Ann’s POV
I can’t process anything. All I can feel is pain slithering through my sides, pain in my head, and even in my chest.
Then I open my eyes and close it back almost immediately.
When I open it again, my head is hazy, and I realize the room is dark.
I can still feel the weight of something on my chest. I try to push it off, but it won’t budge.
Trying to figure out what happened and where we are, the memories flood in, and I gasp.
Have we been kidnapped?
Mark! I saw Mark. Was it him or not? Was it someone else?
Was Vince right about Mark? Even if he was, why would Mark, of all people, kidnap me? Why not someone else? Why not one of Vince’s rivals? Mark has nothing to do with the Mafia or Vince.
Suddenly, the light flickers, and I shut my eyes to protect them from the blinding bright light.
“Finally,” a familiar voice echoes in the air, forcing me to keep my eyes open.
Isaac.
He has a smirk with a bright touch pointed in my face. He is sitting on a plastic chair with his legs crossed.
I keep my eyes fixated on him as adrenaline rushes through my veins. He killed my mother, and now he wants to do the same with me? What exactly did we do to deserve this?
Someone groans, and I look down to see Tessa regaining consciousness. All along, she is the weight. She is lying on top of me while I am half sitting and half lying, slumping to a pole where we are both tied to.
My hands are tied from behind while my feet are tied to some strings. I can barely move my body. Tessa’s hands are tied to the pole, too, a little higher. Her legs are not tied, so she moves away from me when the realization slowly dawns on her, too, that we have been kidnapped.
I glance at her briefly before looking back at Isaac.
“You have no idea how hard it was to get you finally,” he mutters with a mischievous smile as he lights a cigar. “So much for being the wife of a Mafia Don.”
Now I know why Vince always goes everywhere with me. He is feared. Whenever he is with me, no one dares to attack me.
His rivals once tried to kidnap me, but his men ensured I was safe. I guess Vince lost his hopes in them ever since, and that must have prompted him to follow me everywhere.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
It doesn’t, but I wonder who will save me now.
Tears threaten to spill, but I keep them in check.
“Who is he?” Tessa whispers in my ears. I regard her for a second, feeling sorry for involving her in my shit.
Maybe she wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t gone to the party and left with her.
I know Isaac. He won’t spare me. Us.
A man who killed a woman he claimed to love, wouldn’t hesitate to kill her child, too.
Maybe this is the end after all.
I won’t get my revenge on him. I won’t be the one to end him. I won’t show him just how much leaving home because of him and his child had cost him and how much leaving my mother meant.
An object rattles in the distance.
I glance up to see he just threw the object at me.
“Take it and call your dimwit-of- a-man. Tell him to come rescue you!”
“No!” I retort sharply. “Vicente and I are no longer together, so don’t get him involved.”
He looks shocked for a second before bursting into laughter. “Really? Why do they all leave eventually?”
“Ann, is he Isaac?” Tessa whispers beside me, but I ignore her.
The door shuffles and someone comes in.
“Dad,” he calls. I recognize his face.
“Mark?!” I can barely hide my surprise. “Dad?!”
When I woke up and remembered how I lost consciousness, I kept denying it. I thought it was just a figment of my imagination, and what I remembered of Mark taking off the mask and smirking at me wasn’t real.
“Don’t be so shocked, sweetheart. Your husband killed his brother, so he had to do something to get vengeance for him.”
Was Mark Carter’s brother?
My jaws drop as I stare at his face, devoid of emotions. The way he smiles and flirts with everyone is not present now. He looks so much like a different man, cold and ruthless.
“Mark…” my voice breaks in disbelief. “How could you?”
He darts his eyes to me, rage tightening his features.
“Call Vince, will you? He needs to taste his own medicine,” Isaac shouts as his big hand strikes my face.
Tessa gasps. “Please, don’t hurt her. Slap me instead. Beat me all you want, but don’t hurt Ann. She just lost her mother, please.”
At the last statement, Isaac turns his attention to Tessa.
