I scoff. “Everything.”
“Smoke bombs?”
“Yes, but what about the baby? Is it okay for Sofia to breathe in that poison?”
Nick paces around as he contemplates, then his face brightens. “How many sets of night-vision goggles? And is there a backup generator down there to turn the lights back on if there were a power outage?”
“Enough… and no…” A smile creeps on my face, and I feel an ounce of hope for the first time this afternoon.
Chapter 36
Sofia
IfeellikeIcan’t breathe with this tape around my mouth. People talk all around me as if I’m not sitting in this cell. They haven’t even bothered closing the door—probably because there’s almost twenty men down here with me. And what am I going to do? Inchworm up the stairs before anyone notices or can catch me? They’ve only hit me three times, nothing too hard, but that doesn’t stop the fear from creeping in of what they will do to me later.
After Elio initially contacted Alessandro, I felt a wave of emotions at the news that he was coming to rescue me. That confirmed that he loved me, but it filled me with dread, knowing that he was going to give his life for mine.
But as each minute passes, it’s becoming clear that Alessandro isn’t hurrying over. And I don’t know if he’s coming at all.
Maybe he doesn’t love me, and I’m a fool.
And maybe I am going to die.
I start crying again—a difficult task with my mouth taped. Would he really do this? Let me and the baby die? I was so excited for our life together. But he strung me along, making me fall in love with him.
But why? He could have thrown me down here long ago. He always threatened to.
It must have been a sick game to him.
My self-pity spiral quickly turns to frozen fear when Elio looks my way. Then he meanders towards me until I have to crane my neck to look up at him. “He’s taking a long time.” He states this as if it’s a mundane fact, but I can tell he’s hiding his stress from me—he ordered my mouth to be taped shut when I begged them to let me go too much. He’s not a monster, I can tell, but he wants to dethrone Alessandro anyway he can manage. “Are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink?” I nod. He steps forward to rip my tape off. “Scream, cry, or say anything I don’t like and this goes right back on.”
When he rips the tape off, I can’t help but whimper a bit at the pain, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He nods at someone who I assume is fetching the water.
“We’ll be calling him back soon. And if he doesn’t pick up or cooperate, we’re going to have to take it out on you.”
I clench my fists to not let a sob escape me. “Please…”
“Don’t,” he snaps.
His soldier comes back with a cup of water.
The final offering of kindness before the inevitable torture starts.
It only takes three gulps to finish the glass of water, and I realize how thirsty and stressed and tired I am. I give the glass back, my hands trembling in fear.
Without saying another word, Elio rips off a fresh piece of tape and re-covers my mouth. I panic, wondering if those were the last words I’ll ever be able to say. I can’t control the sobs now as I breathe heavily through my nose and struggle against the tape. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and makes the call.
It rings and it rings.
No answer.
He wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t let me die down here.
Elio tries again.
Desperate, I struggle against the binds on my wrists as if that will help anything.
Elio curses as another missed call goes through. “Bastard.” He sighs and nods at Dante. “We’re going to need to make a video.”
