Cara’s POV
Ever heard the saying, ‘What you see is not always what you get?’ The composer couldn’t have been more right. That’s how I feel right now. I thought I’d seen all that there was to Adonis. I was wrong.
These days I think I’ve become a poet.
No.
Poet isn’t the right word; maybe an artist, because the interpretations of most phrases and sayings, which I thought were just filled with fancy words, kept coming to me.
Locating the hidden back door was easy. Stealing a knife from the kitchen was easier; to the workers, I was still the lady of the house, so no one questioned my decisions or movements. What was hard was the journey to the door itself.
I’d been living in the mansion for more than six months and had spent approximately five months as Mrs Bernardi, during which I believed I’d seen and known all that there was to him and his lifestyle, but once again, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Walking through the underground tunnel was creepy enough that it made my skin crawl, and when I passed a big brass door just before branching into another tunnel, I thought,
Ah. The fact that there was a door here meant someone visited often so I was safe.
I resumed my journey until I came to the very extreme end. A deep sigh went through me as my eyes met my goal point not even three meters away from where I was.
The tunnel was stuffy, and I was tired. Each step I took was becoming more and more dragged, so I wanted to be out of there quickly. I would’ve if I hadn’t seen a bright light reflecting into the tunnel through a tiny window.
It was the only source of light in the dreadful place. I should’ve gone my way… all I needed to do was place the knife at the door and head back.
But curiosity got the best of me, and I stood on my toes to peek through-
My eyes shut instantly, and I staggered back as regret filled me. An irritating feeling clawed at my throat.
After my outburst at Adonis a few hours ago, I wondered if I was too harsh. The things I said; should I not have said them?
Now my mind felt betrayed; I should’ve said more.
Adonis wasn’t a monster. He was the devil himself.
That was the only word to describe him. To describe the sight that met my eyes. No one in their right mind would do this to a person even if it was an enemy.
Was that a human being?
At a glance, the room looked to be a place where they held their hostages. It was messed up, and I didn’t even want to imagine what kind of odour would’ve polluted its air. I instantly knew it was a torture room, and I wasn’t all too shocked, being well accustomed to their work.
Other than that, I had read enough books on the mafia lifestyle during my boring days to know they had a separate room for their violent activities.
The stunner was the decaying body that hung from the ceiling in one of the cells. It was barely recognizable.
Right on that spot, another wave of nausea hit, but not as a reaction to my pregnancy this time.
I wasn’t interested in knowing why it happened or what gender the decaying body was. Time was running out, and Antonio would be making his way to the mansion soon. I just wanted to get out of the godforsaken tunnel as fast as I could.
Wheeling around, I took quick steps to head to my finish line, and just as I pulled out the knife to place it by the door, a loud sneeze echoed.
The sneeze wasn’t the problem, but the fact that it didn’t come from me was. I paused, then slowly turned around.
Whoever it was would determine if I would live to see the next day or If I were to be labelled as-
“Luca?”
Our eyes met for a while before mine slipped to the gun peeking out of a black cloth in his hand.
My jaw dropped.
“You are-” the words died down in my throat; I don’t know if it was because I couldn’t complete it or I didn’t want to.
I was benumbed, and my head tilted to the side as I tried to interpret the situation in any other way that was different from what it seemed, but nothing came up.
He resumed his walk towards me, no, not me, to the door, and I watched in silence as he plucked the knife out of my hand, wrapped it with the gun in the cloth, and placed it by the corner.
“We should leave here. The men would be down to clean up the torture room soon.” Was the only thing he said as he turned to walk out.
He’d only taken a few steps forward when he noticed I wasn’t following and turned back at me with a questioning look that mirrored mine.
“Why?” I asked, and from the stern look on his face and his crossed stance, I knew he understood my question.
I wasn’t interested in knowing when the alliance began. If he was walking together with Natasha or alone like me. How long had he been deceiving Adonis? How many people he had by his side. If Cecelia knew about it too.
My God.
Cecelia. I can’t believe I suspected her when it had been Luca all along. It was all coming together.
Luca was always around whenever Cecelia was. He dropped her off at the bridal shop. He was always nearby whenever I got a note with new instructions.
I had a lot of questions to ask, but they weren’t as important as the reason for his betrayal.
What was his reason for betraying his childhood friend? A person I’d come to know he cared about so much.
He met my blank stare.
“The position is beginning to get into Adonis’s head. He needs a wake-up call, but more importantly, it seems like I have an old grudge to repay on behalf of my father. I advise you to leave and find somewhere safe to stay before Antonio arrives. Today’s fight may be between fewer people, but it won’t make the bloodshed any less. It will be the end.”
And then he left.
What could I do?
I took his advice. Making it out of the mansion alive was more important than knowing the truth behind someone else’s betrayal. As long as my plan wasn’t foiled, I didn’t care what happened.
Morning came. Life in the mansion continued as normal. The unknowing faces of each of Adonis’s men, which I saw, caused a shiver of frisson to go through me.
Noon passed. I heard the snobby voice of Natasha on a phone call as she made her way to the third floor to see Adonis. I hadn’t seen him since I moved out of our room to the second floor, but he didn’t care. If he did, he wouldn’t continue meeting Natasha knowing she was the cause of our fight.
It didn’t matter anyway. He’d be gone before the end of the day.
When night came, I was prepared. My stomach was a bundle of nerves. I couldn’t sleep in anticipation of what was to come. It was barely nine pm, but I felt like Antonio was dragging it out.
Shouldn’t he be here by now?
At that exact moment, a gunshot echoed, and I sat up straight.
He was here. It is time.
I got out of bed in a hurry, heading towards the door, when I remembered that I had forgotten something important and went back to snatch up the spare knife I’d taken from the kitchen on my bedside table.
It would be stupid to go in there unarmed.
As soon as I got off the last step into the living room, my eyes met the form of Antonio sitting comfortably on the chair and Adonis as he stood uninterested against the wall.
Luca and Natasha walked right in after me, and we all watched in silence, different thoughts running through our heads, suspicious gazes meeting each other.
Who was going to speak first?
“Bel?”
Adonis.
I smiled at him in reply.
“Come stand by me.”
And without a second thought, I walked up to my man.