CHAPTER 16
Ariana's POV
I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them to my chest, rocking back and forth in time with the steady drip of water echoing off the walls. The sound shouldn’t have been comforting, but it was the only thing that reminded me I was still alive.
It had been days since Alessandro told his men to “deal with this,” and I was still here — still trapped in the same basement where this nightmare began. The same cold, damp air. The same darkness.
I’d lost count of how many times I’d cried myself to sleep. My voice was hoarse from calling out for Mom and for Matt, even though I knew neither could hear me. The last time I saw them was that Friday night, and now it felt like years had passed.
When Alessandro told them to get rid of me, I was certain that meant I’d die. I thought I’d feel the press of a gun against my head any second. But instead, I was locked back in this room — left alive, but forgotten. They only came to bring me food and water, like I was some animal in a cage.
It was freezing. My fingers were numb. I’d thought I’d die from the cold on the first night. Somehow, I made it to the second.
Then the door opened.
The familiar heavy creak made me flinch instantly. My body moved before my brain did — curling up tighter in the corner like I could disappear into the wall. I didn’t want anyone near me. Not the guards. Not even Alessandro.
The footsteps came closer, slow and deliberate.
“Stand up.”
I froze. That voice — deep, commanding, edged with something I couldn’t quite place. Salvatore.
I hesitated until he spoke again, his tone a little softer. “Stand up, fiore.”
My legs trembled as I forced myself upright. I hated the way his eyes followed me, heavy and judging, like he could see straight through my skin.
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” he said quietly, “what’s your name, fiore?”
Even though his tone wasn’t harsh, it still sent a shiver down my spine.
“A-Ariana...” I whispered.
Silence.
He stared at me for a long moment before exhaling sharply, like a truth had just hit him. Then his eyes darkened again.
“Why did you come back? You were supposed to be dead.”
My mouth went dry.
What?
My mind blanked completely. He said it so casually, like it was something he already knew — like he’d seen me die.
“You kidnapped me,” was all I managed to stammer out.
“Just come with me.” His patience was gone now. He turned sharply and headed for the door, but I didn’t move. I stood there frozen, watching the back of his head, his words spinning through my mind like poison.
Why did I come back?
Didn’t Alessandro want to see me? Didn’t he ever—
“Are you dense, fiore?” Salvatore snapped, cutting through my thoughts. He turned and glared at me, jaw tight. “I said come with me.”
Something inside me broke then, but I followed him anyway. My feet moved on their own, each step heavier than the last.
We walked through long corridors lined with marble and gold accents, the kind of beauty that made me sick. Every chandelier sparkled like it was mocking me. The air smelled like polish and expensive perfume, but underneath it all was something rotten — something cold.
Women moved through the halls quietly, all wearing the same crisp uniforms. I recognized the outfit from before — the same woman who’d bathed me, dressed me, avoided my eyes. They all kept their heads down, their movements careful, mechanical.
As we walked, my heart pounded harder and harder.
Because I realized we weren’t going deeper into the house. We were going out.
The back of the mansion came into view, sunlight bleeding through the tall glass doors. My breath caught in my throat as panic clawed its way up my chest.
Was this it? Were they finally letting me go... or was this where they were going to kill me?
I swallowed hard, trying to stop my hands from shaking, but it was no use. My anxiety was spiraling, just like it always did. I wanted Matt — his calm voice, the way he grounded me when my chest felt like it was collapsing. But Matt wasn’t here.
And Alessandro...
The thought of his name alone hurt.
I followed Salvatore through those gleaming halls with my heart in my throat, bracing for whatever waited beyond those doors.
Because one thing was certain — whatever came next, there was no going back..
began to think if he was left to die at the restaurant that night and wanted to do something about it, but I knew I couldn’t if I was going to be held under their captivity. The worst came to mind, and I panicked the other night — after that, I don’t remember anything.
Once we reached Salvatore’s desired destination, he instructed me to get down on my knees and wait.
He went out and then came back with a blindfold to cover my eyes.
All the way through, I felt panic flood through my system — as always, ever since I got here — but right now, at this moment, it was worse.
My stomach hurt, and tears were threatening to spill out of my eyes.
After a few moments of waiting, I heard multiple footsteps just walking into the room.
I couldn’t really see anything as my eyes were covered, but I could hear everything.
Silence filled the room once again, and all I could feel was what felt like a thousand pairs of eyes glaring directly at me. I whimpered through the silence and tried to compose myself, but I couldn’t because I was so scared. I just wanted to go home to mom.
