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"Here, let me see that." He gently took my wrist in his large hand and carefully felt around to examine my injury. "It doesn't seem to be broken but you have to be careful, at least until you get your sea legs. It's hard to walk on a ship even at the best of times and I'm sorry to say but this isn't yours."
"Please can you help me? I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't know who took me. Can you give me some answers? Can you help me, please?" I grabbed a hold of his arm, pleading with him desperately. "If it's money you’re after, I can pay you whatever they're paying, plus more. I'll double it, triple it even. I have money. My fiancé has money. And I know he will pay a lot to have me returned safely to him."
"I don't think your fiancé is going to be much help to you now and as for you, you'll find out all the answers you're looking for soon enough."
The coolness of his voice and the uncaring numbness in his eyes made me realize that the man before me was not my ally. He was not going to help me. I started to pull my hand away from his arm, but his other hand struck out like a viper, gripping my wrist like a vise. Before I knew what was happening, he spun me around so that my back was to his front, his arm restraining me across my chest. I struggled against him but soon a familiar prick on the side of my neck caused my whole body to go limp, and I blacked out again.
When I woke up again, I was no longer in the shipping container, and we were no longer moving. I felt like I had been asleep for days. My body was stiff and sore, and my eyes practically stuck together.
I fought through the grogginess, taking my time and moving slowly to open my eyes. The room was better lit but that offered me little comfort when I looked around at what appeared to be a prison cell built into an old wine cellar.
I had no idea how much time had passed or what had happened during that time, but my head ached, and my mouth was dry.
"Good, you're finally awake. I thought maybe my man had given you too much tranquilizer and that you might never wake up." The familiar voice sent an eerie chill down my spine. “That would be quite a shame considering how much work I went through to get you here.”Andrea.
"You? What happened? What did you do?" A sudden memory of being in my bedroom, looking at myself in the mirror in my white wedding dress flashed in my mind. I remembered the phone call with Teo, someone walking into my room, shattered glass on the floor.Gabe. Gabe had taken me. But why? He worked for Teo, not the Romanos.
“Gabe? Gabe gave me to you?”
Andrea chuckled. “You Monticellis and Venturis are so much alike. You think someone is just going to blindly be loyal to you no matter what you do to them. You are just that wonderful that everyone is going to bow down to you even when you treat them unfairly. Yes, Gabe gave you to me and all it took was me promising a higher station in my family then your fiancé was willing to give.”
“But why? Teo spared him.”
“Spared him?” Andrea laughed bitterly. “He showed him complete disrespect by dropping his rank down to nothing more than security at a strip club. That was pathetic. Gabe is proving to me that he could be a very good asset for my family, and I reward those who do well for me and my family.”
“Where are we?”
“We're in Corsica,” he said calmly. “You see, I learned my lesson last time. Your fiancé’s reach was a little further than what I had expected but this time I have anticipated every possible scenario and you won't be getting away from me so easily this time.”
“So, what? You're going to keep me here until I make a choice again? I'll never choose to be your wife. Ever.”
“That's where I made a mistake before. I shouldn’t have given you a choice. You see, this time there is no choice. You will become my wife sooner or later and until you do you will stay here with me under lock and key. Last time I made things too comfortable for you, a nice soft bed and fancy dinners. I showed you respect when you deserve none. You see, the one main mistake that I made last time was that I treated you as someone who would make a logical decision when given the options to do so. What I forgot was that just because you were given a high station by your father to lead his empire, you're still just a woman."
"Just a woman?" I didn't try to hide my offense.
"Yes and I also realized something else since the last time we were together. Breaking in a wife and breaking in a slave is not much different. You will not be given luxuries and comforts unless you earn them. And I will break you. Once you're broken then we will be married and hopefully then you will know your place as my wife."
Fear gripped me around the throat and threatened to strangle me.
"Now, come on. There's something I want you to see." Andrea unlocked the cage and motioned for me to come to him.
When I didn't move, he stepped into the cell with me, making the space feel even smaller than it had. He roughly grabbed my hair and pulled me from the cell. I clawed at his hand, trying to break free, but it was no use as I stumbled down the cobblestone hallway. We passed through a doorway and into a large open ballroom that had seen better days. Inside were several people, mostly men and a few women who were obviously there against their will as they stood there eyes down like beaten dogs.
Andrea forced my head up to look out among the people. “All these people work for me. Every last one of them is loyal to me and in case they aren't or in case they have any second thoughts about it we are here today to erase any doubt they might have. This will also act as a way for you to see that you have no allies here. You have no friends, and no one is going to help you this time. Bring him out.” Andrea yelled to someone off to the side. A moment later there was a sound of scuffling and Gianni was forced through a door by two large men who held him on either shoulder, his hands tied behind his back.
“This man tried to help this woman once before. Not because he was looking out for her, granted, it was for money which I can respect, but he went against me and that can't happen. In case any of you have any thoughts or crisis of conscience about possibly helpingSignoraMonticelli, hopefully this will erase any doubt from your mind.” Andrea lifted a gun in his hand and pointed at Gianni. I screamed out as the bullet shot from the gun, landing square between Gianni's eyes, sending him crumpling to the ground at Andrea's feet.
“This is what happens to anyone who tries to help her in any way. Next time it will be long, drawn out, and painful instead of quick and painless.
There was a quiet roar among the people as they began chattering quietly but I couldn't make out what anyone was saying. All I could do was stand there, staring at Gianni's body, while blood pooled under his head.
I was in a foreign country without an ally in sight and now any potential ally had just been threatened with death if they even tried to help me. My situation was bleak, and I had no idea if or when Teo would ever be able to find me or how I might escape on my own, but I knew that somehow, some way, I had to.
