Chapter 8
Daniella
“You can’t do this!” I shout, kicking and screaming as I’m pulled out of a vehicle and dragged onto what feels like a sidewalk.
“I can, and I am,” Henry says. “And the sooner you cooperate, the easier it will be on both you and your brother. I’ve put too much effort into this plan for you to fuck it up.”
He allows me a moment to get to my feet, and then he guides me somewhere, until I step over what I’m assuming is the threshold and into a house.
“What plan?” I ask, hoping to get some information out of him that can help me figure out what is going on.
I don’t know how long we drove for, but it didn’t feel long enough for us to be out of the city. Or if we are, it’s probably close by.
“To destroy your family’s company,” he says, pulling the bag off my head. Before I can ask any questions or even get a good look at where we are, he shoves me into a room. “I have shit to do. So, stay here and be quiet, and if you’re lucky, I’ll feed you later.”
He slams the door, and when I try to open it, I realize it locks from the outside. He arranged this ahead of time. Nobody’s doors lock from the outside unless they intend to lock someone inside.
Hours go by, and I don’t hear from Henry. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but thankfully, the room has an en suite bathroom that I can use.
When my stomach starts to growl, I bang on the door, but Henry doesn’t answer.
More hours pass, and the bright sky dims until it gets dark. Finally, the door opens, and Henry hands me a sandwich and a glass of water.
I’m so hungry that I simply take the food and water from him before he closes the door. Once I’ve eaten, I lie down in the bed and let sleep overtake me, praying that when I wake up, this will all have been nothing more than a horrible nightmare.
I wake up to Henry staring at me, and for a split second, I forget about yesterday.
Henry’s sitting on the edge of the bed, and he shocks me when he reaches out and strokes his knuckles down my cheek.
When yesterday’s events come back to me—getting my brother sent to jail, his threats, hitting me—I flinch in fear but quickly school my features.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask him.
Yesterday, he said his plan was to destroy my family’s company, but there has to be a reason why.
“What did we do to you?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he stares at me for several seconds before he says, “In another lifetime, if you weren’t a Russo and I weren’t … me, we might’ve worked.”
He frowns as if he’s genuinely upset, and I can see now how he manipulated me. The man is a psychopath.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask again.
“I guess it doesn’t matter if you know,” he says with a soft, sad smile. “You’re never making it out of here alive.”
His nonchalant words cause my stomach to drop.
I’m not making it out of here alive …
Because he’s going to kill me.
I allowed this man to come into my life, seduce me, marry me, and now, he’s going to destroy my family’s business and kill me.
“My father and mother were killed by your father,” he says, startling the hell out of me.
One, because he told me his family lived here, so I assumed they were alive. And two …
“What are you talking about?”
I know my father did a lot of shady things, but was he capable of murder?
“He shot them. My br—” He shakes his head. “I loved my parents and were close with them, and the day they were killed, I vowed to seek revenge.”
His eyes turn into thin slits, and his jaw twitches. Instinctually, I move a bit back, not liking the dark look crossing over his features.
“So, that’s all I was? Revenge?”
He nods once. “Like I said, it’s not personal.
The opportunity presented itself, and I had to take it.
And once I’ve avenged my parents’ deaths, your brother will be rotting in jail, mourning the loss of his family, the same way we mourned our parents, and he’ll have nothing left, the same way your family left us with nothing. ”
We …
He said we.
“Who’s we?”
He raises a brow.
“You said, ‘We mourned our parents.’ ”
The chances of making it out of this alive are slim, but if I do, I want as much info on Henry as possible. If there’s one thing my father taught me over the years, it’s that knowledge is power, and I need all the power I can get to fight against Henry.
“Don’t worry about it,” he snaps. “All you need to know is that your family caused this, and now, you’re going to pay.”
Because my dad shipped me off to boarding school, I don’t know anything about the business or who Henry’s parents might’ve been.
I think hard, trying to put the pieces together.
I remember a few years ago, his two business partners died—Andrey and Joseph.
Andrey was Dominick and Matteo’s dad, and Joseph was Anthony’s dad.
