Chapter 25
Gio
The world is just motion, light, and shadow. I’m not sure where I am, or when. I’m dizzy from the blow to my skull but I’m still alive, which is a relief.
Or maybe a curse. I try to move, but I can’t. My chin is in my chest and my body aches; it’s stiff and sore. It takes me a minute to figure out that I’m tied to a chair. My hands are bound behind my back, zip ties cutting into my skin.
I lean my head back and groan. My entire body hurts from the multiple kicks they gave me, and probably worse. Every tiny breath hurts. Fuck, I hope my ribs aren’t broken. The room slowly begins to materialize around me as I get more and more of my faculties back.
Above me there’s a bright spotlight shining directly down on me. It makes me squint as I open my eyes. I can hardly see out of my left. It must be swollen. I wipe my chin against my shoulder. It’s dirtied with blood.
I groan and look straight ahead as the room comes into focus. I’m in a small room, maybe ten feet by ten feet. There’s a drain beneath my feet, and the walls are bare white cinder blocks. The ground looks like it’s unfinished concrete.
The unbelievable nature of my reality comes back to me slowly.
My fucking father sold me out. It couldn’t be anything else.
They knew I would be on that roof with almost no way to escape.
Trapping me like that was their only option.
They had to set me up like that because if they came any other way, I would’ve killed them all.
They sent a fucking helicopter because they were too afraid to face me, the cowards.
Why would he do that? What could the Rossis possibly offer him that would change his mind? We were so close to getting what we wanted. I would have gotten Grace, and he might have gotten a place in the Romano familia. Instead I’m fucking strapped to a chair, aching from a hundred bruises.
Oh fuck. Grace. My heart stills, and I struggle harder in my bonds.
She’s still locked in the gun room without any food.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I come fully awake at the thought of Grace stuck in there, slowly starving to death, begging me to come help her.
I flex against my restraints and struggle, anger flooding me, desperate to escape.
I need to go to her. My princess.
I have to save her. I can’t let her starve to death in that room.
Fuck! My selfish need to keep her is going to cause her pain.
I should have let her go. I know I should have.
Things were going so fucking good. She loves it.
And I fucking love her. I fucking know I do.
I was too scared to risk her leaving me.
At least Duke is probably okay. He has his doggy door and an auto-feeding system. I know he’ll be smart enough to run if they attack my place, and he can get food and water from the feeding system. At least I didn’t get him fucked, too.
My darkness is there inside of me, raging in full force. It wants revenge against my father, while all I want is to run home and make sure Grace is safe.
“Hey!” I yell out. “Fuckers! Come in here, you fucking cunts!”
There’s silence as I continue to struggle. Eventually, I tip over the chair and crash to the ground, smashing my face against the concrete floor. Fuck! I stretch my bruised jaw, moving away from the cold unforgiving ground. I grunt and nearly lose consciousness, but manage to stay awake.
A minute later, the door opens. Someone comes inside. I can only see his feet as he walks over to me. My breaths come in quickly as adrenaline fuels my blood.
The man grabs me and lifts me back upright.
I stare into his face, defiant and angry.
I hope he fucking drops me. I hope he kicks the fucking chair.
He needs to. I need this chair to break so I have a chance.
I need to get to her. As the plan formulates in my mind, I realize who it is I’m staring at.
It’s him. The Don, Grace’s father. The man I want to kill more than anything in this world for what he did to his daughter. To my princess.
“So,” he says. “You’re the one that was holding my daughter.”
I stare at him, not saying a word.
“You’re in a pretty bad spot now, Gio,” he says. “We know all about you, you know. Have known for some time.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I practically spit at him.
I almost tell him where Grace is. I almost do, but I’m afraid of what he’ll do to her. And as sad as it sounds, my father knows she’s there. He knows what she means to me. If he ever loved me, he’d save her.
“Good. Defiant. Strong. I like that about you. I can see why my daughter is interested in you.”
I stare at him, but say nothing, even as fear strikes through my veins. “We found her locked away.” He tsks. He’s just fucking with me. He doesn’t know a fucking thing about me and Grace. I can’t give in to his games. There’s no way he has her.
“Tell me, Gio,” he says as he walks behind me. I can hear him doing something back there that sounds like clattering metal. Finally, he comes back around. He’s holding a wicked, large curved knife in his hand and he has a big smile on his face. “Tell me what you know about the Romanos.”
