25. Verity
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Verity
O utside my room I hear a loud commotion. A door slams. There is shouting and someone is seething with rage. I stand up, tense, ready for anything. Waiting for Rufino to come bursting through the door. Waiting for gun shots and screaming. He must be here. He’s found me. He’s come to rescue me.
I stand deadly still, tilting my ear towards the sounds.
But it’s just my father’s voice. He’s yelling and swearing at the security guards. I can’t make out too much of what he’s saying but I hear the word fire.
I walk closer to the door, a little nervous, but eager to find out what’s going. By flicking open the food slot and holding it there I can make out more of the conversation. My body is shaking. Adrenalin surging through me.
“It’s him. Who the fuck else would it be.” My father snarls.
Rufino .
“Sir, we are not sure. We arrived after the person had already escaped.”
I hear a thud, and someone huffing, gasping for air. My father hit him. “I said it was fucking him. Don’t fucking question me.”
“Yes, sir.” A muffled response.
What did he do?
Where is he?
There’s the rhythmic thud of pacing footsteps. My father is walking up and down. I can picture him. He does it often. He’ll be clenching his jaw and lifting his upper lip as he takes long strides across the floor. His fists will be tight balls at his sides.
“How the fuck are we going to stop him?” he screams a rhetorical question to no one at all. And no one answers him.
“What about the girl?” one of the security guards asks.
“What about her?” he snaps.
“Why don’t you just give her to him? Isn’t that what he wants?”
There is a deadly silence that follows the question and I half expect a gunshot to fire off. My father does not have a high tolerance for stupidity. Or retreat.
I hold my breath, but nothing happens. My heart is beating in my ears, it’s deafening.
“Open the door. I think the girl is the answer.” My father commands.
I step away from it, backing up against the wall. What does he want to do with me? I doubt he will give me up. His ego would never allow that. He would rather see me dead that back with Rufino because giving me back would mean losing to a man he hates.
I wonder what Rufino has done to make him so angry.
I bite back a smile at the thought.
He is keeping his promise.
He is coming for me.
But he better hurry if he’s going to get here before something happens to me. The door flies open and bangs against the wall behind it.
Two men run in with guns pointed at me, followed by my father.
He looks pale.
He’s worried which is unusual for him. Nothing gets under his skin. He thinks he’s invincible.
Whatever is going on has him on edge.
I keep my lips pressed together, not saying a word, waiting for him to speak first. I need more information because I can decide what to do.
“Give her the phone.” He snarls.
One man throws a phone onto the bed near me.
I look at it - then back at my father.
“Pick up the fucking phone.” He screams.
A guard moves closer to me, his gun looking threatening.
My father is beyond angry. He looks like he’s losing control.
Precious control.
There is no telling what he will do if he reaches that point.
I grab the phone, gripping it in my fingers and waiting to find out what I’m supposed to do with it.
“Your boyfriend is burning down my buildings. One by one. He’s taken two already. You are going to help me put an end to his rampage.”
I grin, unable to stop myself.
“My husband.” I correct him, walking on the broken glass of his shattered ego.
He takes in a sharp breath and flexes his jaw open and closed like a lion getting ready to devour his prey.
He nods towards the guard standing near me.
The man slings his gun over his shoulder and steps close to me.
The punch comes out of nowhere and while I am certain the guy can hit much harder than that - it knocks me to the point of nausea. I collapse to the floor gasping for air.
My hands press into the carpet where I sit on my knees blinking to clear my vision. The phone is lying on the ground next to me.
“Do you have any more smart ass comments or are you ready to do as you’re told?” My father asks, sneering down at me.
“What do you want?” I spit, thick threads of anxiety creeping beneath my skin.
“Call him. His number is on there. Put the phone on speaker and call him. No codes. No secret messages. You are going to tell him to stop.”
“He won’t listen to me. Why would he stop? He wants you to give me back to him. That’s the only thing that will make him stop.” I shake my head. His plan is stupid. It won’t work.
