My eyes follow the man pacing in front of the table. This time, I didn’t bother pulling on the constraints that were tying my wrists and ankles; I learned my lesson the first time I was kidnapped.
“You idiot,” a woman shouts at him. They have similar bone structures, and I can’t help but wonder if they are related. “You kidnapped his wife? His wife!” She pops him across the cheek. “He is going to kill you; you realize that? The Benedettis are ruthless. You signed your death warrant, maybe for all of us. Are you proud of yourself?”
“I did it for you. You should have been his wife. Do you know what that could have meant for us? We finally would have money. We wouldn’t be digging ourselves out of the hole.”
“What do you plan to do? Threaten him to divorce her and marry me?” she asks, crossing her arms in disbelief. She doesn’t believe him.
Maybe she’s on my side.
“How do you expect Dad to fix this for you?”
“I don’t. No one knows where she is. I killed the guy she was with.”
A whimper leaves me, his words punching me in the gut. I can’t stop the tears that fall down my cheeks. Otello was odd, really unique, and he confused me as a person, but he grew on me, just like this entire life did.
He can’t be dead.
“Aw, does it bother you? That you got everything, you deserved? He was supposed to marry my sister, yet you come in and change everything.”
It’s not like I asked to be kidnapped and delivered to Adrian, but I’m thankful. I love him, and I saved him from being tied to this crazy family.
“I think I’ll kill you and drop your body somewhere near his house. Then, my sister can swoop in and console him.” His hand falls to his chest, a sad frown overtaking his face in sarcasm. “So sad. And then they fall in love.”
“You’d kill a pregnant woman?” I question, not daring to look at him. I keep my eyes glued to the table.
This is where things are different than Otello kidnapping me. He never hurt me. He never threatened to hurt me. He scared me, yes, but it was nothing like this.
I’m so afraid. I’m shaking.
And I’m heartbroken.
He’ll never be an uncle; I bet he would have been the best.
“You’re so sad,” my kidnapper pouts; his fingers slide under my chin, gripping it, forcing my head to the side so he can look at me. He bends down and sneers. “Good. You being pregnant only makes this so much sweeter.”
“He’ll kill you,” I mumble. “He’d kill everyone for me, and that’s something he’d never do for her.” I lift my eyes to the woman who looks like she’s been struck in the face by my words.
But then his hand meets my face, a solid slap across my cheek, and it burns. The iron taste of blood fills my mouth.
Adrian would never hit me.
“Maybe we can just ask for some money and give her back. Maybe—”
“That’s not how the Benedettis work, and you know it, Victoria. They kill first and ask questions later. We have to beat him to the punch. We’re a step ahead of the game.”
“She’s pregnant, Luis. You can’t kill a pregnant woman.”
“I can if it means securing our future. Her…condition changes nothing.”
“I think it changes everything.”
I lift my head when I hear Adrian’s voice. He has blood on his shirt and bags under his eyes. I’ve never seen him look so bad.
He drops a body from his arms, and I have to look away when I notice who it is. It’s the cashier from the store.
“You’re pathetic,” Adrian sneers, screwing a silencer to his gun. “You left a loose end, Rossiti. Do you know how easy it was for me to walk in there and get him to fold? He told me how you paid him to keep an eye on my family. It makes sense. We go there a lot for late-night…business. He sang your plan like a little bird and told me where you lived.”
“You killed him.” Victoria backs away slowly.
“Someone had to. Loose ends are never fun when they get tangled together.” He points the gun at the guy who kidnapped me.
“We can talk this out. We wanted you to marry Victoria. We’re in a bad way. We need mon—”
I scream when blood hits the side of my face. Another gunshot rings out, and suddenly, there’s silence.
“Mable.” Adrian is at my side instantly, cutting the binding around my wrist. “I have you. You’re okay. You’re safe.”
I throw my arms around his neck and pull him close. “You came. You’re here. It’s only been a few hours—”
“Nothing will stop me from getting you, Mable. Nothing. I will always come for you. I will kill, beat, and torture for you to bring you home. You’re mine. I love you. Do you get that? Do you understand how much I fucking love you? I’ve been out of my mind since I woke up alone. I can’t be without you. Anyone who gets in my way will die, Mable. No hesitation. I’ll shoot first and ask no questions.”