He raises his fist and punches her face. I scream.
“If you two don’t want to get hurt, do as you are told. Call Vicente,” Mark speaks to me for the first time, his anger very much present.
I can’t call Vince.
I can’t involve him. Not after everything. Not after he helped me rescue my mother from them. Not after I became an ingrate overnight and asked him for an annulment. Not after what he had done for me.
Bringing him here will be the end.
Isaac won’t spare him. Mark wouldn’t either.
I can’t.
I shake my head, pushing back the choking tide of panic rising in my throat and the tears threatening to spill.
“You won’t call him, then?” Isaac demands with a wide grin. Before I can answer, he hits me again and again until I can feel the taste of blood in my mouth.
Tessa won’t stop screaming, and it pisses him off as he punches her too.
I lay weak on the ground.
I can’t believe this is happening. Even though I tried hard not to be too close to Mark, I still felt hurt knowing he was Isaac’s son and had become close to me for this purpose.
I was so stupid. I should have listened to Vince.
A tear slid down my eyes.
I try to sit up a little bit, but I can’t. My resolve to survive this is as weak as my body. I can’t do this anymore. Not after everything I have been through.
This man and his family have made our lives terrible. It’s a living hell. And now he wants to kill me.
Mark whispers something into his ears, and he moves away. Mark grabs the phone at my feet and stretches it to me. Our eyes lock, and I expect to see a flicker of guilt or pity.
But I see nothing.
He is a monster, just like his father, just like Carter.
Swiftly, he positions the phone in front of Tessa, whose eyes bulge open. I want to signal to her not to call anyone, but I can’t.
Not when she is in this situation because of me.
If I can’t call Vince, then she should call Fernando instead. All I want is for her to be rescued. But I know Vicente will know as soon as Fernando is told.
Those two are inseparable.
Vincete can’t come here. He will be killed. I can’t let that happen.
Tessa grabs the phone and inputs a phone number before putting it on a loudspeaker.
At the second ring, someone picks up but doesn’t say a word.
Tessa sniffles and says. “Hi.”
“Tessa?” Fernando’s voice booms into the phone, and I shut my eyes.
I’m sorry, Vince.
“Yeah. We…Ann and I…we got…”
“Give the phone to Vicente!” Mark yells into the phone, and Fernando falls silent for a while.
Then I hear a rustle before another voice booms into the phone.
Vince.
“What do you want?”
Isaac grins. “You. If you want to rescue your girls, come get them and come alone. If you are not here first thing tomorrow, consider them dead.”
“Don’t come!” I shout, my voice echoing around the building.
I’m sorry, Tessa.
“I hate you, Vicente so I don’t need you to rescue me. You don’t need to act like a knight in shining armor because no matter what you do, I’ll never love a man like you so don’t come.” I clench my teeth to restrict myself from breaking down. “Please.”
Mark turns to me and gives me a scathing glare before kicking my stomach repeatedly.
I groan still no one is saying a word from the other end.
Don’t come, please.
Tessa is already crying. I want to do the same, but I can’t. I must find a way to ensure that Tessa doesn’t get killed because of me before anything else.
Should I strike up a deal with them?
As Mark continues to kick me everywhere with anger, my mind reels back to when Carter wanted to rape me for the first time.
My mind reel back to how I told my mother and how she could barely say a word because she was shocked and didn’t know what to do.
My mind reels back to the expression on Mother’s face when Vince rescued her and she saw me in the car.
My mind reels back to her last moment when she muttered, “I love you. Forgive me,’ before she gave up the ghost.”
My eyes begin to close on their accord as Tessa lets out a scream. “Please save us, Vince.”
No, I want to say but I can’t form a word.
“Ann and I ended things so you can kill her if you want!” Vicente utters with a tone filled with nothing but anger and rage.
I want this,, but I can’t help but feel disappointed slithering through my veins.
Just as the call disconnects and Tessa lets out another piercing scream, I close my eyes, and darkness envelops my existence.