“He will stop because you are going to be very convincing, Verity.” My father says with a false sense of calm in his voice.
“How?” I ask, not understanding what he wants me to do.
“You are going to explain to him you never loved him. That it was just a bit of fun. You never cared about him at all and you’re bored with his obsession.”
“No.” I gasp in horror. “I can’t do that.”
The security guard grabs me around the throat and lifts me up into the air. My feet dangle free, kick back and forth. I gasp for breath but he’s holding me too tightly. My lungs are burning, begging for oxygen.
The world starts to spin and fade before he lets me go. I drop to the floor, landing hard and twisting my ankle.
Tears run down my cheeks.
My father has lost his mind.
He’s willing to kill me to get me to do what he wants.
“Dial.” He snaps.
I lean over and pick up the phone.
With shaking fingers I scroll through until I find Rufino’s number.
I don’t want this to be the last conversation I have with him.
I’ve been dreaming of hearing his voice for so long now. Sprawled out on the bed for hours imaging the conversation we would have when we see each other again. I wanted to hear him - and I’m about to get that wish - but this isn’t what I wanted.
I swallow hard and clear my throat. Pressing the phone against my ear when it rings.
“Put it on speaker you fucking idiot.” The guard kicks me in my thigh.
I wince and switch to the speaker. Holding the phone in front of me I can’t keep it steady.
All the men are watching me. Their eyes stabbing into me like thousands of needles.
“Luca.” Rufino’s voice sinks into my mind like honey. Rich and dark and raw.
I can’t speak. I can’t find my voice. How am I going to do this?
The guard kicks me again and I bite down.
There is no way out of this. My father’s actions have made it clear. If you don’t do this, you will be beaten to death.
“It’s Verity.” I whisper.
“Little vixen.” “Are you ok? I’ve been searching for you. Every moment of every day. I haven’t stopped looking.”
My father nods towards me. The guard presses his gun against my head.
“You can stop looking, Rufino.” I sigh.
“What?” He sounds confused. I don’t blame him. “Why would I stop looking?”
“Because I’m over it. I’m - bored. Or whatever.” I do my best to sound sincere, to not let the tears creep through in my voice, but they are there. Choking my words.
“I don’t believe you.” He snarls. The edge of darkness on his voice is deep.
“You should believe me. Did you really think that someone like you could keep a girl like me? I’m too good for you. You would never have been able to keep up with me, anyway.”
I squeeze my eyes shut trying to deny my own words. I want to push my silent thoughts through the phone so that he can feel the truth in my heart instead of the bullshit I’m saying out loud. My hand shakes even more.
“Verity don’t do this.” He warns me. “Don’t give up on us.”
“There never was an us , Rufino. And there never will be. Stop whatever you are doing to find me. Give up. Let go. Move on with your life.”
A sob escapes my lips, and the guard nudges his foot against my side. A warning. I’m slipping up.
My father gestures with his eyes towards the phone and mouths the words “Convince him, stupid girl.”
But I’m crying too hard now and when I speak the pain in my voice is impossible to hide. What am I doing? I’m risking everything. I’m going to lose him forever.
I’d rather die than be without him.
The threats my father is weighing onto me mean nothing compared to the idea of being without Rufino.
“Red, I love you.” I scream into the phone. “I love you, please find me.”
“Grab the phone.” My father screams and the guard kicks it out of my hand. It slides across the floor, skidding under the bed. One guard drops to his knees, scrambling to get it. Rufino is yelling, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.
“You stupid fucking bitch, I wish you had died with your mother.” My father’s words don’t even hurt because I feel nothing for him.
“Get the fuck out there and find him. Do whatever it takes.”
I open my mouth to scream again but a fist slams into the side of my head and the world spins towards darkness as pain shoots through me.
I gasp and choke, fighting to hold on, but I can’t.
My cheeks hits the floor, and my eyes are too heavy to keep open.
Their angry voices fade away and coldness covers me like a thick blanket.
I sink into oblivion.
Hoping, wishing and believing that Red will find me.