, Starla still felt anxious in his company, and rightly so. He was a powerful man, and a man she had only hoped to forget.  
 
. 
 
Starla had gotten herself dressed in her casual attire, which consisted of brown tweed slacks, black boots, a girlish button up white blouse, a dark plum overcoat, and leather suspenders with a flat cap atop her head.  
 

She'd never be thankful enough for the doctor's generosity in taking care of her and buying her new clothes.  
 

He had been the only man who didn't make her queasy. 
 

She knew that she wasn't safe in Salieri's hands, but he had been respectful and strangely compassionate towards her, but there was no way it was going to last much longer, considering that Ennio Salieri was simply using Starla as a means to make money.  
 

Tonight, she was going to sneak out.  
 
 
From the sounds beyond her bedroom door, Starla immediately could tell that the guards were downstairs playing a game of poker, their rowdiness filling the cool air.  
 

She was the only woman at the motel, and right now, she had free reign of the top floor. 
 

She knew how easy it would be to grab an empty pillow case from any one of the closets and stuff as many valuables into it as possible, but she didn't. Fear was holding her back.  
 

After she snuck out from her room, Starla creeped down the barely visible hallway, aiming straight for the back patio.  
 

She thought to herself, 'too easy', with a little smile, but as soon as she made the final step out that creaky door, and took in the moonlight, the cold barrel of a gun was suddenly pressed square into her temple.  
 

Her lips fell open and her shaking hands lifted up in surrender.  
 

"If you scream, I'll hurt you, so, I suggest ya' do as I say and walk back inside!" Starla knew that voice. It was gravelly and deep. 
 

"I was just—" The girl mumbled and paused, eyes darting all around. Taking in the floor beneath her feet and lifting her head again to gaze at the dark scenery surrounding the dimly lit motel.  
 

"Go!" Tommy barked and grabbed onto Starla's bicep, his grip like a vice.  
 

Starla gulped and slowly turned back around to the open doorway. It was dark inside.  
 

Dark and cold, and she just, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬, she wanted her freedom back 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥. 
 

On the quiet and slow stroll back into the hallway, Starla thought about how kind Tommy had been to her prior to this moment, but that thought quickly dissipated like a cloud of smoke in the air.  
 

Tommy Angelo was a mafioso. He was a bad man. A man that she needed to fear.  
 
 
"Are youse going to tell on meh, Mr. Angelo?" Starla let slip from her mouth and all she got in return from him was a groan and another reminder that he still had a gun pressed against her.  
 

She pinched her eyes closed and swallowed hard.  
 

Booze kept the memories of him away. It kept the trauma from mauling her open like a ravenous bear.  
 

Nobody knew that Starla had gotten back every last painful memory of what Morello had done to her. What his boys had done to her. Nobody but Sarah.  
 
 
Once she was past the threshold of her room, Starla was immediately spun around and caught in Tommy's fiery gaze like a deer in headlights.  
 

He slowly lowered the gun but kept that same hard expression on his face. And, as if he hadn't heard a word she previously said, Tommy opened his mouth and raised the gun again.  
 

"We are bad men, keep that in mind before ya' do somethin' stupid again, ya' understand, Starla?!" He snapped under his breath, not wanting to cause unnecessary attention, staring deeply into her eyes.  
 

There were tears welling in the corners of them, and Tom crinkled his brows and chin before turning on his heels and leaving the room. 
 

He did what had to be done. Salieri needed Starla to be afraid and to know who was in charge at all times.  
 
. 
 
Not long after Tommy had left, Starla fetched her hidden bottle of bourbon from between the mattress and the bedframe, and guzzled a lot of it down before dozing off.  
 

Oh, how she longed to never be afraid of men, but longing for such a thing was merely impossible. 
 

The only kind souls she could confide in were Sarah and sweet Ralphie during her short breaks while working the kitchen at Salieri's restaurant.  
 

Even then, Sam or Paulie would catch her talking, and scold her as if she were some kind of misbehaved child.  
 

Starla didn't feel safe anywhere. 

Chapter Text

.... 

Starla's first physical had went well. 
 
 
Salieri had asked Sarah if she could accompany the girl, to which she had agreed without a second thought.  
 