“I see that,” I say as he wipes the blood off my face.
I can’t focus on that too much, or I might throw up because this situation was way more intense than my first kidnapping.
He lifts me into his arms and takes me outside, placing me in the car. “I’ll be right back.” He stares up at the house, lights a match, and tosses it in the bush, which bursts into flames. “No evidence left behind.”
“But what if the fire department puts the fire out?” I ask him.
“They won’t. I paid them to wait an hour. Being a Benedetti has its perks. I’m going to take you to the hospital. We have to get you checked out. You’re pregnant, and that mother fucker slapped you across the face. I want to kill him all over again.”
“I am?” I place my hand against my stomach. “How do you know? I didn’t get to look before they kidnapped me. Wait, is Otello okay?”
“He’s at the hospital. He was alive when I got to him. Barely. He told me to grab the box. He really wanted to know if he was going to be an uncle.”
The flames grow higher behind us, and I can feel the heat of them on my skin.
“I’m thrilled, Mable. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“Me too, Adrian.” I press my cheek against his shoulder and sigh. “Me too.”
“I need to tell you something, something that I’m not sure that you’ll forgive me for, but I don’t want to do it here.” I lean away and stare at him. I couldn’t have heard him right. “Okay…” I’m not sure what to say to that. He opens the passenger side door for me and helps me inside. I wince when a low throb begins to pulse in my cheek from when that man hit me.
He jumps into the driver’s seat and speeds away from the fire, the burning blaze destroying any evidence.
“I’m worried about Otello!” I gasp, sitting straight, then press my hand to my cheek when my move my lips too much. “How is he? Is he dead? He’s dead because of me, isn’t he?”
“No, no, he’s in the hospital. It was touch and go but they think he will make a full recovery.”
I sag in the seat. “That’s a relief.”
“I’m taking you to the doctor next to make sure you’re okay.”
“I need ice. I’m fine.”
We fall into an uncomfortable silence. The tension is high and it’s making it hard to breathe. “What’s going on, Dri? What aren’t you telling me?”
“What do you remember about the day of your family’s accident?”
I pinch my brows together. “I don’t know why you need—’
“I want to know, Sweetness.”
My head begins to pulse, a headache building from this experience and from having to relive something I hate thinking about. “I haven’t thought of that day in a very a long time. I don’t really know. I can’t remember.”
“Just think, please,” he begs, his voice strained as he breaks the speed limit.
“Okay,” I whisper, taking his hand in mine, then close my eyes, thinking back to that day. Everything is blurry. “I think I see an SUV. I can’t tell if it was something I imagined in my dreams or not.”
“And before that? What about before you think you saw the SUV?”
I sigh, annoyed having to do this. “I don’t know, Dri. Nothing. I remember nothing.” Then an image forms, a point of view from upstairs. “My dad answered the door, and a man was standing there. I don’t know who… but he warned him.” I open my eyes when the memory slams into place. “He warned him and told us we needed to leave because someone went to prison, but I can’t…” I release a sharp breath, rubbing my temples because no matter how hard I try I can’t remember. “I can’t remember anything else. I wish I could tell you. but I can’t.”
A few moments of awkward silence goes by before he speaks.
“Your father was the lawyer for my family, and he defended one of our own, who was guilty, but the other guy deserved a worse punishment. And your dad won the case. The man in prison put your family’s name on a hitlist. Who you saw at your door, was my father. He warned your dad about the hitlist and told him to leave.”.
“Your father?” the confusion is clear in my voice, but it all makes sense. “You were the one who pulled me from the car. Your eyes. I knew I knew your eyes. You! You’re the reason why my parents are dead?”
“No, yes. No. We warned him, but we didn’t know he was already being followed. It was too late. We got to you too late. I blame myself every day. I think if I was quicker, if I would have gotten there sooner, if your father never worked for us, then your parents might be alive. I’m sorry, Mable. I’m so sorry.’
I lean in and whisper. “You saved me.”
“No! I ruined—”
I press my finger against his lips, silencing him. “You saved me. You tried. You warned him. You aren’t to blame for my father’s decisions. Okay? I don’t blame you, but I’m happy to know how we’re connected. I knew that I knew those eyes.”
They stalked my dreams.
And they forever will.
