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“I don’t think Ferro would fancy you getting as close to me as you are now.” I grit through my teeth, finding it extremely difficult to inhale clean air with his breath around me. It’s not bad…just revolting.
"Hmmm. He's definitely going to have a problem, alright. Wait till he sees me do this." He grabs my left breast and begins fondling them, despite my resistance to the best of my ability being restrained in ropes strong enough to probably hold the entire weight of an elephant, tied in an equivalent manner. I feel the bile rise pretty fast to my throat as the sensation just does nothing but torment him.
"Now, I don't want to hurt you. Do you know who's going to do it? Ferro. It'll be his re-initiation into the Ricci family and his only guarantee at life. Then I'll make him my slave, just as his father was my father's. It's a cycle that was never meant to be broken, but you see, the thing with humans is that a lot of them think that they were born to serve a greater purpose than the one they're given. Any other thing but that.” He finally lets go of my breast, and I almost cry in relief. “At midnight today, Ferro will correct those errors and die…or die.”
His plans for the both of us are horrible. Either way, there's no way any of us are living under his terms. The eventual death, even though Giuseppe wants Ferro to die as a member of the gang. I really hope he doesn't show up this time. He deserves life more than what I gave him, and it was a completely selfish thing for me to do.
In reality, Ferro made my life more of a roller coaster than it had ever been. Starting from the information that I got from him, I wouldn't have been able to form anything concrete without his help, and in fact, the investigation of my father's death only brought me true fulfillment when I started following Ferro Russo. Before then, everything I had was purely internet based.
Yup, you caught me. I called bluffs a lot of times, sometimes really risky ones.
The amount of chaos that ensured with me including Ferro into my daily routine, especially when he and I started having direct communication, quadrupled, but still, I wouldn't have it any other way.
“Oh, and by the way, I hear you’re doing all this to avenge your beloved father – Michael Braun. He was a police Officer, you know.” Giuseppe begins to talk again.
That is information I knew but swore to carry to my grave.
“He was such a mutt, you know. One of Ricardo’s loyal dogs…was part of the people that Ricardo had organized a safe house for his boy. No 13 pebble lane. Sounds familiar?"
It felt like a high pitch bell was rung in my ear. That’s the address of the motel where my father was found dead.
“That’s right, Angela.” He seems to revel in my pain as I vibrate in my seat from pure fury, tears of the same diluting slowly through my eyes in such a way that I feel them burn holes in my flesh just to make their way down. “I killed your father…."
Two gunshots, along with a spray from a machine gun bullet, interrupt our talk. It seems to be coming from above.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s get hunting, guys!” he stands up and touches me on my nose. “You know, instead of killing you, I could use you as a slave. You’re really alluring.” He strokes my face.
"If Ferro doesn't kill you first, I'll finish the job." I spit at him and earn myself a backhand before he finally leaves me to sit in silence and just…hope.
Hope is a deadly thing. It puts positivity in negative occurrences and vice versa. I found myself happy to hear gunshots and extremely tense when everywhere went silent. The feeling of dread hangs over me like a comforter during the winter season until I eventually hear his voice.
“Serafina.” He rushes to me and rips the blindfolds off. “Are you okay?”
I stare into his emerald orbs that almost seem to be glowing now and nod in contentment. "I am now that you're with me."
He returns a hopeful smile and gets to work, effectively freeing me from the bonds some seconds later. When he is sure that I can stand, he place a pair of earplugs over my ear and tells me, "It's about to get messy," before playing his song list on the loudest volume to the buds, drowning out the sounds from the bullet to a good degree as we make our escape.
Chapter thirteen
Survival
Epilogue
The Philippinesis a beautiful place. At least Angela can testify to that now. It has been over six months since we moved here permanently. Our reason is simply that we just don't want the trouble of Giuseppe and half the population of America breathing down our backs, just waiting to kill us. It turns out that when Giuseppe left Angela in the basement, he had her locked in; instead of coming to challenge me like a real man, he took the nearest tunnel when he saw how easily I was taking down his men and fled in a dune buggy.
I could organize a decent manhunt for him if I wanted, but I paid heed to the words of my father. There is always a way that isn't dead, and I'm giving Giuseppe that way by not having killed him. So far, he seemed to take the hint and not bother me at all, and so this is the first six months of my life where I feel completely free from anxiety, worry, and grief. Every one of those negative emotions disappears as long as I'm with the love of my life. True, she's a decent ten years younger than me, but that hasn't stopped her from loving me or me from wanting to sink myself in her at every opportunity I get, even though she's nearly thirty weeks pregnant.
Her beauty seems to only be radiated further by the pregnancy, making me fall deeper and deeper in love with her. Coupled with the unreal environment of the Philippines, I have full convictions when I lead her through the crowd, blindfolded.
This is a bid to help her overcome her PTSD from being blindfolded in Giuseppe’s basement, but at the same time, room to a secret surprise I have planned for her. Her level of trust in me warms my heart. I'd be tenser than a wildebeest drinking from crocodile-infested waters, but my Serafina? She leans into me when she’s too tired to walk much longer and complains only about the tortuous distance I’m putting her through.
“Ferro, I swear, if I trip, you owe me foot rubs for the rest of the week.” She grimaces when I tell her the fifth ‘Not far, now…’ in ten minutes.
“Well, that’s technically not a punishment, Serafina. I rub your foot every other day." I chuckle, and she does with me as well, her sweet laughter that rumbles a little before dissipating into softer notes. I've come to notice almost every single thing about her…every little detail…and I love them.
We finally arrive at where we're supposed to go, and I take off her blindfold to reveal the breathtaking scenery. The Philippines has a lot of high grounds, and we bought a house in one of them, just overlooking the lush city of Santa Rose.
“It’s…beautiful.” She exhales, not having any more words to describe the view before her eyes.
