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My life flashes before me in little snippets. A happy little girl in a purple tutu with sequins that sparkle when I twirl. Parents who love me dearly. High atop Zeus, galloping with my braids flying behind me.
As I flip through the frames of my childhood, I feel my mother’s presence. It’s comforting beyond measure, but if she’s here, it’s a sure sign of what’s to come.
But I don’t need signs.
Antonio is not going to want a woman who defies him at every turn, weakening his authority.A traitor.And once the guards are through with me, he won’t want to even look at me.He doesn’t want to look at you now.
But he’s not going to just let me go. He’s going to make an example of me. That’s how it works.
It’s over now. He won. But at least I fought this time.For all the good it did.
I’m tired. At this point, death would be welcome. My only fear is that it won’t be quick. That the torture will go on for weeks, or months.
As I say my silent goodbyes to Valentina and Isabel, I sob uncontrollably.I’m sorry I brought you into this, but you’ll be safe now. I love you. Take care of each other.
I had hoped for so much more time. I dreamed of watching Valentina graduate and take on the world with her brilliant mind and an open heart. And I dreamed of falling asleep in the arms of a loving man, and for babies who called meMamai. Despite everything, deep down, I always believed in fairy tales—even for me.
You’re a foolish girl, Daniela. You were never destined for a fairy-tale ending. Your ending will look very much like your mother’s. But this time there won’t be a ray of hope that sprouts from the garden of evil.
52
Antonio
Isit in the villa and watch her on the screen. Tormented, tears running down her cheeks. We put her through hell today.
Lucas and Cristiano have caught glimpses of her chained in the cave, but the only one who sees her agony is me.That’s how I want it.
I’m still irate, but the longer I watch her pain, the more the anger dissipates.
I never wanted to break her. I wanted her compliance, her obedience, but it had never been my intention to destroy her spirit.
But even as I relented, inch by inch, she never made the same effort. She pretended to adjust, but she was just biding her time. That’s all. Daniela wants to go back to the US, and nothing, not even the possibility of death, is going to stop her.
Aside from betraying my trust, she took a stunning risk. We never lost sight of her, and the situation was never out of our control, but she had no way of knowing it. One misstep on our part. One missed connection. Or just some good old-fashioned bad luck, and things would have ended differently for her.
Cristiano puts a cup of coffee in front of me.
“Thanks,” I mutter, never taking my eyes off the screen.
Cristiano and Lucas have been with me through the entire ordeal, and aside from a nap here and there, none of us have had any sleep. We’ve been focused on Daniela.
Apart from the forty minutes I spent in my apartment—or the brief interlude with Sonia—my attention has been on her. And even when it wasn’t, I never stopped thinking about her.
Cristiano and Lucas have been doing double duty, concentrating on Daniela and on the shipment. Fortunately, the cargo wasn’t an issue. It arrived in the UK on schedule—and intact.
Daniela, on the other hand, was a conundrum. Although I’m not sure if the biggest challenge was staying one step ahead of her or the thought—no, the reality—of her taking such an enormous risk with her life.
Cristiano, Lucas, and I are experienced at high-stakes endeavors, and we’re not easily surprised—let alone stunned. But her perilous decisions were astounding.
Stopping Daniela is essentially like trying to stop a terrorist attack. You can thwart dozens of attempts, but sooner or later the bastards are going to be successful, because they’re willing to die in the process.
She got lucky because we were tipped off. Chances are if she had boarded a random cargo freighter—rather than the one we lured her to—it would have been an ugly end for her. After they used her like a whore, they would have dumped her body into the middle of the ocean for the sharks to feast on, or sold her into a life that would have made her wish for death every minute of every day.
I don’t have time to babysit her constantly, and we can’t afford another day like today, where our best minds and too many resources are being used to track a 120-pound woman.
I need to make a pact with her. I’m not one of those men who believes you don’t negotiate with terrorists. Never have been. I negotiate to get what I want. Period. The key is to seize control over the situation—and to never,ever, let them know they won a single inch.
That’s why Daniela is chained to a chair in the cave. She has to be fully broken to know that I’ve won before I can show her any benevolence.
