Chapter Fifteen
Alessia
I gasped awake as if something had pulled me from the bottom of a river.
My hand shot to my chest, trying to ease the tight pain under my ribs, but it didn’t help.
The air was fresh now. It wasn’t burning its way through my lungs.
It was clean. Still, I could remember the place where I was.
The way my lungs screamed for oxygen and how I whispered for help, not knowing if anyone would ever hear me.
I remembered the moments blurring together, life flashing in fragments behind my eyes.
And when my body finally gave out, I knew, deep down, that I couldn’t make it.
The rest of my body felt like a discarded shell in someone else’s bed: Artur’s bed. I sat up slowly, my fingers gripping the sheets like they would anchor me to this world. I felt the phantom pain echoing down my windpipe, but the memory was worse than the ache.
Although I could have told him everything, my fear that he would choose his family over me stopped me. He would kill me for daring to accuse Renat. Artur didn’t trust me, and he hated me. I needed to think first because I couldn’t lose Carina.
The room was quiet. Sunlight leaked through the curtains, painting thin stripes across the floor.
My clothes lay on the edge of the bed. I slipped out of bed, my limbs stiff, and cold.
Wearing the clothes felt like dragging guilt over my skin.
I paused at the sight of a mask resting on the nightstand. The one Artur used to help me breathe.
I remembered his rough voice urging me to breathe. Then his finger brushed my cheek, gentle while everything else had been brutal. He saved me from the hell he left me in. So it meant he didn’t want me dead.
My fingers combed through my tangled hair as I left the room. I fixed myself so I wouldn’t look like I almost died and came back. The front door loomed ahead, but as I reached it, a voice stopped me. “Alessia?”
I stopped and gasped. It was Matvet. Memories struck hard just from looking at him. I was supposed to poison him. He stepped closer, his brows drawing down in concern.
“You okay?” he asked.
I nodded too fast but couldn’t meet his eyes for long. Matvet had been nothing but kind to me. And yet, it was either him or Carina. And God help me, I would always choose her.
He reached out and touched my forehead. “Are you sick?”
I flinched and stepped back again. “No. I’m fine,” I whispered.
He held my gaze for a second longer, then nodded. “The boss is out for a few hours. You can rest until he’s back.”
“Okay.” I turned and left. I had a few hours to plan.
I locked the door in the nearest washroom and sat on the toilet.
It felt like my bones couldn’t hold me anymore.
My brain replayed everything: the attack, chaos, screaming, and bullets.
Artur shielded me with his body, holding me like I meant something.
Like I wasn’t the goddamn reason behind it all.
He again saved me from death and let me sleep in his bed. Wait, did he see the pills? He saved me while I was wearing only my bra and panties. My stomach twisted. What if he did?
Renat knew about the pills, and that meant he knew about the attack. He was Artur’s enemy, but proving it to Artur would be difficult. I didn’t have any choice left. Artur was my only hope.
He hated me, and he admitted it. But he wasn’t blind or stupid. If I could show him what I knew and make him believe me, I might have a chance at saving Carina and my family.
But I’d be turning in his brother. I could die for it. Still, I would beg on my knees if that was what it took. I’d bear everything because their lives were worth the risk. And this time, I’d rather die telling the truth than live carrying another lie.
The hours dragged like chains around my ankles. I kept to the girls’ quarters, tucked away like a coward, avoiding Renat. I couldn’t meet him yet, but I hoped he didn’t touch anyone. Was he watching me silently? He gave me today only, so I knew he was watching me.
When Artur returned, I felt it before I saw him. I left to find him and talk to him in his office. I was desperate. If there were even a sliver of a chance to save people, I would take it or beg for it. I reached the door and paused.
Lifting my hand to knock, I failed and lowered it. Was this smart? Was I walking into my execution? I knocked once and waited, but nothing came.
My fingers trembled against the heavy wood. This was a mistake, so I turned to leave, heart sinking. But I froze when I met Artur standing right in front of me. He buried his hands deep in his pockets.
I stepped back, hiding my clenched fist behind me. The pills pressed into my palm like a curse. Artur didn’t speak. He brushed past me like I was nothing but a smudge on his path, pushed the door open, and walked in.
But he didn’t shut it. He left it open. And before it could swing closed, I slipped in.
The click of the door locking behind me felt like a verdict. Artur stood by his desk as he folded his shirt sleeve, his eyes fixed on the iPad resting on the table. The screen flickered, but I couldn’t see what held his attention. His jaw muscles tightened.
I swallowed. “Sir,” I croaked out, clearing my throat as I moved closer. “I wanted to tell you something.”
He didn’t look up. I hesitated, then moved to the desk. Each step felt like crossing a line I wouldn’t come back from.
My fingers uncurled slowly, the pills warm from my skin, and I placed them beside the device. Artur finally looked up. His eyes met mine, and his hands returned to his pockets.
We stood there in silence. He waited and watched as I stood there with my heart in my throat. I knew this could be the last thing I ever did.
“I am sorry.” I pointed to the pills like they were the remains of my guilt.
My voice cracked before it even left me.
“Back at the party. Salvatore gave me those pills. I didn’t want to take them.
