CHOOSE

Ariana’s pov~
That night I couldn’t sleep, I stirred all night as images of Alessio lay dying in my arms bombarded my dreams.
I could hear distant partying, it seemed Mateo had brought some girls over and I could hear Becky’s pathetic laugh.
What I would give to snuff the air from her lungs.
I sat up in bed as the music got louder, and I started to cry again.
Fiona never came, even if she did I have no way of knowing.
I’ve been locked in here with no chance of escape.
The little freedom I had was the balcony overlooking the beautiful landscapes of the garden.
I sighed as I got out of bed, Alessio still etched in my very soul.
“He didn’t believe me Alessio, you died for nothing,” I said under my breath.
“Are you okay?” I heard the voice again, I turned to look at where her voice was coming from, but it seemed to be from the roof.
“Estella?” I called out and moved back towards the main room and away from the balcony doors.
“Yes it’s me, but she, you mustn’t be too loud, my jailer doesn’t like me talking to strangers” she laughed.
“Where are you?” I asked looking up and around the roof.
“In the sky” she laughed again “Where my angel husband finds me” she chuckled.
“I’m not in the mood for this Estella, I tried to look for you but no one knows who you are. I want to help you escape” I stated.
“Escape? No one escapes from the devil, you’ll find out soon enough” she said.
“What?” I exclaimed “he is not some god, Estella, he is human and not a very smart one from the look of things” I retorted before wiping the tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Look I’ll leave you with a piece of advice, just do whatever he wants whenever he wants, soon he will get tired of you, just like he was of me” she replied.
“I’ve got to go now, don’t try to find me Ariana, my angel husband says stay put, he will save me soon, until next time!” she exclaimed
And with that, she was gone.
Why does Mateo have her hidden? No one knows who she is, the only person who can tell me where she’s hidden is hiding from me.
Alessio was supposed to find micola, he was supposed to go with me to Tacoma.
We had a whole adventure planned, but now he is dead at my husband’s hands.
Jealous toxic murderous piece of shit of a husband!
I need to escape from here.
I went back to bed, I hoped to hear Estella’s voice again but it never came.
At the crack of dawn, I woke up, blinked and stretched.
I was startled by my husband standing by my bed looking straight at me.
“You creep,” I said under my breath before raising the duvet to my chest, “done with your fucking party?” I asked sitting up.
He didnt say anything, he just stared at me like a predator watching his prey, he growled occasionally as he lined my body with his eyes, and they soon settled on my chest.
“Get out Mateo!” I cried he didnt budge, he sat there in his wheelchair tormenting me with his eyes, what the hell did he want?
I was anxious afraid of what he might do to me, I was afraid, in his mind I’d betrayed the vows of our marriage, vows he had never taken seriously.
And now he is holding me to it, taking the words of that fucking bitch over mine, I was embittered.
“I found a stray cat banging outside our gates this morning, bright and early” he started.
I was confused, what the hell was he talking about and why should I care?
“And Becky didn’t like it, I was going to snuff the life out of the pathetic thing, wailing and crying as she banged continuously, disrupting my party, you know celebrating my reason for being alive” he continued.
“Get to the fucking point Mateo” I replied, looking toward the balcony and wishing I could fly away from the ledge.
“Bring her in” he replied sharply, soon a guard led Fiona in, and I gasped in horror.
“The said cat” he smiled, I quickly sprang out of the bed and ran toward her but the guard stopped me.
“Not so fast” Mateo grinned before wheeling the chair toward where I stood.
“Before I let you and your friend catch up, I’m going to need you to select one of these” he stated before pointing at the guard’s hand.
“What?”
Another guard stepped in, he held two items in both hands, on the left a horsewhip, and on the other he held nails.
“What the hell is this?” I asked, he grinned again, “Choose Ariana, I’m not going to ask again”
I glanced at Fiona who was visibly terrified by what was happening before her.
I looked at the options again, it looked to me like his torture had now begun.
“I’m not doing this with you mateo, this is crazy! I’m pregnant!” I exclaimed.
“All the more reason to punish you, you should have thought of that before you laid with one of my soldiers” he replied.
I saw Fiona gasp in shock, I shook my head in defence, “I didn’t…”
“Choose Ariana, or your fucking friend gets thrown out” he mentioned.
Fiona’s eyes looked scared, she looked at me intently as she waited for me to choose.
I looked at both hands again before I chose the whip.
“Too bad, I was planning to get extra creative with the nails,” he smiled. With that, he departed leaving Fiona and me in the room.
I rushed up to her and hugged her almost immediately.
“What the hell is going on? What is he talking about? What the hell is he doing to you!” Fiona cried as she inspected my body for bruises.
“He hasn’t hurt me, at least not yet, I need to get the hell out of here Fiona” I stated.
She looked at me, a worried expression on her face, she had changed her hair colour, it was auburn now and it suited her perfectly.
“I love what you’ve done with your hair, and it suits you perfectly” I smiled amidst tears.
“I know, I thought of you when I picked it out” she smiled before hitting my shoulder “What the hell is wrong with you Ariana, you fucked his soldier?” she asked, I took her hand in mine.
“You know I could never, I found out Becky has been feeding some guy information about Mateo, I traced her to a hotel on the outskirts of town, it’s all a big fucking plot! And I think she’s spying for my father. It’s been crazy Fiona” I finished.
She sat with a heavy thud before I joined her on the bed, “what?”
“That’s not all, she spun everything and Mateo believes I cheated on him with Alessio, he was just trying to help! The bastard killed him!”
Fiona fiddled with her fingers anxiously, “It’s getting dangerous Ariana, I did some poking around myself, the rumors about your pregnancy came from your father’s camp” She paused, and gathered her thoughts before continuing
” I was able to shack up with a few girls from the club and they heard it directly from the caporegime of one of the other dons, he said your father’s goal was to have Mateo killed, so he could claim his territories by making your child heir and he would be its godfather” she finished.
I was lost in thought, I’ve been nothing but a pawn to these men.
But I’m going to change my story I’m getting out of here, but not before I have some leverage over my father, that way he would leave me alone forever.
“Fiona I need you to do something for me, it’s a big ask but I’ve got no one else” I started.
She looked at me before touching my arm lightly, “anything” she replied.
“I need you to proclaim yourself dead and go to Tacoma,” I replied.
“What?” she jerked backwards from me and I caught her hand, “my father can’t find out about this Fiona, do it for me and the baby”
“Dead? Ariana…”
“You need to fake it, pack your stuff and move to Tacoma, i need you to find a tape for me, im now literally on the verge of life and death my friend”