Suddenly, the blindfold was yanked off my face only to be faced with Salvatore, who was sitting on a chair while several other men surrounded me.
I’ve never been so intimidated in my whole life.
When I looked around, I felt my heart just stop pumping.
Bruno, the other man, stood next to me as he watched me before he turned his attention elsewhere.
“Fiore,” he suddenly called out, which instantly caused me to snap my head in his direction. “What shall we do with you then?”
I felt my chin quiver as I licked my lips; they were very dry.
“L-let me g-go. Please!” I pleaded.
“Let you go, huh?” He scoffed before he stood up from his seat and approached me. I felt Bruno grab my arms and pull me up, but while he did that, he was gentle, like always.
“Now why would we do that?” he growled, his face so close to mine.
I quivered and whimpered as I cowered my head low — I was too afraid to speak back.
After Nicola left, I learned to stand up for myself; however, this man was taking all my courage away because of how intimidating he was.
I felt myself slowly crippling apart as I wondered where Alessandro was.
While all this happened, he was nowhere to be seen.
I still couldn’t believe I saw him that day, and since I have, I refuse to believe that it’s him because I’ve only seen him that day.
After that, he’s been gone, like I’ve never seen him.
Bruno, the other man, left me and joined him. My eyes traveled to him as I followed his steps. It seemed like he was preparing something before he walked back to us with keys jingling in his hands.
“Oddio, non smette mai di piangere?” Bruno began to stress, and I threw a glare at him unbeknownst to him.
I understood everything they said, but I don’t think these people knew that — which is why they were talking about me like I didn’t understand them.
I never spoke like that to people because mom taught me not to.
If I didn’t like being spoken to in another language behind my back, I would never do it to others.
However, these men had no limits, mainly because of the fact that they were mafias.
To be honest... I don’t care.
“S-sor-sorry... I’ll stop, but p-please let me g-go,” I pleaded again, but this time it totally caught them off guard. They glared at me like I had committed a huge crime, and that’s when I felt my stomach drop for the nth time today.
“She understands!” Bruno chortled. “See? I told you.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Salvatore spat. “Get the shit ready, we have places to be.”
Bruno continued to laugh as he nodded his head and walked off.
While he walked off, I was still able to hear his laugh, but that wasn’t really important now.
I needed to get out of here, but before I did, I wanted to see Alessandro again.
I wanted to speak to him, touch him, and know what happened to him.
“Come on, fiore,” Salvatore grabbed my arms, startling me. “You’re coming with me.”
We walked away from where we were and walked a short distance around the mansion. We remained outside as the sky was becoming darker by the second. I roamed my eyes around the place and began to grow concerned because all I saw were acres of land. If I wanted to leave, where would I even begin?
After walking for a while, we reached something that looked like a small house, but I knew how filthy rich these people were, so I assumed that this house wasn’t small after all.
I was right — when we walked in, the place was huge, though smaller than the mansion we had just come from.
I gulped as the air was cold; it seemed as though this place was not occupied as much.
The stark smell of bleach filled my nose, reminding me of hospitals.
The color white was everywhere in this house — nothing other than white.
“This is where you’re going to be staying.”
My heart literally dropped as I turned around to watch him in shock; my head was unable to process this.
“What?”
Salvatore glared at me like I was the most hated thing in the world before he stalked toward me.
“I said that you’re going to be staying here from now on,” he repeated. “Do you understand?”
I felt myself shiver under his threatening voice before I found my own shaky one.
“No,” I shook my head and stepped back. “I want to be let go. Why this?”
“That’s not going to happen, Ariana,” his threatening voice reached my ears, which caused my eyes to well up. He suddenly pulled his hand out and pushed me so I was at the center of the damn house. “If we wanted to let go of you, you’d be dead by now.”
I felt so little, as though all these men were cornering me with their tall frames.
My heart pumped crazily in my chest as I looked up at them, trying to get away from the small space they provided me — but that wasn’t my concern at the moment.
As I felt like I was about to die, another presence made its way into the room, and deep down, I expected it to be Alessandro because I really wanted to see him, but much to my surprise, it wasn’t.
In fact, I was shocked at who stood in front of me.
Matt stood in front of us like nothing had happened to him.
He was there, like the other day didn’t even happen, and at that moment, my concern wasn’t the fact that these men were threatening me — no.
Right now, I was actually terrified at the fact that Matt was here because deep down, I knew that he shouldn’t be here.