16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Sienna
My mom doesn’t hesitate to pull me into her arms the second she opens the door. I don’t hesitate to cry the moment I feel the familiar, comforting sensation of her arms around me.
“Sienna? Oh my god. My baby.”
I cling on to her, like I might die if I let go. I was feeling conflicted over Dante letting me go but being back with my mom is just the reminder I needed that this is where I belong.
“I need to get you away from here,” she says, pulling back. “That monster could come for you again any moment.”
“Mom. He let me go.”
Her eyes widen. Typically, my mom is a hard, no nonsense woman but right now, she looks anything but. “He let you go?”
“Yes. That’s what he said.”
“This could be a game. We should go. Come on. Let’s go to Gabriel’s. He’ll help keep you safe.”
I grab her arm and force her to stop. “Mom. He let me go. I don’t think he’s coming for me.”
“We just have to be safe. Please.”
Slowly, I nod. “All right.” For my mom’s sake, I’ll do this.
She’s still moving slow as she grabs a gun and walks out to the car. I follow behind, just like old times.
“In case he shows his face back around here.” She grunts as she gets into the car and sets the gun on the passenger seat. “Hold on to this.”
“Mom, I can drive.”
“No. I got this. I am keeping you safe.”
I let my mom have this one. After everything she’s been through these past couple of weeks, I don’t blame her for fighting for me.
“Are you… are you all right?” she asks as we drive to Gabriel’s house.
“I’m fine,” I whisper. All the bravery I felt with Dante is just… gone. Now, I feel more like a husk than anything else.
“You don’t sound fine. What did that monster do to you?”
“Do you really want to know?”
She nods, resolute. “I am your mother. Of course I want to know.”
I stare at the window as the Florence countryside passes us by. “I wasn’t raped if you’re worried about that.”
She sucks in a breath. “I… I was worried.”
“I was beaten. But it was by another man. Dante killed that man for me. I also… killed a police officer in my attempts to find you when I escaped the first time.”
“You killed a police officer?” She almost swerves into on-coming traffic. “What? Why?”
“He wanted to hurt me even though I was looking for help. It was self-defense. I killed him.” My voice sounds numb. No emotion to it. I almost sound more like a robot than a human, like all the things I went through happened to someone else and not to me.
“Oh. Well… I… I don’t know what to say to any of that.”
“Dante helped clean up the mess so I’ll be safe. The police won’t come looking for me.”
“How do you know that? He could have just said that. Now that you escaped again, he could turn the police against you just to hurt you.”
“Mom, I said he let me go. I didn’t escape this time. That’s the difference.” When I flick my eyes in her direction, I see her gripping the steering wheel so tight, her hands look as white as paper.
“I just can’t believe that you’re safe. Not until that monster is dead.”
A flare of anger hits me. “Can you stop calling him a monster?” My tone is much harsher than I mean it to be.
Mom goes quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. But he is a monster, Sienna.”
“I know,” I breathe out. “I called him that countless times. I just… I just can’t listen to you call him that.”
“All right. I understand. I’ll be quiet. I’m just glad you’re not seriously hurt.”
“Me too.” My back still aches from where Jack had beat on me. Until Dante stopped it. Until he let me go.
Sudden tears hit me and I find myself crying. Mom reaches out and touches my hand, sending as much comfort as she can, but we both know there’s only so much she can do.
We reach Gabriel’s house. The large, gothic structure would look terrifying to anyone else but right now, it brings me comfort. It means I’m safe.
I help my mom walk up to the front door. The guard out front motions for us to stop.
“Tell Gabriel that Henrietta and Sienna are here,” my mom says.
The guard speaks into a walkie-talkie and a moment later, nods and knocks on the door. It opens to reveal Gabriel on the other side.
Aurora, his wife, rushes out before he can. “Sienna? Are you all right?” I’ve spent time with Aurora over the couple of years they’ve been married. The sight of her small baby bump is visible.
“I’ll be fine.”
“She’s safe now,” Mom says. “Let us in. Please.”
“Of course.” Aurora ushers us inside while Gabriel motions for us to head into the living room. My mom grunts when she sits down. The pain on her face is obvious but she’s pushing through it to help me. Always fighting for me.
“How did you escape?” Gabriel asks. Aurora gently hits him on the chest and gives him a look. “What? I need to know.”
“She just got away from Dante. Give her a moment to breathe,” Mom says.
Gabriel raises his hands in surrender. “I apologize but I need to know these things, Sienna. Where was Dante keeping you? We can find the place and attack him.”
I hesitate. “Attack him?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you do that? He let me go. I didn’t escape.”
