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As I nearly froze to death all night, I would close my eyes and go through every possible scenario and outcome. If Nazario accompanied the doctor to watch him destroy me, every plan of mine would fail. I could likely hold my own against a middle-aged man, but never against Nazario, even though I tried often. He’d always find a way to neutralize me, and I hated him for it. I also craved the violence it often included, and I couldn’t help but shake my head.
“You wouldn’t know a real relationship if it bit you, Viv,”Donna would tell me when I would try to give her advice on boys. Hell, the day she died, I had tried to convince her not to go to that fateful party, but she had kissed my cheek and smiled.“We came to America to party and have a good time. You might want to stay in this room the whole trip, but I intend to do what we came here to do. I wish you’d reconsider and come with me, but since you won’t...”
“Promise me that you’ll be careful,”I’d told her.
She'd hugged me tightly.“I’m always careful.”
“I know,” I told her, and now I wished I had fought harder against her leaving.
“Don’t worry so much, Viv.”
“I can’t help it.”
She had looked like she was about to say one thing, but her expression changed and she’d grabbed my arm.“Are you sure you don’t wanna go, Viv? This party is going to be epic.”I’d nodded.“It’ll be so much fun, Viviana. We’re only here for two more nights. Surely you don’t want to waste the rest of this holiday cooped up in this place.”I didn’t even dignify that with an answer. What she said next had echoed in my head all these years later.“I’m glad the Vaccaros know how to throw a party because this sitting around the hotel is not for me.”
“Hey, I’m not sitting around the hotel all night. I’ve been telling you for days that I wanted to do the bus tour of the city at night.”
Donna had promised to ride one with me the next night, but I didn’t believe her, so when she left for the club where she’d later be murdered, I had gone about my business playing tourist. I had taken my camera and saw the different boroughs, and jotted down notes about the neighborhoods and their history in my notebook. I’d then returned to the hotel, and not long after, I found her dead body. I also found Nazario.
I had replayed that scene in my head so many times as I drifted in and out of sleep. Once, I even opened my eyes and thought I had seen him on the other end of the bars. I had called out to him, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared. I was losing my mind, and now I knew why prisoners hated to be thrown into the hole at prisons across the world.
I let out a sigh, then sat up. I stretched, but the stiffness wouldn’t fully leave my joints. I’d have to fucking deal with it. I stood up and my stomach growled. I didn’t want to eat any of the food or drink any of the water, but remembering that I’d need my strength, I brought the bag to the bed and sat back down. The housekeeper had to have made the panini because it was my favorite kind. I looked at the tomato, fresh mozzarella, red onion, and basil inside of it. On each side of the focaccia bread, I could see where the balsamic vinegar and olive oil had seeped into it. I brought it to my nose and inhaled, but ultimately decided not to eat it. There was also a bag of chips with it, and meeting Nazario halfway, I tore open the top and quickly ate them. I then chased it down with the bottle of water before throwing the rest away.
I wished there was a window or something so I could see if it was actually morning or not. This fucking cell was completely underground so the only light was via candles or sconces. I was still so tired, but I needed to stay awake. The doctor would be here soon and I would be waiting. I ran my hands through my long hair, then twirled it enough to make a bun. I didn’t have a hair tie, but I didn’t need one. What I did need was shoes, but all Nazario had brought me to wear was a thin set of pajamas and a pair of socks.
Back when we were younger, Donna and I would constantly run along the rocky shoreline while barefoot. Nothing mattered during that time of my life. I had my best friend and no worries. I didn’t know the evilness of the world around us, and I thought we would be friends forever. Donna had felt the same. Even in New York City, we had talked about getting a place together when we got back to Italy. Granted, a lot of that had been so she didn’t have to keep crashing at my place when she was drunk and coming back from a party. I’d loved her, and there was nothing I wouldn’t have done for her. I supposed the last decade all but proved that. I had gotten involved with the Sicilian mafia, then under their tutelage, I made sure to come in contact with the very monster that had stolen her from me.
“Go big or go home,” I murmured to myself as I got entwined with my target’s son. Nazario had always been handsome, but he was so devastatingly gorgeous now that like me, so many others fell at his feet. Well, I more tripped over his, but I still ended up on my knees nonetheless. Even after my whole mission for being here had ended, I still agreed to form a partnership with him, and now I was regretting it fully. Or at least I wanted to. My body still awakened at a mere memory of him, and my heart ached so much for the life we would never have together. It was never going to amount to anything. I knew that, but I still harbored foolish fantasies that the high school me would when I doodled Mariano Del Salvo’s name in my notebook. It was funny how I remembered that, but I couldn’t remember the boy himself. The only one I saw now was Nazario. I would see him with Kristalina, and even after hearing what Stefano had done to her, I couldn’t muster up any sympathy because my irrational jealousy had me seeing red.
