55
SERAFINA
“ F accia di merdas! Micios! ” I scream and scream, battling the exhaustion pumping through my veins until my cries become nothing more than wisps of air. I kick out my legs, thrash against my restraints as the tears fall, but it doesn’t matter.
Nothing matters anymore.
The door to this shitty room slams shut, but I’m not alone. I feel his breath envelop me. I sense his sinister presence before I see it.
I hold my breath, expecting the same knife that just killed Giovanni to plunge into my own flesh, but it doesn’t come. I open my eyes, staring straight at the man who tried and failed to protect me in so many ways. His blood paints the ground below. His body fills the room with the reminder of my inevitable fate.
All of the sudden, I plummet to the ground, my knees cracking on impact. There’s nothing to soften the fall, no energy in my legs or arms to stop myself as my face smacks off the concrete with a sickening thud. I groan out through the pain radiating from my face, through the thick waves of nausea plummeting into my stomach.
But as soon as I feel the cold concrete beneath me, I relax into it. It’s a brief reprieve from hanging by my wrists. I’m already aware of the lacerations breaking my skin and the fact one shoulder doesn’t feel quite right.
A shoe digs into my side, flipping me onto my back. “Let’s come to an agreement,” Luciano taunts, crouching in front of me. “I’m a respectable man. You’re a…” He doesn’t finish his sentence—probably reluctant to give me any kind of compliment.
Luciano’s blue gaze pins me in place. I’ve seen that look before. It’s the same one he used to give me when chaos was out of his control. It’s the look of a man still searching for power.
“Rescind your position, and I’ll let you live.”
As much as I want to believe him, it’s all lies. Every goddamn second spent in this place has been filled with them. From Giovanni’s betrayal to Luciano’s torture methods. Neither of them can be trusted. It’s just me. Though the longer I’m here, the more I feel like I can’t even trust myself.
“Fuck… you,” I croak weakly.
“You always were stupid, cagna ,” Luciano sneers.
I look up at him, feeling every level of hatred and disgust for the man I once believed I loved. But that wasn’t love at all. It was toxic, poisonous. Luciano wouldn’t know how to love, not like Levi, not like Luca. Not like Giovanni. He just snakes his way into your life and before you know it, he’s taking you down like a viper. Topolina
That last thought mixed with guilt pushes me upright. Luciano might still tower over me, but I refuse to let him win.
“You always were a prick,” I grin sadistically.
Luciano’s hand slices through the air, the back of it whipping so hard that when it connects with my cheek, my arms give out beneath me. My head snaps sideways as Luciano backhands my face. I roll across the floor, slumping in a naked mess on my front. My chest heaves as I manage a cough, blood smattering the damp concrete, but my defiance wins out as I turn back to grin at him.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I taunt.
“Oh, you want pain?” He crouches over me, gripping my throat and hoisting me up. He slams my back against the wall, winding me for a split second. “I gave you so many chances, so many opportunities to walk away from this. Now, I’m just going to have to do it myself.”
Fear wraps around me, accompanying Luciano’s vise grip on my neck as he points my face in the direction of Giovanni’s slumped form, still hanging from his one cuff.
“You did this, Topolina . You killed him. Now his daughter has nobody. Nobody but me.”
Another tear falls, my heart breaking and gut wrenching. I’m torn between my anger and sorrow. I’m angry that Giovanni didn’t come to me and tell me what was happening. I’m angry that he felt he could do this all on his own. I’m sad that even after everything, he didn’t trust me with this. But what hurts the most is knowing his poor girl is still out there, now without a father.
I bite back a sob and narrow my eyes. I refuse to let Gabriella grow up alone. Even if this wasn’t my doing, I knew what Giovanni was going to ask me earlier. I need to get out of here. I need to find her. I don’t owe Giovanni shit for what he did to me, but this has gone past the point of blame. I won’t let another innocent girl fall into the hands of Luciano and his sick ways.
“You’re right,” I grin through a bloody mouth. “I did this.”
I use all my energy to push away from the wall. It’s minute, but just enough to shock Luciano, enough to swing my body and lift my knee to his groin.
“ Figa stupida !” Luciano’s fist connects with my ribs, stealing my breath. I coil over, but Luciano has me pinned against the wall again, stepping between my legs.
My throat scratches as I try to swallow my fear. I refuse to beg or give in, though. I might not have been taught to withstand torture, but I refuse to give Luciano the power over me. He may have broken me on the inside, but he’ll never know. I’ll die before he ever knows how broken I am.
