Arianna’s POv
I was shaking visibly as the party hall turned into chaos and bullets rained above our heads. The table was the only thing keeping me from joining the underworld.
What have I gotten myself involved in? I should have never accepted this deal!
What kind of businessman went to parties that rained bullets?
“Stay here and don’t move.” He ordered and my eyes opened wide in panic.
Was he going to leave me here?
I was about to voice out my thoughts but he had already bolted away from under the table.
I peeked around to see where he was going but the number of people running and screaming made it hard for me to keep focusing on him.
Was he crazy?
He just left me here to die?!
My heart was beating at such a fast rate, my fingers trembled. There was no way I could make it out of here alive.
When I used to watch movies, I always thought the actors were overreacting in scenes like this. But finding myself in the same situation I felt like their reaction was not even close to the real thing.
My body was drenched in sweat and every gunshot was a jump start to my racing heart.
“God please help me!” I prayed as I closed my eyes and hugged myself.
The screams as the bullets met bodies, were detrimental. It was only a matter of time before I also let out that cry of death as Hades came for me.
“Pull yourself together Arianna!” I whispered as I rocked myself to calmness.
If there was any chance of my survival then I needed to calm down and think.
I tried to imagine myself in a calmer situation. I tried to think of beautiful thoughts and even though I hated my brain for bringing up those alluring green eyes, I couldn’t stop it because it was working.
I pressed my hands to my ears and stopped the sounds from penetrating my body.
I stayed this way for a while until my heart rate dropped to an average. I was still scared but my brain was no longer blank.
It was silent again and it wasn’t just in my head.
I dropped my hands from my ears and confirmed that the screams had indeed stopped.
I wiped my tears and made to check what was happening from behind the table but my vision suddenly became blank as a cloth was placed above my head.
“What the fuck!” I screamed as I fought with the cloth.
I felt strong hands grab at my arms and I kicked them.
“Stay calm and I wouldn’t hurt you, Bella…” My captor whispered.
“In your dreams!” I yelled back as I increased my struggles.
I was no fool. This wasn’t Gabriele or any of his men.
Suddenly there was a strong hit on my head and everything went dark.
As my consciousness slipped away I promised to take vengeance on Gabriele for leaving me to my doom.
I would return for his soul.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was surprisingly back in my room in Gabriele’s house.
Was this some kind of joke?
I thought as I placed my right hand on my aching head. That idiot had to hit me really hard.
“Arianna!”
I turned sharply at the sound of the familiar voice and a smile covered my face as I found Sofia.
He brought her back.
“Sofie,” I whispered. “When did you return?” I asked weakly.
“He called for me about three hours ago. How do you feel? Does it hurt a lot? Did they touch you anywhere?”
I smiled at her thousand questions. God knew that I had missed that.
“Come here,” I said instead.
She came closer and I pulled her into a hug.
“I am sorry I put you into so much trouble. I will try my best and not do it again,” I said on her shoulder.
She patted my back and whispered, “No Arianna, I should be taking you. You got me my job back. I don’t know how you did it but I am grateful.”
Her words reminded me of the sick deal I had to make with Gabriele and my eyes turned red.
He took me to some mafia party and I almost got killed.
“Now you really have to tell me what the hell happened?” She asked when she pulled away from me.
“Your so-called boss took me to a mafia party and abandoned me! And then when I didn’t die, he thought it would be fun to blindfold me and drag me back here unconscious!” I spat out. If he dared come to my room, I was going to give him a piece of my mind without a care in the world.
Sofie didn’t have the reaction I was expecting from her.
Her face looked pale as if all the blood ran away from that part of her body.
She held my hand and stared into my eyes.
“Arianna, you were kidnapped…” She trailed in a whisper.
I cocked my brows and glared at her. “What are you talking about? I am telling you that Gabriele played a silly trick on me!”
“Arianna, I don’t think that’s what happened. The tension in the house is really high. The guards have been doubled and sir has been in the underground cells since I got here.”
Like some enchantment, her words flashed back the screams of the people and the sound of the bullets as they penetrated their bodies.
Just before the cloth came over my face, I had seen the bodies. It wasn’t a trick.
“Oh my God!” I whispered as I felt a bile rise from my stomach.
I covered my mouth with my hands and took deep breaths.
I was kidnapped again!
“Sir found you just before the man could take you away,” Sofie added.
The air in the room suddenly changed as I realized what Gabriele was.
He wasn’t just a businessman. He was into the mafia.
How else was I going to explain the gun he carried along with him?
How else could I explain his skills with the damned device?
“Oh my God!” I repeated as I got up and walked to the bathroom.
“Arianna are you okay?” Sofie asked as she trailed behind me with concern.
I couldn’t respond to her for even I didn’t know what exactly was wrong with me.
Was it the fact that I had almost gotten kidnaped again or the fact that Gabriele was into the mafia and I was stuck with me?
I reached the bathroom and splashed water on my face as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
Who even sold me to these people? Who licked that information?
Why were my parents not informing the police? Why hasn’t there been any news?
I felt a huge lump in my heart but I refused to cry.
To survive I had to be strong.
I might not be able to escape from Gabriele, but I needed to at least find out who had licked out the information that I was in Italy.
They must have gotten paid handsomely from the deal they made on me and I needed to know their name.
I would not rest until I found it.
“Sofie you need to help me get into Gabriele’s office,” I suddenly said as I turned to face her.
The little color that returned to her face vanished again as she stared at me with her mouth wide open.
“I know it is risky but you don’t have to come with me and I can always go when you are on break or something. Just so that no one points a finger at you,” I quickly added before she could refuse.
“But why do you want to go to his office, Arianna?” She cried out softly like the walls could hear us. “Why not try asking him? He might just give you an answer-” she was saying but I cut her off.
“I already tried that and he refused me. I need to do this Sofie, please…”
She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and stared into space for a second, then dropped them back on me.
“Like I said the tension is really high right now and I am not going to be on leave anytime soon. You will have to be a little more patient,” she explained.
“I understand you. And don’t worry about the time. I am stuck here right?”
She shrugged and I went on.
“I have all the time in the world. I will wait. As soon as the tension goes down, I will remind you myself.”
A knock on my door made the both of us jump as we stared at it.
“I’ll get it,” Sofie said with a pat on my shoulder.
There were only two people in the house who had access to my room aside from myself. And Sofie was already her. The second was Gabriele but he never knocked and waited.
Who could this be?