She gives it to me and I punch it in. When the locking mechanisms slide into the unlocked position, I pull the gate open.
“I never had the courage to stand up to your father,” she whispers, her head bowed. “I was too afraid of what he’d do to you and your sister.”
My stomach cramps and twists at her words. I’m not sure if hearing them earlier in my life would’ve changed the way things are today, but it doesn’t matter. I am who I am because of what’s happened to me and the trials my father presented only made me strong. They made her weak.
At least we both know what we’re made of.
I tie a strip of cloth around my mother’s mouth, preventing her from talking again but also to keep her from calling for help.
“I understand,” I say, “but I think you loved yourself more than us or you would’ve done everything within your power to make sure we were safe. Instead, you left your children to fend for themselves. You should be glad with your accomplishment because now I’m self-sufficient and I don’t need you or anyone else. And you don’t need to worry. I tied you up, not only to keep you out of my way, but to ensure he doesn’t suspect you helped me and kill you. Unlike you, I’m not self-centered, because if I was, you’d already be dead.”
Making sure the gate is closed, to avoid the sensor notifying my father’s security, I make my way down the tunnel and leave my mother behind.
In more ways than one.
Rafael
When I see Carina again I’m going to fuck her to death. Literally.
The woman doesn’t deserve to die with my cock in her, but I need it. I think if I do that I’ll be able to remove whatever poison she’s injected in me. Because I can’t get her out of my system, even after everything that’s happened tonight.
Lies.
Betrayal.
Manipulation.
How could I have not seen this coming? What a fucking stupid ass.
I huff out a sardonic laugh, imagining the look on my brothers’ faces when they’re notified about my predicament. Assuming Nardone’s scheme for ransoming me is legit. If not, then I’ll be dead and none of this will matter.
As a specter, I do plan on haunting Carina for the rest of her natural born life. It’s only fair since she plagues me with thoughts of her every single minute of every fucking day. My ex-fiancée—I’m assuming the wedding is off because I’ll kill the bride, which would make it the shortest marriage in history—has somehow gotten under my skin. It’s not just because of her beauty, although that certainly didn’t help. Carina is everything I want in a woman, and not just for the present.
She was the first person I could actually envision a future with.
While staying faithful.
I’m not sure what blows my mind more: me behaving or me willingly tied down? Either way, neither of those things are happening. When I get out of this, I’ll be sure to keep women at a greater distance than before, because I’m not going through this shit again.
Fuck women.
I mean that both in the derisive and literal sense.
The skin around my wrists chafes from me trying to ease some of the feeling back into my arms and I should be grateful for the prickling sensation crawling along them, but I’m not. It just makes me all the more pissed off. I’d rather they be numb so I don’t have to experience the discomfort.
This is my exact thought concerning Carina as well.
“Open the door.”
I jerk against my bindings at the sound of her voice. Holy fucking saints above! Am I really so pussy-whipped that I’m imagining her sultry voice, even though I hate her? If so, I’m going to suck on the barrel of Nardone’s Glock the next time I get a chance because that shit is ridiculous.
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Carina says, her tone coated with steel. “If I do I’ll fucking shoot you. Got it?”
Well shit. Apparently her tone is hard because she has steel in her hand. That’s good to know. It also proves I’m not a jackass by imagining her voice and that’s a relief.
Now I want to know why she’s here…
The door to the basement opens and the distant muffled music from the club trickles in. The guard from earlier descends the wooden stairs with Carina directly behind him, the man scowling like he’s one match away from combustion. However, her expression is fierce.