“All you have to do is say those words!” Luciano bellows. “And then all of this will go away!”
Another lie.
“Never! ”
“Fine!” Luciano snaps, shoving another fist into my side. The agony rains down as I drop to the floor. He kicks at my slumped form over and over. Never breaking his rhythm, his momentum never falters.
My insides burn up, my throat feeling like it’s tearing from the inside out. I refuse to go out this way, though. I’m determined to get myself out of here, even if it kills me. Nobody is coming to save me, not even the man who swore to protect me. There’s no sign of Luca or Levi. As far as I am aware, nobody knows where I am. At least I can rest easy with that thought because I know they’re safe. I don’t think I could bear to lose either of those men, even if it was to rescue me.
Every kick in my stomach sends waves of nausea through me, but I push forward, fighting through aching limbs and a blood filled mouth. I look past his form, to the light filling the doorway. I try to crawl forward, desperation pumping through me.
“I don’t think so,” Luciano cackles.
I scream out as agony rips through my hand and I collapse. I look at where Luciano’s shoe flattens my palm, my fingers outstretched, crunched beneath his weight. Blood dribbles from my mouth and down my chin, but I don’t have the energy to spit out, so I just let it fall from my parted lips, watching the crimson strands slink to the ground.
“I knew I’d enjoy your fight.”
Grabbing my hair, he yanks my head up to rub my bottom lip with his thumb. It’s a gesture that I would normally enjoy from anyone else, but being this weak has definitely put a shit spin on things.
“I always admired this body, Serafina,” he grins, grabbing my tits harshly. “And now I have you all to myself. Are you going to be a good little mouse and scream for me?”
I cry out, the cold air against my hard nipples makes it all hurt. But that’s what Luciano wants. My cries, my screams. He revels in my pain because it’s the only power he’ll ever get.
I shiver as the cold air wraps around my naked body. I’m aware of my state, covered in dirt and blood, but it doesn’t seem to deter Luciano. He shoves me backwards, crawling on top of me, untilhis weight pushes into me. It feels like every single bone is about to crack, and it rips agony right through me like I’m being split in two.
Through blurry vision and empty screams, I see Luciano shift slightly. My heartbeat pounds in my ears, my breaths coming out in staggered heaves. I’m more than familiar with how Luciano likes to take control of situations, but despite the turn of events, I know I won’t survive this.
Then I hear the zipper.
I kick out, but between his body and the concrete, there’s not much give for me to escape. It doesn’t stop me though. I slam my head forward, butting heads with him.
It fucking hurts like a mother fucker, but I don’t care. It momentarily stuns him, giving me enough time to crawl out from underneath Luciano’s groaning form and stumble clumsily to my feet. The room feels like it’s spinning, my nausea returning as I gulp in air.
Oh no.
The ground meets my body once more, offering me the coldest embrace.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Luciano hisses as he grabs on and yanks me backwards, pinning me to the ground with his body again. “I was going to make this sweet for you.” His hands fumble between our bodies. “But now, I don’t really care!”
He parts my thighs with his own, his hand gripping my throat. All my energy has been exerted and I’m back to running on fumes. Suddenly, the prospect of getting away seems like a dream.
I give into the helplessness and cry out.
“Oh, you’re so pretty when you beg.” He runs his tongue over my face, the cut of his earlier incision stinging from the contact, but I force back the bile and tears.
It won’t stop him. I can already feel him pressing against my entrance, forcing himself as hard as he can. Though I know he’ll struggle. That knee to his balls must have done a number on him because even though the numbness, I can make out him struggling.
I’m all out of tears, all out of energy. The darkness that blossoms from the edges of my vision starts to close in .
This is it.
This is me accepting my fate.
Click.
“I think it’s going to be you begging, Verdi.”
Luciano freezes above me. I can’t see anything past the dark shadow looming over our bodies, but that voice .
I’d recognize it anywhere.
I blink back my confusion as the silhouette moves and the light gives way to the person behind the voice. My heart races, my pulse pounding so loudly in my ears that I can barely think straight.
No.
It’s a mirage. It has to be. It’s my imagination playing tricks on me. I’m so fucking drained and dehydrated, I must be hallucinating because there is no way I’m seeing what I think I am. Every part of me wants to reach out, to confirm that it is just my brain welcoming the man who I haven’t stopped thinking about since he left.
Through a forced smile and a broken heart, I look up at those dark eyes.My throat is raw, but I still manage to utter the one name that shatters me.
“Enzo?”