I stare at him and say nothing. The smile never leaves his face as he carves a cut into the meat of my thigh.
I grunt, seething through clenched teeth as the pain floods me, but I don’t cry out. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“Talk, Gio,” he says. “I wanna know everything about the Romanos and their enemies. I want names. Your father already sold you out. Your very own flesh and blood sold you out for a position in our familia. Can you imagine that?” I hold back the pain, even though I already knew it.
It fucking hurts. He clucks his tongue and shakes his head.
“Well, he won’t last long with us. We don’t take kindly to rats, although I do appreciate him showing me where my Grace was locked away. ”
I grunt and flex against my bonds, trying to get free.
Anger viciously tears through my body, and I know only violence will sate that anger.
I can barely breathe at the thought of my father giving her back to him.
Handing her over to a man who caused her so much pain.
The betrayal of that is far greater than what he did to me.
My piece of shit father. This bastard, Grace’s father. Both men are dead. I’m going to tear them limb from limb until they’re screaming for my mercy. I won’t stop. I won’t ever stop.
“Go fuck yourself,” I say to him just beneath my breath.
He laughs and carves into my other leg, the sharp knife slicing easily. I wince and grunt in pain, clenching my teeth and barely falling forward, but I still don’t cry out. I’ve had worse. I can handle this.
I’d rather die than be a fucking rat. I’ll let him destroy me if I have to, but I’ll never talk.
It goes on like that for a while. I don’t know how long. He asks me questions, I don’t answer, and then he cuts into me.
He gets creative after a while, taking thin slices and pouring salt onto the open wounds. At least that makes it numb for a while. I'm in so much pain that my vision becomes blurred. They give me breaks, even feed me and give me water, but the pain comes back.
I sleep at least once. I don’t know for how long. I’m in that room, strapped to that chair, and it’s all I know.
I don’t say a word. I’ll never talk. I can feel my life hanging in the balance, and part of me wants it to finally end.
But the other part, the stronger part, wants to survive. I want to make it through this until I get the chance to have my revenge.
I’ll kill them. I’ll maim them. I’ll tear them into pieces. For my princess. I have to live for her. I have to save her.
That’s what sustains me. Rage and violence. Even through the torture, my silence never wavering, the only thing keeping me going is the rage. I worry about Grace every second, but my revenge will be for both of us.
Without her, my life is finished. I’m okay with that. I can handle that. When I’m through, I can join her, wherever she is.
For now, though, I survive. Cuts and kicks and bruises, I survive. A day, maybe two days, I can’t be sure.
I don’t know what time it is when Toni appears in the room. He stands near the door, his arms crossed, a smile on his face.
“The cameras were smart,” he says, as if from a distance. “But you were never going to get to me. Maybe my brother, but never to me.” He laughs.
“Fuck you,” I mumble. It’s all I say anymore.
“Right, of course. Fuck me.” He grins, and I want to kill him slowly. “I’m actually here to show you something, Gio. I think it might help you find your tongue.”
I spit onto the floor and stare at him.
“Okay,” he says. “I just want you to know that I hold no ill will toward you. I understand that you’re just doing your job. Well, except with Grace. My lovely niece, Grace. She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”
I stare at him, my heart beating rapidly. I hate that he’d ever use her name. None of the Rossi family deserve her.
“You wanna see her, don’t you?”
I won’t give in to their tricks. It’s just a stupid game they’re playing.
“You’re desperate to make sure she’s okay. Well, I can do that for you. Would you like that?”
Yes, I want to see her. I want to make sure she’s okay. But not like this. Not when I can’t save her. I don’t give him anything. Nothing. I’ll give them all nothing. “Fuck you,” I mumble.
“Grace,” he says. “Come in here.”
The door opens with a loud creak, and daylight filters into the room. The Don steps through, grinning wickedly.
Followed by Grace. Her head is held low.
I feel like I’m going to pass out. My heart is hammering in my chest.
It’s her. She’s safe. She’s alive. She lifts her head to look at me, and horror passes through her expression.
They have her. But at least she’s alive. At least she has a chance.
That gives me hope. I feel new strength surge through my body at the sight of her. She’s so beautiful, so perfect. I know what I have to do.
I’m going to kill them. And then I’m going to take what’s mine.