Aurelio steps out of the doorway and bows, sweeping his arm toward the door like he’s ushering me into a banquet. “Let’s make this interesting,ragazza. Would you like to play a game?”
I can barely stand, my wedding heels wobbling. “What do you mean?” I whisper.
“Let’s see how long it takes for my men to catch you.” He nods toward the door, and when I don’t move, he huffs and rolls his eyes. “Take off her dress. She fights better without clothes.”
Tommy already ripped my dress, so the men have no problem finishing what he started, tearing off my gown in sheets of silk and lace until I’m standing in nothing but my white corset, thong, and heels.
Humiliation blooms in my chest, but I hold my head high. One of the guards drags a fingertip slowly over my bare ass, and I whip my head around and hiss, “Don’t fucking touch me.”
The effort makes the world spin, but I hold my ground as Aurelio and his men laugh. “Oh,mia dolce. She doesn’t understand the situation. Your body is no longer your own. It belongs to me now.”
“It doesn’t matter what you do to my body. You will never own me,” I snarl.
He walks closer to me, the cigar smoke thick, and chuckles. “Very nice sentiment. If you had been a boy, I could have used you. Alas, that was not in the stars for us,ragazza.” He leans in close, conspiratorial, and drops his voice to a stage whisper. “Run.”
The men holding me up shove me forward, and I stumble to my knees, the broken glass on the ground cutting into my hands and legs.
Aurelio laughs loudly, his belly shaking. “This is your chance,ragazza. RUN!”
I scramble to my feet and stagger forward, falling into the door frame.
To his men, Aurelio grunts. “When you catch her, do not be gentle. I’ve seen her get fucked. She likes rough handling.”
The men chuckle, and I lurch down the hallway toward the sanctuary. At the top of my lungs, as loud as I can, I scream.
I stumble and my ankle twists, but I keep going, limping and running as fast as I can. Reaching out to drag my hand against the wall for support, I glance back and see Aurelio’s men hulking toward me, slow and purposeful, taking their time.
At the end of the hallway, a heavy metal door looms, a small glass window on top of it glowing with sunlight. I focus my eyes on this light and nothing else. I don’t let myself think of Tommy. I don’t let myself think of Aurelio’s men behind me. I will the light to pull me toward it.
When I throw myself against the bar handle, the door falls open under my weight, and I fall to my knees, blinded by the sun.
“Oh, shit!” The pounding of the men’s feet on the floor sounds off behind me, and I scramble out of the way of the door, try to shove it closed, determined to be anywhere but within their reach.
I almost get it closed before they slam into it, throwing me forward down the short set of stairs to the gravel parking lot. A sickening crunching sound hits me along with a nauseating wave of pain in my leg. I try to stand, but my ankle buckles, and I fall just as one of Aurelio’s men slides underneath me to catch me before I hit the pavement.
“Can’t have the little mama-to-be getting too banged up. But since I can’t have you fighting me—”
If he says anything else, I don’t hear it. The last thing I see is his fist before everything goes black.
2
Tommy
It’s been a week since Giovanna disappeared, and every second feels like a weight dragging me under. My phone is glued to my hand, thumbs raw from scrolling and typing, eyes unfocused from staring at it waiting for texts to come in.
And waiting.
And waiting.
I have a hacker looking into the details of that day. Checking cameras in the church where she was taken and buildings around it. Searching for any relevant information among our crews: emails, texts. Anything that will help.
I keep spinning the ring on my right hand, my ring for Giovanna, over and over as if I can wind time backward to the moment I stupidly left her alone.
“Tommy.” Vin drops a plate in front of me at the kitchen table. Eggs, toast, bacon. The smell makes me want to vomit. I shove the food away without touching it, and he sighs.
“You gotta eat,” he mutters. “I even brought you the simple shit Matti likes. You know he only eats breakfast like a fucking child.”
Matti chuckles from the doorway. “Best meal of the day. Why eat anything else?”
