Nothing.
Because he was fucking gone.
Gritting my teeth, I asked, “How?” and for a few hours, he explained the complicated history of Damian and Sapphire, and facts that helped me understand what really happened.
I think the most surprising thing came after, when I found out who her father was and how Damian fucked up.
Dominic
Knocking furiously on Don’s room, I barely contained the beast inside me that roared to destroy the piece of wood separating me from the man and then choke the life out of him. The only reason I stayed civil was because my woman wouldn't want such behavior from me, and guests from the wedding were still here. I had no desire to ruin my brother’s perfect moment. God knows, I’d done enough to screw up his life through the years.
After my fifth sharp knock, the door sprung wide open with a shirtless Don wearing a murderous glare on his face staring at me. “What the fuck do you want, Konstantinov?” Before I could reply, my brows lifted up when I noticed Mary hovering behind him with a deer-caught-in- headlights expression, holding her dress to her chest. “Stop fucking looking at her,” Don growled, and if the situation had been different, I’d have laughed in his face. He certainly had a busy night.
“Where is my woman?” I asked, my voice laced with fury.
Frowning, Don grabbed the shirt from the floor and hastily put it on. “Last time I saw her, she assured me you were the perfect man. Then you took her away.” By the narrowing of his eyes, he didn't appreciate it much.
“She isn't in our room!” After the fucking best lovemaking of my entire life, where I was so attuned to another person, almost merging as one with her, all I dreamed about was to wake up to her pretty face and continue to explore this newfound connection.
Instead, a cold bed greeted me and no note or any indication of where she’d gone. At first, I assumed either she was taking a shower or tanning on the balcony, but when both of those assumptions proved wrong, I got alarmed. Frantically checking with Vitya, Michael, and even Connor and Frankie, I came up blank, as she never contacted any of them. So the only logical conclusion left was her father, who wouldn't have to honor the truce between us after the wedding.
Which brought me back to the present. If she wasn't with her father, then where the fuck was she?
“Dominic.” Don’s voice turned low and worried, dark shadows coloring his features. “Where is my daughter?”
Rosa
Groggy and disoriented, I opened my eyes and instantly wished I hadn’t. The piercing pain assaulted me as if little ants nipped on my scalp with the sole mission of destroying it. The loose hair stuck to my damp skin. The humid air held traces of an unfamiliar yet disgusting smell. I raised my hands to push up when my eyes landed on the handcuffs wrapped tight around my wrists and ankles. Adjusting to the muted light, my blurry vision scanned the… basement?
The concrete under my butt, almost numbing it, had traces of different red stains, along with scratch marks. As if someone had clawed for dear life but still lost the battle in the fight. Tight iron bars separated the small space I was placed in, from the wider part where all the equipment I could see laid. Shovels, knives, blades, razors, electronic drills, pliers. The worn-out plastic desk held a chainsaw, hammers, and nails. Was this some kind of a place where people built stuff? Even chopped wood in a box occupied the space between the desk and chair.
The single black chair reminded of an office computer chair that swiveled from side to side. Several lamps dangled from the ceiling, but currently only one was on. The sound of water tink, tink, tinking in the sink caught my attention as I looked to the side to notice a small toilet and a sink inside the cage, which otherwise appeared bare.
The walls were rusted, wet, and the chilly temperature seemed too much, even for a basement. My heart rate sped up as flashbacks of five years ago assailed me, and I closed my eyes, counting to ten.
The image would go away. I would wake in a safe bed, where all this was just a nightmare. Not my reality.
Never again my reality.
Rocking back and forth, when the count ended, I opened my eyes again, and my stomach sank as the picture didn't change.
Then a memory started to return to me like a colorful movie played in front of my eyes.
“Alfonso, where did he take her?” God, why had no one stopped this abusive asshole Romeo before? No one should ever hurt a female, and I just prayed she’d be in good condition once we’d reach her.
Alfonso gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white, as he gritted out through his teeth, “On the edge of the city.” He clicked something on the GPS plastered between him and me. “An hour drive, give or take.”
I bit my lip, worried about how in the heat of the moment, I just jumped inside without thinking. Dominic and my father wouldn't have approved of this behavior, but how could I let a woman in need suffer? Taking out my phone from the pocket of my dress, I quickly typed a message to my man—butterflies still fluttered inside me from the things we’d done the night before—when Alfonso knocked it from my hands to the floor, and I raised my puzzled eyes to him.
Without warning, he snarled at me, “Rosa, bad girl.”
Say the fuck what?Immediately, the handsome boy I grew up with transformed into a man with crazy, dilated pupils, and a sadistic smile spread on his mouth. Fear washed over me, and without thinking, I pulled the door handle and tried to get away, not even caring the car was travelling at high speed, but he just laughed, a dark laugh, which chilled every bone in my body. Then the clock to the back of my head came out of nowhere and everything went blank.
“Alfonso.” The minute the whisper escaped my mouth, the man in question came into the light, smirking while licking his lips. He wore nothing but blue jeans, boots, and black gloves. His scarred skin glistened with disgusting sweat. “What are you doing?”
“What I was born to do.” He stepped inside the cell, his boots making creaking sounds on the cement, and I pressed my back harder against the harsh granite wall. I would have bruises, as the light white dress wouldn't protect me for shit. “Taste and torture you.”
“Why would you do it?” Keeping up a conversation with him was the last thing I wanted, but the idea of his vile hands on my body made my stomach feel it might empty right there on the spot. The bile had already risen in my throat. Paralyzing fear was almost suffocating me with its intensity, because no one knew where I was.
