The colorless walls of the bathroom sway around me, and I feel a sudden rush of nausea. My feet become heavy for a moment, and I lean onto the sink with Paolo’s gun following my every movement. Oh my god…
I stare down at the sink for a few seconds, trying to gather myself together, when a wave of anger rises in me. Today is my goddamn day. I want my dream back. I want my freedom from all of that bullshit.
“What if I scream?” I spit out and raise my head to look at him,
curling my hands into fists against the sink. “What if I let everyone know that there’s fucking Mafia in the airport?”
But Paolo only chuckles, watching me without an ounce of sympathy in his eyes. “If you survive that-and I very much doubt you
would-wouldn’t you have to explain to your father why you were here in the first place?”
A wave of shivers runs down my spine at the thought, and I swallow and look away from Paolo, avoiding his piercing gaze. Damn it. How much does he know?
“Oh, I know all about you.” He steps closer, almost pressing his body to mine, and leans to my ear, lowering his voice. “I know your father, I know your bodyguards, and I know every single person you’ve talked to over the last month. I know the library near Lincoln Park you visit every day, I know your favorite chocolate cream puffs, and I know the bakery you get them from. Jacinta, I’ve been following you for weeks-there’s nothing you can hide from me.”
With every word he says, my mind spins faster and faster until I find myself gasping for breath, the floor shaking under my feet. Is this what Dad was trying to protect me from? Paolo wasn’t joking-it is a damn kidnapping, and I’m too shaken to figure out what to do. How can I escape? Where can I get help?
I try to swallow the lump in my throat and slowly look up, meeting Paolo’s gaze through the mirror. He looks like a menace with a predatory smirk on his lips and the gun glinting in his hand. What is he gonna do with me if I follow him?
What is he gonna do if I don’t?
“Do you still think you can escape?” Paolo straightens up and chuckles, but the look in his eyes turns cold and threatening. “Don’t even try to do something stupid. We’ve already killed your aunt, your grandfather, and your mom. Do you think I’m gonna hesitate before pulling the trigger?”
But I can barely hear his last sentence over the growing heartbeat in my ears, my vision getting blurry-but not from fear this time. I just can’t believe it. Is this asshole proud of his family’s cruelty? Is he bragging about killing my family? The thought sends a wave of fury so strong that it overtakes my survival instincts.
I tighten my fists and sharply turn around, shoving him away from me. “So you’re pleased with yourself, aren’t you? You think it’s so cool to kill two innocent women and an old man who had no way to protect himself? You burn our houses, torture our people, and now you want to kidnap me because it’s such a noble thing to do, huh? Well, I’m not gonna let you do this.”
I take a deep breath to scream-but the click of a hammer stops me.
Without blinking, Paolo presses his gun to my temple and steps forward, forcing me to press myself back into the sink. He doesn’t look cold and unaffected anymore-he looks so damn furious that I feel a wave of terror freeze my muscles.
It’s then that the realization finally sinks in-Paolo will actually kill me if I go against him.
“No one in your family is innocent,” he says in a low voice, pressing the gun deeper into my skin. “Now, are you coming with me, or are you
staying here and waiting for a coroner to deal with you?” Well, I don’t really have a choice, but do I ever?
After I slowly nod and promise him that I’ll behave, Paolo finally hides his gun in his inner pocket, orders me to go with him, and we leave the bathroom as if nothing happened. The airport worker announces through the speakers that boarding for the flight to Barcelona ends in five minutes- and for some reason, it’s then that I feel the first urge to cry. I swallow it, of course-I’m not gonna show this bastard my weakness-but the deep ache of sorrow in my chest persists.
Will I ever get the taste of freedom?
Paolo doesn’t hold my arm anymore, but his pure presence is powerful enough to keep me close to him. I only stare in front of me, holding my head high, and follow the directions to the parking lot. Is he gonna drive me away and keep me as his hostage? I purse my lips and step into the elevator with him. Well, I spent all my life in prison-it won’t be long till I find a way to escape.
“Shit.”
Huh? I turn to Paolo just in time to see him put his phone back into his pocket. He doesn’t look happy, and it makes my heart bloom with hope. Is someone coming after me? As soon as the elevator doors open, Paolo nudges me to go out and adds grimly, “Hurry up.”
Oh, there’s definitely something wrong.
As I look around me, hoping to see the familiar white SUV, Paolo guides me through the parking lot, taking me farther and farther away from crowded places. Soon, we reach the level with just a few empty cars, and Paolo grabs my arm again and picks up his pace.
