Page 78 of Taking His Heart

“Whoa, hold up!” Santo calls out.

“What?”

“You can’t go out on your own. And you’re not going in blind without a plan,” he tells me.

“One: You’re my wife’s uncle, and for that reason, I will give you the respect that title deserves. Two: You’re not my boss. You don’t get to tell me what to do. That asshole has made numerous attempts on my wife’s life. I am not sitting back and doing nothing while he plots a third attempt,” I tell him.

“Shit, kids got balls.” Marcel laughs.

“If you’re going, I’m coming,” Santo says.

“Fine.” I shrug. Pulling out my phone, I create a group message with Aiden, Elias, and Aunt Lailani.

Me:

He’s checked into the Plaza. Heading there now.

Elias:

Meet you there.

Aiden:

I’m with him.

Aunt Lailani:

Don’t any of you go in before I get there.

Putting my phone away, I step out of the office at the same time a piercing scream fills the entire house. My blood goes cold and I run towards the sound.

“Aurelio!” Rosie. Shit, what the fuck?

I find her in the kitchen, her hands covered in blood.

“Aurelio!” she screams again.

“Rosie? What happened? Where’s Daniella?” I grab her arms and run my eyes over her body but don’t see any wounds. “He… he took her,” she says, and the world spins under my feet.

“What?” I look behind her.

There’s a door that’s been left open, blood around the handle. Stepping past Rosie, I run towards the door and down the stairs to the basement.

“Daniella!” My voice echoes into the darkness And that’s the only thing I hear.

Chapter Thirty-Two

I’ve been scared before, but I’ve never felt the kind of fear I do right now. I’m literally in the hands of a psychopath. But at least Rosie is okay. He let her go, and for that, I’m going to take whatever fate I’m being dealt. Because if it’s my sister or me, I’m always going to choose her.

She has a bright future ahead of her. She’s going to fall in love and have children. She’s going to be a great mother one day. And me? Well, I’ve already found my great love. I know what it feels like to be loved so wholly it wraps around you like a warm, fluffy blanket. He’s not going to accept this. He’s going to try to find me. I just pray that he doesn’t end up collateral damage in whatever this psychopath’s plan is.

I tried really hard not to cry. I didn’t want to be weak in front of him. I didn’t want him to know just how terrified of him I am. But I broke. The more I think about my family, my parents, my brother, my sister… all of my uncles and aunts, my cousins… how much my death is going to impact them, the more my heart breaks.

I’m also scared of the pain. I don’t know what he’s going to do. I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill me. But how? I wish he would get it done already. Instead, he’s just sitting across the room staring at me.

Meanwhile, I’m chained to a damned pipe that’s attached to the wall. The concrete floor cold and damp underneath me. I don’t dare say anything, for fear of saying the wrong thing and sending him into a fit of rage.

I’m trying to think of every little tip my dad taught me about this exact situation. He taught all of us children what to do in a kidnapping scenario. Although he assured me it was never going to actually happen, but he was always big for being prepared. Right now, though, I’m coming up blank. All I can think of is how much I want my dad and uncles to come in here, guns blazing. I want to watch them kill this asshole who thinks I somehow belong to him.