As far as I know, his wife—Shit, what’s her name?
It’s been so long. Maria! That’s her name—was still alive.
I met Maria, as well as Anthony, a few times over the years, but because of the rift between my dad and Joseph, it wasn’t often.
I never once heard anyone mention the name Henry, but at this point, I wouldn’t put it past him to have lied to me about his name.
“I brought your luggage in,” he says, snapping me from my thoughts. “Hopefully, whatever you have in there will be enough because I can’t go back to the house. And soon, it won’t matter.”
Right, because he’s going to kill me.
And dead women don’t need clothes.
“If you let me go, you still have time to stop all of this,” I blurt out, desperate to save my life. “When they find you, they’re going to kill you. Is avenging your parents’ deaths worth it?”
I meant to appeal to his emotions, but the moment his jaw tics and the back of his hand connects with the side of my face, I realize the mistake I made. Instead of it coming across as a warning, he took it as a threat.
“I have calls to make, plans to put into place,” Henry says casually, like he didn’t just smack me in the face. “I’ve decided to let you out today. Don’t try to escape. I have men watching the area, and they’ve been instructed to shoot first.”
He rises from the bed, leaves the room, and heads down the hall, and I’m left sitting in the bed alone, my hand soothing the pain radiating down my cheek and jaw, wondering how this is my life.
I spot my luggage in the corner, and since all I want to do is wash the past twenty-four hours off me, I open it up so I can grab some clean clothes.
Rather than shower, I opt for a bath, hoping it will help soothe my nerves.
When I graduated and moved home, this is not how I thought my future would go.
I should be at Russo Property Group, learning the ropes from my brother.
Instead, my only living family is locked up, and my husband is determined to take us down.
I’m gathering up my clothes and toiletries when I see my tablet at the bottom of my luggage.
Holy shit! I forgot all about it!
I look around to make sure Henry isn’t around, and then I wrap my clothes around it and head into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
The first thing I do is check the battery.
It’s good! Next, I see if there’s any Wi-Fi.
I hold my breath, praying there is and that it’s not password-protected.
A moment later, it pops up, and I’m able to get on it.
I try to see if there’s any kind of app that will tell me my location, but there’s not. I only ever use it for reading.
I check my messages since it’s linked to my phone. There are quite a few, but one stands out.
Unknown Number: Hey, it’s Matteo. I’m with your brother in jail. Let us know you’re okay.
I’m about to text back, but stop myself. Henry has my phone, which means he can see these … unless I go into Settings and make sure it’s on silent and the notification alerts are set to off. Then, I make it to where only my email that’s associated with my tablet will get the messages.
I copy and paste the number into a new chat and send him a message.
Me: Hey, it’s Dani. I’m using my tablet, so this is my email.
Henry is holding me hostage and has my phone, so don’t text that number.
He forgot I have a tablet, and there’s Wi-Fi here.
I tried to see if I could find my location on it, but I can’t.
Henry isn’t who he said he was. I don’t know who he is, but he forced me to sign over my POA to him after ordering someone to have my brother beat up in jail and then telling me if I didn’t sign, he would have Lo killed.
So, now, he has complete access to the company.
He said he wants to destroy it as vengeance for his parents’ deaths.
But I don’t know who his parents are. He’s also blackmailing Michael, so you can’t trust him.
I don’t mention anything about what Henry has done to me or that he’s planning to kill me because there’s nothing they can do from behind bars, and the last thing I want is to stress my brother out even more.
And then I remember what he wrote: I’m with your brother in jail.
What the heck? Matteo’s in jail too? This is insane!
Me: Why are you in jail? Was it Henry’s doing?
While I wait for Matteo’s reply, I start to fill the tub with hot water, adding some bubble bath I found in my toiletry bag.
I climb into the hot water and lean back, inhaling a deep breath. One minute, I was mourning the loss of my parents, and the next, I’m married to a man who is out to get my family and end my life.
I click on the Messages app and find a reply.