“What’s wrong?” I ask just to distract his attention while my gaze darts over the parking lot.
“Nothing. Just keep-” “Jacinta!”
My heart leaps up to my throat when I hear Rafael’s voice, and I immediately turn in his direction while my feet automatically follow Paolo. I notice them just a second later, two familiar figures running toward me from the stairs, and my whole body jumps up in excitement. I force Paolo to stop as I turn my body toward them, trying to get closer.
“Rafael! I’m here, help me, please-”
A gunshot cuts me off. Another one. And another.
Like in slow motion, I see Santiago’s head snap to the side with a burst of blood and Rafael’s shoulder twist back before the last bullet hits him right in the forehead and sends him backward. The thunder of gunshots is ringing in my ears as I watch my bodyguards fall in a heap like two dolls with the remnants of batteries quivering in their bodies. Trickles of their blood mix together, flowing over the concrete floor, and when my gaze lingers on it I feel a sour taste of vomit in my mouth.
It can’t be. It can’t. It can’t.
“Keep going.” Paolo sharply tugs me after him-and the next moment, he catches my shoulder as I sway on my feet from the force of his pull. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
I hear Paolo’s voice as if it’s coming from a distance, but I can’t say anything. I can’t force myself to move, speak, or even simply turn away from the bloody scene before me. These are men that I’ve known since I was a child-and now they are just a heap of limbs and blood.
Even though I’ve always known that Dad handles dangerous business, I’ve never actually witnessed it. I know there are fights and murders involved, but he’s never allowed me to be a true part of the Mafia world, shielding me from the horrors of his daily life. Both Dad and
Grandpa let me read about heroes, villains, and the violence that always follows them-but I could never imagine how terrifying it is to see a murder in real life.
Would Paolo kill me just as easily?
My knees suddenly feel weak, and I hear more voices, but they’re too quiet and indistinct to recognize. I feel myself moving, my feet touching the ground, but my mind can’t process it. My vision is still blurry, and I can only recognize the concrete floor under my feet until, suddenly, a car door appears in my field of vision.
Someone forces me inside the car, and I mindlessly follow their hands while the voices around me grow louder. “Thomas, lock the door. Omero, hurry up!”
The scratch of tires against the ground finally snaps me out of my stupor, and I realize that I’m looking at my own wrists tied with a rope.
Shit. I blink to clear my vision, raise my head, and my gaze immediately lands on the windshield. I see the rows of cars that we quickly leave behind.
We’re driving away from the parking lot-but no, wait, what about Rafael and Santiago?
“We can’t leave them there!” I quickly turn to look back-but I stop before my gaze reaches the rear windshield when I see the person next to me.
No, no. This must be a nightmare. What kind of goddamn joke is this?
“Thomas?”
He looks at me and chuckles without a trace of warmth in his eyes.
“You should’ve listened to your guard.”
“Fuck you,” I spit out and look away, quivering from inside.
I don’t know why, but his words trigger something in my mind, flooding it with pure heated rage. So these assholes have really been stalking me, huh? The only time I feel like I could be friends with someone
-and he turns out to be a goddamn traitor! I tighten my fists, staring down at my lap.
They really want to kidnap me, but they have no idea what’s waiting for them.
“Dad is gonna find you,” I say hoarsely and look up at Paolo in the front seat. “He’s gonna find you, and he’s gonna kill you. All of you!”
“Sure.” Paolo looks at me over his shoulder, and I see his triumphant smirk that makes me want to scratch it off his face. “But do you really want him to find you?”
I part my lips-but I don’t know what to say to that. I escaped from Dad, didn’t I? And despite all this bullshit around me, I don’t want to go back to my old life. I don’t want to go from one prison to another, and I know that’s exactly what’s waiting for me if Dad ever lays his hands on me again.
While I get lost in my thoughts, not knowing what to say, Paolo
chuckles and looks at the man next to me. “Louis, I think our princess needs some rest.”
What?
“I don’t need anything, I-”
I only have that much time to talk before, suddenly, black fabric covers my eyes and I realize that my head is covered with a linen bag.
Really? I shake my head and mockingly huff, feeling the damp hotness of it on the fabric.
“Do you treat all girls like this?”
They say nothing in response, and I chuckle and lean back, feeling too tired to be scared at this point. Perhaps I do need some rest.
I have to save energy to come up with a new plan of escape.