The three of them go silent as they all look at me, probably thinking I have lost my mind.
Gabriel is the first one to speak. “There’s no way he just let you go. He’s an evil, psychotic monster.”
“But he did let me go,” I say slowly. “I’m not sure why. He wouldn’t tell me but he did let me go. So doesn’t that count for something? He let me go and now you can make peace with him.”
“Make peace with Dante? No. He needs to die for what he did to you. He needs to die for going against my orders.”
“But you’re not his boss,” I respond. There’s no venom in my voice. I’m just stating a fact.
Gabriel blinks. “No. I am not his boss. But I offered to make a deal with him and he spat in my face when he took you. So now I need to know where he kept you so I can go and kill him.”
“But he’ll most likely be waiting for you. He let me go. He isn’t coming back for me.” At least, I think he’s not. The thought that Dante never wants to see me again hurts in a way I know it shouldn’t.
“Why won’t you tell me where he kept you?”
My mom and Aurora share a look but stay quiet.
I open my lips and can’t get the words out.
“Sienna,” Gabriel says in a hard voice. “Why won’t you tell me where Dante kept you?”
“Because it doesn’t matter now. He let me go. I’m safe. You don’t need to go to war against him. You don’t need to die because of him. I’m not going to say.” And if I’m being honest, I don’t want Dante to die by Gabriel’s hand either.
“Just tell me,” he snaps.
“Careful,” my mom says. “Be nice to my daughter. She just went through something traumatic. You’re little war can wait.”
“My little war is what led to Sienna getting kidnapped in the first place. It can’t wait.”
Mom stands up, despite her struggle. “It can wait. I brought my daughter here to find safety. And I would appreciate it if you offered it to us and left my daughter alone. At least until she’s feeling better.
Can’t you understand that? You’ll be a father in a few months.
Learn to treat the people around you better. ”
Gabriel stares at my mom for a long, hard moment, before he nods. “Fine. I’ll set you both up in a guest room. Sienna, get some rest. And then we’ll talk.”
“I’ll call Luciana,” Aurora offers. “She’ll want to see you.”
I sag into the couch. “Thank you.” I didn’t realize how much I missed my best friend until right in this moment.
As Aurora calls Luciana, I go into the guest room Gabriel has provided for me and lay down. Mom knocks at the door.
“Can I come in or do you want some privacy?”
“Mom, I’m fine. I know you’re worried. It’s why you’re hovering over me. But I’m fine. Really.” But even I can tell I’m lying and I know my mom knows it too.
Thankfully, she doesn’t push. “All right. I’ll give you some space. But I’m always here when you want to talk.”
“Thank you.” But there’s no way I can tell my mom everything I did with Dante. She would be horrified that I let him take my body. That it turned me on when he pressed a gun to my head. That I felt no remorse when I killed that cop or when Dante killed Edward for me. Nothing.
I only ever felt pleasure when Dante touched me. What does that say about the person I am? I’d rather not think too hard about that.
After my mom leaves, Aurora comes in to let me know she called Luciana and that she’s on her way over. “I figured you wanted to see your best friend.”
The thought of seeing Luciana again makes tears well up in my eyes. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” She hesitates in the doorway. “I know you went through a lot. You don’t have to tell me or Gabriel anything. Don’t let my husband intimidate you. Ok?”
“Ok,” I whisper after she gives me a soft smile.
“But I do have a question, Sienna. Is there a reason you don’t want to tell Gabriel about where Dante is?”
“Like I said. I don’t want him to get hurt.” It’s not a lie when I don’t specify which ‘him’ I’m talking about.
“Of course. I get it. We’ll keep you safe here for as long as you need. Gabriel won’t make you marry Dante now.”
I sit up in bed as a terrifying idea hits me. “Will he make me marry someone else?”
Aurora hesitates. “I’m not sure. I’ll try to talk some sense into him and make him leave you alone. You’ve been through enough. You shouldn’t be used in mafia men’s games. It’s not fair.”
“Thank you. For helping me.”
“It’s what women do in the world of the mafia.” She taps the door before closing it, giving me my space.
My body curls into a ball the moment I’m alone. A flare of arousal hits me. I want to be touched again. I want Dante to be the one to touch me again.
I push past the feelings between my legs. I can’t give in to it. I can’t act this way anymore. The things I did with Dante were in the past. I just don’t understand why he let me go.
That thought makes tears hit my eyes so suddenly, I gasp. And I can’t stop gasping. I clutch my hand to my chest, trying to breathe but it’s too hard. Everything is too hard.