Chapter Eight
Capri
The cold bites at my skin, seeping into my bones.
It’s been an entire day, and no one has come for me.
My parents probably think I’m back in my hole and aren’t looking for me.
Adriano hasn’t come to see me in days and probably wouldn’t even notice I’m missing.
I’m in this mess because of him. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten myself involved with him.
What did I think getting involved with a gangster would bring me?
I should have known those green eyes and that perfectly sculpted and inked body would only bring me trouble.
A few weeks ago, I’d have welcomed this idea of getting kidnapped, but now that I finally have a reason to live, I’m scared shitless.
I look at the nearly abandoned building I’m in.
Only the wood burning in the fireplace illuminates the whole room.
It’s a house deep in the woods, where no one would think to look for me.
I can scream and scream, and no one will hear me.
It doesn’t seem like a place in touch with civilization.
I struggle into a sitting position, tired of the hard, cold, unforgiving floor.
My hands are bound behind my back, and my mouth taped.
It’s strange how this would have elicited a different form of reaction from me if Adriano were my captor.
But these men are no joke. I’ve only seen two of them—the men who sat across from us at the party.
Apparently, they have a bone to pick with Adriano, and I’m the perfect bait.
I let out a harsh cough as dust sneaks in through my nostrils.
There’s dust everywhere. The two couches sitting opposite each other, the center table housing rotten fruits, the vases .
.. everything is covered in dust. I drag myself across the floor to get closer to the fireplace.
The front door swings open, making the fire shy away for a few seconds.
One of the men, who I believe to be Simeone, takes a stroll in and falls onto the couch.
Dust rises into the air, and he waves it off with his hand.
“This damn house,” he mouths, settling his gaze on me. His lips curl in a wicked smile. “I hope you’re enjoying your stay?”
I throw him a cold glare as I struggle to get the tape off my mouth. I make as much noise as I can..
“You probably hate me right now. Not that I care. I did try to warn you. You remember that conversation?” He gazes into the distance, pretending someone is sitting on the couch across from him.
“Misfortune seems to befall anyone who gets close to him...” He shrugs as he rips the tape off my lips. “I did warn you.”
“Adriano and I aren’t close. We’ve barely known each other for a month.
If you’re trying to get to him through me, it won’t work.
He doesn’t care about me.” My last sentence hurts like hell, but I’m slowly accepting the reality.
I’m probably just one of the many ladies he’s lured with his irresistible charm, one of those who has succumbed to his authority.
Simeone breaks into fits of laughter. “You almost have me fooled.” He pauses and looks at me.
“Wait, you actually believe he doesn’t care about you?
” He smirks. “You clueless bitch. I’ve watched that bastard for years, and I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you.
He clearly couldn’t hide the fact that he was in love with you.
” He picks up one half-rotten apple and inspects it, as if the rot isn’t crystal clear.
He sinks his teeth into the part that still looks a little fresh.
“That’s a rookie move, you know? In our line of business, falling in love only makes you weak. ”
All of a sudden, it starts to feel like gravity has strengthened its hold on my heart, like its weight might let it fall out of my chest at any moment. If Adriano really loves me, then I have made him vulnerable. I might be the reason my master is harmed.
My eyes fill with tears that prove too difficult to hold back. “What are you going to do to him?”
“Kill him. He’s been meddling in our business for far too long—” His phone beeps, cutting him off.
He stares at his screen for a few seconds, then looks back up with his signature sadistic smile.
“Looks like your knight in shining armor is here.” He stands and pulls me to my feet with one hand. “This will all be over soon.”
He pushes me through the door into the night and through the woods.
I’m still wearing my nightgown from the other night, which does a really bad job of keeping the cold out.
My stomach rumbles, but that’s the least of my worries tonight.
Soon, we break out of the forest into a clearing just at the edge of a cliff.
The brilliant moon comes into full view, a witness to whatever horror might take place tonight.
My other captor, Enzo, turns his head as he hears our footsteps.
Across from him stands Adriano, who’s holding a gun at Enzo.
Simeone hands me over to Enzo, who points his gun at my head. The hair on my skin stands up as I whimper.
Simeone trails his fingers down my face. “It’s okay. This will be over before you know it.”
“Get your filthy hands off her!”
“You see? That’s your problem right there. You’re like a raging bull. You never think! Always rushing in like a raging bull. Do you even know why you’re here? Do you know why you’re going to die tonight?”
“It’s not my job to know how psychopaths think.”
“You think I’m a psychopath? I’m not the one who killed his best friend. Do you remember him? The man you shot in cold blood just the other night. That guy?”