Carlo had drove the girls to the doctor's home in the early morning. Right about the same time that Morello and Sergio routinely went for a leisurely drive about the countryside. As if doing something normal would ever make them so.  
 
. 
 

Now the doctor knew.  
 

That generous man with the kind eyes and tender touch now knew that Starla was a virgin.  
 

It was embarrassing and deeply upsetting. She had wished to keep any intimate bits like that far away from such a nice man like him, but she had been telling a fool's tale for too long.  
 

There was no way that Don Salieri wasn't about to know now, either, and the made up consequences of her lie were overwhelming.  
 
. 
 

Starla was working in the kitchen with Sarah, cooking up breakfast for the boys before they had to leave to get another job done.  
 

The restaurant wasn't too busy this morning, but the clock upon the wall only read 6:20. The morning rush didn't start until at least 8:00 at Salieri's.  
 

After wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, Starla grabbed both Sam and Paulie's plates, and carefully zigzagged her way past Sarah and the morning cook, and pushing open the door with her back.  
 

The two mafiosos were sitting at the bar, smoking, and talking about their card game from a few nights ago when Starla set the plates down. 
 

Two over-easy eggs, topped with a seasoned tomato slice, two crispy pieces of bacon, and a plain bagel for Sam, and a mess of biscuits and sausage gravy for Paulie.  
 

Sarah usually cooked most of the meals, while Starla took orders and prepared the needed dishes and utensils.  
 

In spite of Salieri's rules, Sarah and Starla became quite close.  
 
. 
 
Before the girl could slink back into the kitchen, Paulie gently smacked the bar with the bottom of his coffee cup, grabbing her attention.  
 

"Refill, dollface!" He quipped and casually rubbed his nose, waiting for Starla to take the stark white porcelain cup from his big hand. She gave him a nervous smile, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and took the cup, gulping when she brushed her fingertips against his warm tinted fingers.  
 

Paulie made a funny face and raised a bushy brow before poking at his meal and taking the first bite.  
 

Sam eyed Starla while he sipped from his coffee, and set it down, examining his meal.  
 

"Heard ya' got a little thing fer' Bertone," Trapani unexpectedly said as cooly as a cat, causing Paulie to stop mid-chew and gaze curiously between him and Starla.  
 

The girl raised her blonde brows and cleared her throat, directing her eyes into Paulie's empty coffee cup in her hand.  
 

Sam bit down into his bagel with a little crunch, watching Starla through his lashes.  
 

"I, no, I ton't, Mr. Trapani, woult ya' like some more coffee?" The girl changed the subject as casually as she could, knowing full well that she shouldn't waste her time on the clock chatting, especially about personal matters.  
 

Salieri's boys were free to pester Starla, as long as they remained focused on what was more important.  
 

"Sure," Sam uttered back and took another bite out of his crisp bagel before poking into his runny eggs with a fork.  
 

He looked down for a short time before refocusing his ashy blue eyes on Starla again, putting the bits of runny eggs into his mouth. 
 

Trapani didn't bother to hand over his cup, so Starla stepped into the space between him and Paulie, and grabbed it, brushing her bare forearm against the slightly soft sleeve of his grey suit. She had hoped not to. McKinny wanted nothing, nothing at all to do with him.  
 

Luigi was back in the kitchen assisting Sarah, and Starla scuttled behind the bar to pour the two mafiosos another cup of black coffee. 
 

The radio on the far end of the bar played a tune that made Paulie gently slap the bar as he ate away at his breakfast while he read the paper.  
 

Starla didn't care about what they did, or even about them, but something about Paulie made her curious.  
 

He was the fun guy.  
 

The guy who liked to have a good time, the guy who always made people smile and laugh.  
 

Whether that was by being a doofus or making a crude joke about the dame he had slept with the night before.  
 

And maybe, he was sweet deep down.  
 

She had also noted that Mr. Lombardo liked to drink. Not purposely, of course not, but there had been late nights at the motel where Starla had found him passed out in one of the rooms. 
 

Three nights in a row. And she thought she had a problem.  
 
. 
 
After Mr. Trapani and Mr. Lombardo left the restaurant, dressed in their finer suits, Starla grabbed their plates and cups, and headed into the kitchen with her hands completely full.  
 