I told him no. But then he made me talk to my father.
And when I heard my father’s voice, I thought that was the only way. ”
My throat closed. I forced the next part out like a confession at a grave. “Salvatore said if you took one, you’d pass out for a few hours. Then they’d rescue me. That was the plan.”
Stupid. Pathetic. Used. That’s what I was. And God, I tried. But I was drowning. My fingers twisted in front of me.
“I’ll do anything you ask. But you have to help my friend.” I finally met his eyes, which was a mistake.
Artur stared at me like he was deciding how best to make me disappear—kill me or exile me.
I broke the silence with another whisper. “I know you don’t believe me. But Renat threatened to kill my friend Carina. He said if I don’t poison Matvet, she’d die. He said I had to get him out of the way.”
Artur shifted, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Please,” I whispered. “Say something.”
“Say what? Should I congratulate you for successfully being used so that people could attack me?” His voice was sharp enough to flay my skin. “Or maybe I should congratulate you for being an idiot.”
My gaze dropped. The burn in my throat reached my eyes. Tears blurred the table between us.
He came closer. “Or perhaps you think I’m an idiot?”
“I’m not lying,” I said, lifting my eyes again. “I swear—”
He cut me off with a tired sigh, shaking his head. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s say I believe you. What do I get in return?”
My breath caught. I forced the words out like a noose tightening around my neck. “I’ll do anything,” I whispered. “I’ll be your maid forever, if that’s what it takes. Just please … save her. Save my family.”
A smirk pulled at his mouth. It wasn’t that he was amused. The smile was cruel, like someone watching a flame flicker out.
“So now you realize you were the price your boyfriend used to pay his debts.”
The tears came faster. I didn’t fight them. What was the point? I was already ash inside.
Artur tilted his head. “I’ll do you one favor,” he said. “If you take one pill and swallow it.”
My heart stopped. I stared at him, and his eyes didn’t waver.
He meant it. The air turned too thin to breathe.
My lungs stuttered. My parents and Carina were out there, dangling over a cliff, and I was the only weight keeping them from falling.
I stepped forward, shaking. My fingers reached for one pill.
It slipped through my trembling grasp and clattered to the floor.
My sobs echoed in the silent room when I dropped to my knees and crawled under the table. My hands fumbled across the floor, wiping away tears that wouldn’t stop coming.
Let me die, I’m no use. I’m already gone.
I found the pill and clutched it as if it could ward off evil. Rising to my feet, I wiped my face with the back of my hand. “I’ll take it,” I said. “Just save them.”
He scoffed and moved slowly around the table until he stood before me. I backed away until my spine hit the edge of the table. He tilted his head, watching me like I was a puzzle he was tired of trying to solve.
“So, you’re willing to die for them?”
I nodded. “I have nothing to lose.”
He reached out, fingers brushing mine, and took the pill from my hand. Then he leaned closer. “That’s so boring. I still want to play.” He rolled the pill between his fingers like a coin in a twisted game of fate. “Why don’t we find out if your parents would die for you?”
I blinked. “Sir?”
Artur pulled out his phone and made a call while his body pressed me against the table. I could barely breathe under his weight. The phone rang, each chime slicing through the silence like a blade.
He put the phone on speaker and rested it on the table, never breaking eye contact as he leaned in close.
“Speak,” he murmured.
My breath hitched. “What?”
The call connected.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice called out, and I froze. I knew that voice. It was my mother.
A sob clawed its way up my throat, but Artur only smiled. It was a smile that stripped the air from my lungs. He leaned in, his lips grazing the shell of my ear.
“I want you to talk to her,” he ordered. “And say exactly what I say.”
Panic surged in my chest.
“W-what?” I rasped, pleading with him, but his gaze was merciless.
“Tell her you killed Salvatore,” he said. “If you don’t … I’ll make sure she hears you scream my name as I take you right here.” His words slithered around me, pulling tight. “Be a good girl and say it.”
“No.”
“Who is there?” My mother’s voice trembled.
Artur’s hand slid onto my thigh, rough and purposeful, gripping me brutally. His fingers pressed into my skin, sending electricity straight through my spine. I flinched, my resolve trembling under his cruel touch.
“Speak,” he growled.
“Mamma…” I choked out, my body shaking.
“Alessia?” Her voice cracked with fragile hope, and it shattered me. “Is that you?”
Rodion’s hand moved higher, a silent threat and a dark promise. I bit down hard on my lip.
“Mamma, I killed … I killed Salvatore,” I whispered, the lie dragging across my throat like glass.
Silence fell. Mamma was probably too shocked to speak. Artur stepped back, leaving a hollow chill in his place. He picked up the phone with a victorious smirk, eyes never leaving mine.
“Mrs. Romero,” his voice was coated with venomous charm, “you and your husband might want to check your email. Next time, I won’t be calling. I’ll be at your door.”
He ended the call and tossed the phone onto the table with a dull clack. I stood there, breathless.
“What … what was that?” I asked in shock.
Artur leaned in, his mouth near mine. “Now,” he whispered with a wicked glint in his eye, “don’t you think it’s time we deliver death to Salvatore?”