“Cazzo,” I said, then froze as I heard a noise. A series of lights came on and I quickly shot to my feet. When the footsteps grew closer, I realized there was only one set. Seconds later, the doctor stepped in front of the cell, and held a pair of keys in one hand and a medical bag in the other. “W-where’s Nazario?”
“Don Vaccaro had to leave town for a business matter. I’ve assured him there will be no trouble here. This is a simple procedure, and one you’ll not even feel.”
I was waiting with bated breath. There was no Nazario, here in this dungeon, or at the house, so if I could get past this man, I would finally be free. My heart began beating heavily in my chest, and my pulse was racing. I could hear the thundering of my heart in my ears, and it sounded like the music used in movies at the beginning of suspenseful scenes. This was no movie. It was my life, and if I erred wrong, it could even be my death.
“You will get rid of it, or else I will get rid of you both.”
I shivered in remembrance at Nazario’s words, and when the doctor entered the cell, I watched him wearily as I waited to make my move. I had been plotting and planning this the entire night, and while my arms still ached from being restrained at knifepoint hours earlier, I’d ignore the physical pain and make my escape. I could lick my wounds and rest my weary body when I got where I was going.
The doctor set down his medical bag on the top of the sink and when he produced a needle of some sort, I swallowed hard. He turned toward me and I instinctively took a few steps backward. “There’s nothing to be scared about, Miss Spataro. This procedure will take about ten minutes from start to finish, then you’ll rest for an hour before returning home. I have anesthesia which will numb—”
“I don’t want this,” I told him, hoping I could make him see reason. “Nazario is forcing me to have this done against my will. You can’t make me—”
“No one dares to defy Don Vaccaro, and you’d do best to remember that. He’s entrusted me with this task, knowing I can do it in a safe and efficient manner. If he has to get someone else, they might not even use anesthesia, Miss Spataro.”
Hell, he’d probably do it himself knowing Nazario, and the scary thing is that I’d probably let him. I was completely infatuated with the bastard. I had no shame when it came to him, and it was why I needed to cut all ties with him, and today before he returned from whatever business took him out of town. I normally knew his schedule and unless it had something to do with the Catalanos and the call I’d overheard yesterday, I was pretty sure this trip was a convenient excuse to be gone so he didn’t have to see me cry over the loss of this baby.
The doctor advanced closer, and when he pointed at the bed, I sprang into motion. None of my earlier body aches held me back from knocking the syringe onto the bed and grabbing the man. I had my arm tightly wedged between his chin and chest and able to reach the syringe, I grabbed it, then plunged it into his neck. He bellowed in pain, but I held him until he stopped fighting and his body went still. From there, I pushed him facedown on the bed. I used the roll of bandage tape found in his bag to secure him to the bed, then I grabbed his car keys which were found during my exploration, and raced out of the cell.
I got outside and found his car, and I was thankful to recognize where we were. I passed this place daily, and what was crazy was that I never knew what was housed beneath the ground. I didn’t have time to worry about that. I arrived at the estate and parked away from the garage so this car wouldn’t block me in. I then rushed into the house and after throwing on some actual clothes, I packed up a few bags, then grabbed my keys and fled.
A minute or two later, I was on the road, and I finally took the breath it seemed I had been holding. As the estate grew dim in my rearview mirror, I was finally free. I needed to get to Rome where I could ditch this car, then get to Salerno. From there, I would take a flight to Palermo and hope the Catalanos could hide me until I delivered this baby. Later, I would go to the United States where this nightmare began and try to rewrite my storyline.
I was headed south on the Autostrada and trying my best to ignore the heaviness in my chest at knowing I would never see Nazario again. I tried focusing on the road, and when I put all thoughts of my once fiancé out of my head, I realized there was a dark SUV tailing me. I tried to move over on the multilane street to let it pass, but it followed me. Was this someone Nazario sent to follow me, knowing I would find a way to overpower the man he sent to destroy me? Fear now joined the adrenaline racing through my bloodstream, the combination one that made me dizzy.
“Leave me alone.” I seethed under my breath as I weaved in and out of the lanes trying to lose this other car. It was gaining ever closer, and when I heard a ping, I looked down at my dashboard, and my heart sank. The fuel light had come on because I was nearly out of gas. He was coming for me, and it would be a matter of miles before he caught me. Tears began to stream down my cheeks and as I tried saying a silent prayer for this other driver to simply be some young kid trying to scare me, a big jolt proved otherwise.
I flew into my steering wheel when the car rammed me the first time. The second and third time I had been expecting it, but when the much larger car rammed me a fourth time, my wheels gave out and my smaller sportscar spun around a few times before I ended up on the side of the road. The area was wooded, and when my vehicle hit a tree head-on, the airbag deployed and I was thrown backward. A few gunshots rang out, the booming of them in my ears causing them to ring. Whoever this was had purposely run me off the road and now was either gunning for me or the gas tank, which either way would send me hurtling toward a fiery death.