Luigi gave her a friendly smile and went back up to the front while she and Sarah spent the little free time they had to chat.  
 

"What do I do?" Starla quietly asked, leaned against the edge of the sink, fingertips drumming on the cold porcelain.  
 

Sarah pursed her lips and raised her brows, standing before the girl.  
 

"What do ya' mean?"  
 

Starla kept her eyes on the floor, her blonde eyebrows furrowing, lost in contemplation.  
 

Sarah made a face before reaching out to the girl and grabbing her arms. The touch surprised her, but Starla was accepting of it. Not even Vincenzo's gentle touches had made her feel the least bit safe like Sarah's did.  
 

"I, I'm still a virgin, a-and when Mr. Salieri finds out, what will I do?" Starla raised her head and looked straight into Sarah's honey-hued eyes, pulling in her bottom lip to keep it from quivering.  
 

She was afraid, afraid for her life.  
 

Sarah knew that Salieri was a dangerous man, but he wouldn't dare harm Starla. Unless the business was at stake.  
 

How could a girl's virtue ruin anything?  
 

"Don't worry 'bout it, hon, I'll let Don Salieri know that you'll be workin' with me more!" 
 

The older woman's words brought a genuine smile to Starla's face and the two women gazed silently at one another until Sarah dared to gently trace the scar across Star's cheek with her thumb.  
 

Starla reacted by pushing herself from the sink basin and away from Sarah.  
 

Still, without a word, the two women resumed working as if nothing happened.  
 

Sarah should've known that Starla was still going to be bothered by it, but honestly, the girl's scar gave her more character. No matter the history behind it, Starla should look at her scars and see them as a way to be stronger. 

Chapter Text

.... 

During her shift, working mostly in the kitchen at the restaurant, Starla had snuck out back a couple of times to see how Ralphie was doing.  
 

A few Soldato, that usually hung around out back, had teased her about the mechanic and how she wanted to fuck him silly in the back of one of the cars, and luckily for Starla, the soldato had laughed just loud enough for Vinnie to check it out, and order them to leave her alone.  
 

Nobody but Paulie messed with Vincenzo.  
 
 
But, Paulie only played around, and he seemed to be the only Soldato who could take the firearms dealer's beatings.  
 
. 
 
Before Starla and Sarah's shift was over for the night, Salieri made an unexpected appearance, sounding the bell above the front door as he waltzed into the restaurant.  
 

Luigi was busy refilling glasses and carrying them over to one of the booths on a platter. 
 

When Sarah's slightly spooked gaze met Salieri's, she knew then she couldn't go into the kitchen to give Starla a heads up. They both greeted each other with smiles and Salieri sat down in his usual booth, lighting the cigar he pulled from his inner blazer pocket and looking over the paper that had been left on the table. 
 

Sam was busying his time with a pretty regular in the billiards room, and Tommy and Paulie were out in back, drinking and talking about past times.  
 

Nothing was out of place, but Sarah couldn't help feeling anxious while Salieri sat there.  
 

The moment that she turned to go into the kitchen, Salieri looked over in her direction, puffing on the thick cigar. A plume of smoke wafting above his head. 
 

"Sarah, could you get the girl for me?" He asked in a way that disguised his true intentions, but Sarah could hear the demand in his tone.  
 

Women weren't truly safe in a world where men like Salieri and Morello ruled.  
 

All of Salieri's men, they were dangerous. They were foul and cruel. 
 

But, Sam, Paulie, and Vincenzo, and even Tommy? They were the ones you didn't mess with for a second. Whether you were a man or a woman. 
 

They saw women as a pretty thing that could be played with like a puppet.  
 

Sarah nodded and made her way into the kitchen.  
 

Starla was busy wiping off the few counters and the stovetop when the back door squealed open and in stomped Paulie and Tom.  
 

It was the end of spring and the nighttime air felt lovely on the skin.  
 

"Ey, ain't youse two s'possed to be gone by now?" Paulie quacked loudly, and all three of them realizing quickly that Starla wasn't reacting.  
 

Paulie just scratched his neck, and sighed, leaning his low back against the counter.  
 

Tom made a face and put his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, motioning with his head at Sarah for her to follow him out of the kitchen and into the other, much quieter room, where the stairwell was.  
 