Adriano’s jaw clenches, but he doesn’t utter a single word.
“Answer me, Adriano.”
“You know the rules. The punishment for any form of betrayal is death.”
Simeone lets out hysterical laughter. “You really believe that bullshit. God, you’re so stupid. A fucking arrogant prick who thinks he can never be wrong. You couldn’t even see the naked truth when it was in a bikini and shaking its tight ass right in front of you.”
“What are you talking about?”
Simeone walks toward Adriano, confident that he can’t pull the trigger.
“Leonardo wasn’t the one leaking the Cosa Nostra secrets.
We were.” He sniggers. “It was so easy to frame Leonardo, but the easiest part was deceiving you. You were so blinded by loyalty. How do you feel knowing you killed your best friend for nothing? You must feel like shit, right? I watched you put three bullets in him without mercy.” He stretches out his fingers in the shape of a gun and fires three shots.
“You know, we thought it would end there after you killed the traitor. Instead, you kept on digging like the little prick that you are. If you had just stayed out of our business, you’d probably be at home fucking your girlfriend right now.
But here we are,” he spreads his hands, “standing at the edge of a fucking cliff.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Don’t make this any more difficult. Drop your gun, surrender, and maybe I’ll let your girlfriend leave. I can’t promise she won’t become my whore, though.”
I see anger flash through Adriano’s eyes, but it disappears as quickly as it came. “And why should I believe anything that comes out of your filthy mouth?”
Simeone shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe because I’m the one holding the gun to her head.”
Simeone walks up to Adriano until he’s only a few steps away. “Checkmate, Adriano.”
Adriano lets out an awkward laugh and drops his gun.
“Any last words?” Simeone hisses.
“You were right about one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
“I’m a fucking arrogant prick who is always right.”
Immediately, a gunshot echoes through the night, hitting Enzo and splattering blood all over my face.
He lets out a groan as he falls to the ground.
I let out a shriek and run for cover behind a tree.
A man walks out of the shelter of the trees.
The same man Adriano had shot the first night we met.
He looked really ... alive. He gestures to me to come toward him, which I do.
“You really thought you had me fooled? I was one step ahead of you the whole time. I knew you were watching my every step. I had to make Leonardo’s death believable and send him into hiding. I knew that sooner or later, the real culprits would slip up,” Adriano continues.
Simeone’s eyes bulge in confusion.
“It’s over, Simeone.”
“You fucking prick!” Simeone reaches for his gun, but Adriano’s fist is faster, landing a well-placed punch on his cheek. Simeone’s gun flies away from his grip down the cliff.
“You know what’s going to happen now? I’m going to beat the crap out of you for daring to lay your hands on her!” Adriano barks, raising his fists and getting into a fighting stance.
Simeone lunges for Adriano, who effortlessly sidesteps him.
Adriano ducks the next flurries of punches thrown at him and lands another punch square on Simeone’s jaw.
Simeone stumbles backward, rubbing his chin.
It isn’t much of a fight. It’s a beatdown, as Adriano is clearly the stronger, faster, and more experienced fighter.
Adriano closes the space between them, giving him an uppercut, followed by a punch to his gut.
Simeone staggers to the edge of the cliff but manages to regain his balance.
“I told you I was going to kill you for touching the woman I love,” Adriano says, delivering the final kick that sends Simeone flying down the cliff to his death.
His scream echoes through the night until it dies off.
As loud as Simeone’s scream was, the only thing that echoes in my mind is Adriano’s last words.
He called me the woman he loves. How my heart goes from racing with fear to racing with excitement is beyond me.
I finally release the breath I don’t know has been trapped in my chest all this time, and run to give Adriano a tight hug.
“What took you so long?” I sob. “I thought I was actually going to die.”
“I thought you wanted to die?”
“Not anymore. I want to be yours, Master.”
He places a kiss on my forehead. “I’m sorry your master didn’t come early enough.”
“Well, I guess my master will have to make it up to me, won’t he?”
“I guess he’ll have to.”
“Also ... I’ve seen so many deaths tonight, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to recover.”
“I know just what you need.”
“You do?”
“Mm-hmm ... oh... I spoke with your mother. She called me your boyfriend.”
My face turns red as I let go of Adriano and head for the woods, even though I have no idea where I’m headed. “Okay, I need to go home—”
A gunshot shreds through the night, followed by two shots from Leonardo. The first shot didn’t come from him. It came from Enzo. I spin toward Adriano. He’s clutching his stomach with one hand, with blood seeping through it. It suddenly feels like my body is set on fire. “Adriano!”
He staggers backward as I run toward him.
“Live life...” he says, as he falls off the cliff.