AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I glance at my mother who stares at her hands. After a minute, she looks up, and we make eye contact. My lips thin and I shake my head at her in disappointment, then look away. I can’t believe she’s going along with this, not even fighting my father. We’ve been close all my life, and she’s the one who has comforted me countless times when my father has made me cry. I see no such thing now. She doesn’t even attempt to make things better, stop him, or even offer a shoulder for comfort. If my father is killing Nik, I’ll definitely need consoling. But no, instead, she’s keeping me prisoner in my own room, unable to get out.
I hope my father has mercy on me and doesn’t kill him. I don’t have the highest of hopes, though; he only cares about what benefits him, and right now, that’s not my husband. There’s something more to this, and I know that Leo’s parents and him have come to some sort of arrangement. I’m just so ashamed and embarrassed over the fact that he’d put that over his family and his dignity. He knows Leo is guilty and got Andrea killed, so why doesn’t he gut him already?
That’s the question I want an answer to.
I’ve been stuck here for what feels like an eternity.
Guard shifts have ended twice now, and no one has paid me any mind. How long are their shifts, and why is no one doing shit to me? The feeling of impending doom digs deeper into my stomach, threatening to knock me off balance.
I’ve been tied to a chair this entire time and only let out to relieve myself, which I’m lucky for. I haven’t fought them at all, not that I have any energy right now. They’ve deprived me of food, water, and sleep. The latter mostly because it’s damn hard to fall asleep in a chair while tied in zip-ties and in pain, but maybe I’ll be so tired soon that it won’t matter anymore.
Maybe.
The fucking zip-ties keep digging in though, making me lose feeling in my hands. So, every time I move, it feels like they dig in and make deeper wounds. It’s a slow bleed at this point, and it’s driving me crazy.
There’s a cut on my lip that stings, and someone hit me hard enough to have me spitting blood. The metallic taste fills my mouth, and I turn my head to the side and spit it out, but it lands on my arm instead from the sloppy attempt. I can’t lean over at all. I open my eyes and squint them shut, a bright light over me making me groan. My jaw feels like it’s broken, and I attempt to move it before giving up altogether.
I know Matteo DeLuca is just making my life miserable before he kills me. Death is not in question at this point, just how to avoid it. What could I possibly give him to save me from it and get Camilla in this deal? And a deal Iwillhave to strike with him, because otherwise there’s no way he will hand her over. I need something better than the commitment Matteo has with the Colombo family. He owes a debt to them, at least those are the rumors. Nevertheless, the arrangement they have is mutually beneficial. More business, more assets, more money, and Matteo isn’t going to let that go so easily.
I bet Leonardo is as giddy as all can be right now, thinking that he got away with this, but the little snitch will pay. I won’t go down without a fight, and he will have Camilla over my dead body. Not to mention, she doesn’t want to be with him, so I know she will do everything in her power not to let that happen.
“Knock, knock.” One of the guards says, “Time to wake up.”
I open my heavy, burning eyes to see a tall, muscular man heading my way with a little hygiene bag. I know there aren’t any hygiene items in there, and I automatically tense. Fuck, I’m way too tired for this shit, I won’t lie.
There’s a metal basin being dragged into the room, and once it’s a few feet away from me, he begins to fill it with a hose. Oh, great. I guess I know what comes next, at least.
A second guard enters, relatively quiet, and they both begin to work in unison to release me of my bindings. I don’t attempt to make a move to escape. After all, I can’t get Camilla if I do, and she’s the most important person in my life.
Once out of my bindings, they both haul me to the basin and make me strip my pants off, then shove me down to my knees, making me grunt in pain from the concrete scraping them. I momentarily hold my breath, thinking they’re about to shove my head under the water, but then the devil enters the room.
Matteo DeLuca enters and strides toward me, wearing a suit, as always, and stops right in front of me with a smile. “I see you haven’t been broken yet.” He smirks, and I refrain from the sarcastic snort that wants to make its way out. It will take much more than being tied to a chair to break me. “It’s been one day since you’ve been here, wallowing in self-pity, I’m sure. I’ll tell you now, save your breath. Nothing you say is going to save you.”
We will just have to see about that.
“I have an offer.”
“I don’t want anything you have to offer,” he replies with his unwavering smile that pisses me off. “I just want my daughter to be as far from you as possible, and that won’t happen if you’re married, will it?”
“No,” I say honestly. No way in hell will I stay away from her if I’m alive. “You’ll have to kill me. She’s my wife, and nothing will keep me from her.”
“I admire your honesty, Nikolai.” He nods at the guards. “Unfortunately, not enough to let you be with her.”
“Why are you so opposed?”
“So many reasons.” Matteo DeLuca paces back and forth across from me. “One—she’s been engaged to someone else since childhood. I won’t disgrace our family. A deal is a deal?—”
“Even when the person she’s marrying caused your son’s death?”
He sees red from how his fists clench at his sides and then nods. I hold my breath a moment before my neck is gripped and my face is shoved underwater. My neck is being compressed at the sides, which everyone knows will cause you to pass out. My vision turns black at the edges just as some of my air escapes me, and suddenly I have none left.
I’m about to black the fuck out.
They know precisely what they’re doing, and I don’t have a chance. I’m willing to die for her, just not before I get something off my chest. I’m abruptly lifted out of the water and thrown on the ground face-first. I get on my hands and knees, ignoring the throbbing on the left side of my face, and cough up water.
Fuck. This. Shit.
“I need to get something off my chest,” I croak out between coughs. I look up at Matteo smirking down at me.