She reluctantly trailed behind him and crossed her arms, raising a brow at the mafioso when she pressed her back against the wall.  
 

"What, Tom?"  
 

Sarah watched him take in a deep breath and kick at something on the floor.  
 

"I wanna take the girl in an' look after her, but she don't talk to me no more," Tommy sounded and looked a wreck, and Sarah never liked to see him in such a state. 
 

He was definitely sweeter than Sam and Paulie, but he was still a man, and just like any man, Tom had urges, needs.  
 

Sarah wasn't aware of the night Tommy had caught Starla trying to sneak out of the motel, and what went down, but she was aware, just like everyone else, that he liked the girl a bit more than he probably should. 
 

Sarah wasn't upset about it.  
 

She had already told Tom that she wasn't looking for anything serious yet. They'd get all tangled up together on occasion, but hadn't as of lately.  
 

There was always so much going on when living the life of a mafioso, and Sarah wasn't ready to get into a romantic relationship with a man who could die at any given moment.  
 

"Come by my place ta' night, we'll talk more about it, but I have to bring Starla out there to Salieri." Sarah uttered back quietly, moved into Tom's personal space, and put her hands on his tense shoulders before she pecked a warm kiss on his cheek.  
 

He smelled slightly of booze, highly of cigarette smoke, and faded cologne.  
 

The cologne and smoke smell was normal for Tommy, but not the hint of booze. He had been going out a lot with Paulie and getting into only god knew what kinds of trouble.  
 

Maybe it was a good thing that Sarah kept her distance from Tom.  
 

He nodded and gave her a faint smile before opening the door, leading to the billiards and meeting room, and leaving.  
 

Sarah was finally able to fully breathe now that he was gone. Her mind was in a panic about Starla, but she had to bring her out to Salieri.  
 
. 
 
Ennio had drove Starla back to the motel, but before they got there, he decided to enjoy the dark country roads a little bit.  
 

The girl was uneasy the entire time.  
 

Completely unable to get comfortable, to become less afraid, no matter how hard she tried to soothe herself with waves of self talk.  
 

Nothing worked. 
 

Her pale blonde hair blew all around, and she'd catch Salieri glancing over at her with a smile.  
 

She couldn't pretend that she didn't like his car.  
 

It was luxurious, fast, and what she liked the most about it was the top having been folded down. Starla hadn't been in such a fine motor since...Morello. 
 
. 
 
"I know that you are a virgin, dear, I knew long before your physical," It finally came out.  
 

She finally heard Salieri utter that word that unfortunately made her even more afraid. A woman's virginity was something sacred, something that was meant to be saved until the right man came along, but, Starla couldn't see that happening.  
 
 
Sex was never a thought of hers growing up on a little farm.  
 

At just 4 years old, Starla knew how to properly feed and milk the family goats, as well as help mama with the vegetable garden and papa with sheering the sheep.  
 

Sex hadn't become a part of her life until she was 14, when she had witnessed her mama bouncing on top of Don Salieri in the room that belonged to her mama and papa.  
 

Papa was away at work when it happened.  
 

They both saw the young teen standing frozen in the doorway, but there had been no point in hiding their affair any longer from her after that.  
 
 
Starla had been lying to herself for so many, never-ending years this. whole. time. 
 
. 
 
After leading Starla through the motel door, he waved her further upstairs, and she followed, despite the sick feeling in her gut.  
 

A handful of rooms were occupied, and when they got to Starla's, Salieri walked inside behind her and closed the door.  
 

"Mr. Salieri, what is this?" The girl immediately reacted, mindlessly grabbing the older man's wrist, furrowing her blonde brows as she looked up at him.  
 

He could tell just by looking at her that her heart was beating hard and fast.  
 

Salieri didn't want her to be afraid of him tonight.  
 

"I want to make you an offer, sweetheart,"  

Chapter Text

.... 

Starla gulped and fluttered her eyes when Salieri reached out and stroked her cheek with the backs of his thick fingers.  
 

He took a slow step forward and gave her a gentle smile.  
 

"What is your offer, Mr. Salier?" The girl said meekly, rubbing her arm.  
 