Matteo: Thank you for that info. I’m being charged with money laundering. Most likely bullshit to put me behind bars. My guy confirmed Henry is using someone else’s identity, but we don’t know who he actually is. Dominick tried to find you, but the house was empty. Are you okay?
Shit …
I debate whether to tell the truth, but instead, I ask a question of my own.
Me: Why are you both still in jail?
I’m not familiar with their businesses, but in all the years I’ve heard about Dominick and Matteo from my parents and brother, it’s like the Antonovs and Russos are invincible. So, why are they not out yet?
Matteo: Avoiding my last question tells me he’s hurt you.
That fucker is going to die. We’re still in here because our bail was denied.
Unfortunately, Lorenzo signed POA over to you, at Michael’s insistence, which confirms he’s been compromised.
Dominick is working on finding out who Henry bribed or blackmailed to put us in jail, and once we get out, we’ll fix everything. Now, answer the question, Little Russo.
I sigh. The guy is too intuitive for his own good. Which doesn’t surprise me. Lorenzo has always looked up to Matteo, bragging about how smart he is, saying he doesn’t know what he would do without Matteo.
Me: Can Lorenzo see my messages?
Matteo: No.
Me: You can’t repeat anything I say.
Matteo: I won’t.
Me: Not even if you think my brother should know. He’s behind bars, so he can’t do anything, and I don’t want to stress him out more.
Matteo: You can trust me. I might be your brother’s best friend, but I’m still a man of my word. I won’t repeat anything you tell me.
Me: I feel so stupid. I know I was mourning my parents when I met Henry, but how could I be so naive not to notice the wolf in sheep’s clothing?
He was so sweet and patient, but now, he’s volatile and on edge.
Not once did he ever lay a hand on me, but since we’ve been here, he’s hit me a couple of times.
He took me to some house that he said is surrounded by his men, who will shoot me if I try to escape.
He flat-out said he’s only keeping me as leverage, and once he no longer needs me, he’s going to kill me.
I can’t believe I married him. And now, because of my stupidity, he has complete control over my family’s company, and my brother and you are both stuck in jail.
I hit Send and release a sigh of relief.
It felt good to get that all out. It won’t change anything, but not being able to vent to anyone about what is going on has been hard.
I don’t want to risk involving my friends or chance them deciding to play hero and running to the police.
At least with Matteo, I know anything I say will stay between us, and he most definitely would never do anything to put my brother’s life in more danger.
I wait a few minutes for Matteo to reply, washing my face and scrubbing my body. Since I have my tablet, I open my Kindle app and start reading a book, relishing in the momentary escape from reality. After I finish a chapter, I go back to the Messages app and find a new text.
Matteo: First of all, that piece of shit is going to die a slow and painful death once we find him.
And I promise, we will find him. I already have my men on it.
Second, none of this is your fault. I don’t know who his parents were, but it’s clear he preyed on you.
That doesn’t make you stupid or naive. It makes you a victim.
You were correct, and he was able to follow through with his first threat with your brother.
Before I knew Lorenzo was in here, he was attacked, but I stepped in, and he’s okay.
I have your brother’s back, and nobody is going to hurt him on my watch.
We’re working on finding you and getting you out safely, but until we figure it out, don’t fuck with him.
And if anything else happens, let me know.
“Daniella!” Henry barks, making me jump and almost drop my tablet in the water. “Open this fucking door!”
Me: I gotta go. I’ll text soon.
“I’m in the bath!” I yell back. “Give me a second.”
I hop out of the tub, wrap the tablet in my shirt, and shove it under the sink when Henry swings the door open. He glances around, and I grab my towel to cover myself. I don’t care that he’s seen me naked before. Things have changed, and the last thing I want is to expose myself to this psycho.
“Now, you’re hiding your body?” He scoffs, reaching out and ripping the towel off my body. “You’re my fucking wife! If I want to look at you, I damn well will.” He pulls me into him. “Hell, if I want to fuck you, I will. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
He grabs my face, and I flinch in pain.
“Don’t you get it, wife? Your family might’ve fucked mine over, but now, I own you, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I want with you.”