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"Now, baby, if you would just finish your remaining sandwich, maybe we could..." I saw her face darken in displeasure when I started so I decided not to push it. "...Okay, maybe not then." She had eaten more than I would have wanted her to anyways.
I smiled at the memory. This was the last conversation we had the night before she was kidnapped. It had been two weeks now and there still was no sign of forward movement.
I was discouraged up to the point where I even tried to plead Alessandro into giving them the money, but he gave me an answer that shut me up for good in that aspect.
"When two families have bad blood, much like the one you're witnessing now, it's never about the money. They will receive this money and kill Artemis either way. But they need the money to make me suffer. They want to make me feel like I can buy my way out of the situation. They want to give me hope, the promise of an eternal settlement to this, but in reality, it's a life for a life. I've taken more than seven of theirs. One of mine is hardly a fair trade, but it's so dear...and they want to make it hurt."
He did give me full updates every day about the rescue operation they were planning. Ever since the message for the bank account details were sent to Alessandro's phone, they had it taped to ascertain the exact location of the place. From there, it was a stalling game to give them enough time for an attack.
From the bottom of the heart of a desperate mother, I sincerely prayed there was no one that was working for the other side that was planning to sabotage the rescue operation. It was the last and only alternative left.
Speaking of saboteurs, I wondered how Gretchen was doing and decided to pay her a visit. There was a part in the mafia house, the part everyone knows exists, but no one talked about. The cells.
I knew my way to the cells the day Gretchen did. When they were taking her down there, I felt more terrified than she was the captive. But I insisted on following her because Alessandro didn't follow them, and I wanted to make sure there was no way Gretchen could bribe her way out of the grip of the men. Alessandro had told me that it was unnecessary, but I did it anyway. Since then, two weeks later, I have gone three times.
"You know, I'm sure I'll do better in my solitude, thank you very much," she said when I looked at her through the metal barred window on the door. It showed that she wasn't eating well. I couldn't tell if that was the mafia's design or hers, but there was a full plate of bacon and eggs, untouched on the floor. There, I had my simple answer. The one answer I didn't have was why Gretchen did what she did. To be honest, I didn't care why she betrayed the very family that had been her support system since forever. Whether she had a heart or not was difficult to comprehend myself.
"Artemis is still alive. You should be thankful," I told her.
She scoffed, "And why is that?"
"Because that is the only reason you're still alive."
"Then you'd better just kill me."
"Guess what?"
"I don't guess, you imbecile," she spat.
"Well, let me do it for you. The only person that would determine your fate is Artemis herself. And the only one of her wishes that we wouldn't listen to is the lenient one. Every other thing goes," I spat back at her before turning around to leave the basement.
"Would that be if she makes it out?" she laughed scathingly.
"You better pray that she does, because then I'll be the one to decide your fate. And forgiveness is furthest from what I have on my mind," I growled before continuing down the hall and up the stairs. Not a sound comes from her before but as I let the guard close the door, I hear a blood curdling screech.
Chapter 27
I took up the forkful of macaroni, but despite being hand-cooked by the best chef money could employ, I still wasn't feeling it. I was doing it for no one but Alessandro, who made me swear that by the time he was done changing his clothes, I'd be done with breakfast.
As little as I have had to eat within this three-week waiting period, I actually have had less to drink. Having gone this long without a drop of any alcoholic substance further increased my repulsion for the drink.
Coming into the room, shortly before I decided that I was going to give up the food anyway, was Alessandro, although it took him speaking before, I fully recognized him. He was dressed in an all-black outfit that covered his head to his very toes. The only part of his body visible was his face. Even that was soon set to be covered.
"You know I'm coming with you," I stood up from my seat and paced to meet him.
"You know you can't." Of course, he was going to resist.
"Listen, Alessandro, there's absolutely no way I'm sitting this one out. You have to let me come with you." I hold his head and give him a brief shake there.
He allows me to look at him before talking.
"Do you think, tigre, that there's any way in this entire world? Pick any constellation and multiply it by a million. Do you think there's a chance that I'll allow you to come with me to a gunfight?" he asked me the same way I told him I was coming with him. When he touched me, I felt how hard his hands were and almost flinched from his touch. It was rough.
"This, Sienna is combat," he says and opens his arms wide to gesture to his entire body laced with bullet proof material. "There is no way in seven hells that I will be taking an untrained person with me."
But Alessandro knew me already. I would say because by the time they had left and found me in one of the cars, hidden in the trunk, he lazily tossed me one of the outfits he said was a spare. I knew that was a lie because when I tested it out, it was a perfect fit.
"How far down are we?" he grunted. Nobody answered, but he kept talking and asking questions. It took me some staring and reasoning to realize he had on an ear attachment.