He looked down at her, contemplating how he was going to tell her what he planned to offer her. It wasn't that it would be hard for him, but he didn't want to cause a bigger panic in the girl.  
 

The corners of Salieri's honey eyes creased as his smile grew and he chuckled, looking at Starla's ear when he tucked a strand of her hair behind it.  
 

"I am offering you experience, dear, but only if you want it," He casually answered the girl and her eyes bugged, fingers wrapping around his wrist and tugging in an attempt to get his hand away from her.  
 

She shook her head and when she tugged harder on Salieri's wrist, he let go, still smiling.  
 

"You know you're a beautiful girl, Starla, and so do my boys and every man who comes around to pay for your company," The Don muttered and walked past her and over to the open window.  
 

"They are willing to pay more to be inside of you, sweetheart, do you understand?" He turned his attention away from outside the window and looked back over at Starla, who was already against the door, ready to leave.  
 

She shook her head again and grabbed the doorknob.  
 

"I ton't want that!" She turned it and opened the door, and slowly regained control over her breathing.  
 

Salieri's eyes were heavy and his smile was still visible, leaned against the windowsill.  
 

"If you leave, you will be sent right back to me, I have men on watch 24/7, Starla." He said to her like it was nothing, draping his wrist over the other on top of his thigh. 
 
 
Why was freedom so far away yet so very close?  
 
 
"I don't want you to be afraid of me, Starla, I'm only here to make things easier for you," Salieri said softly as he slid off the windowsill and sauntered over to the girl.  
 

"I won't do anything to hurt you," His tone dropped almost to a whisper when he got close enough to Starla again and brushed his hand down the side of her head, feeling the softness of her hair.  
 

He felt her jerk at his gentle touch, and saw her eyes glisten with tears before she looked down.  
 

"I ton't know much about...about sex, o-or what to do, I only let those men take control, Mr. Salieri, I, I am not a good woman for the job," Starla almost choked up, but strangely enough, the Don's familiar chuckle and his thumb on her chin comforted her.  
 

He lifted her chin and looked down into her sparkling eyes.  
 

"You are perfect for the job, you just need an experienced man to show you things!" His smile was warm and Starla felt compelled to listen to him.  
 

Salieri had a way with women, knew how to treat them with respect, and show them that good men existed — when money was involved.  
 

"My boys won't be gentle or patient with you once you're ready to make more money, and I want you to have a good time, sweetheart. Sex shouldn't be something to fear." His eyes flitted between hers, smile fading, and he gripped her chin more firmly.  
 
 
She shook her head again, breaking from the trance he had put her under.  
 

"Just let me go, sir, and I, I'll never say a wort, I just want my life back!" Starla pushed herself from Salieri, and began to shake.  
 

He looked at her hands and made a face.  
 

"You belong to me now, Starla, and I have been nothing but patient with you. I have given you a place to live, a job, and everything else that you won't get from those god damn streets!" The Don raised his voice, pointing back at the window, but not in a cruel way like Morello had.  
 

Her eyes dropped to the floor and stared at the tips of her work shoes.  
 

"What about papa, Mr. Salieri? He has nobody but me!" She swallowed and folded her arms around herself, fighting back tears.  
 

Salieri moved forward into her space again and caressed her cheek with his thumb, tracing her scar.  
 

He felt for the girl, he truly did.  
 

She heard him take in a slow breath and lifted her teary eyes.  
 

"You will be able to visit him, sweetheart, I would never keep you from him, but you are my girl now, and you need to understand that." He meant those words and Starla was no fool. Not anymore.  
 

She nodded and Salieri's smile returned as he held her cheek in the warmth of his palm.  
 

"Get some sleep, tomorrow Tommy will pick you up  give you a ride to the bar," Salieri casually said and brushed the side of her head before walking toward the door. 
 

Starla watched him open the door and turn back with more to say.  
 

"I will only give you a week to think about my offer, after that, if I don't have an answer, you will start working as a proper whore," Those words stung worse than Morello's ever did.  
 

"Goodnight, doll!" Salieri smiled brightly before leaving the room, and Starla couldn't stand any longer.  
 

When she dropped to her knees, she didn't cry.  
 

She just thought about how her life had changed so drastically, so fast.  
 

70 days being off the streets was far too long for Starla. But, she had to listen and do things right.