Alessandro shrugs. “If that’s what it takes to get my daughter back. I will not have you using anything against me. You think you can win this war. But you can’t. Gabriel killed my brother. That will not stand.”
“Maybe your brother shouldn’t have killed Gabriel’s entire family then if he didn’t want the consequences.”
He sneers at me. “You’re arrogant. But boy, I have been in the game much longer than you have and you will not win.” He turnsto Emma. “Come along.” But then he stops and looks around wildly. “Where is she?”
It’s then that I realize that Emma is gone.
I run past Alessandro, looking all over the large lobby but there’s no sight of her. “What did you do to her?” I growl, going back to Alessandro and grabbing his jacket. I point the knife I stole from his man against his ribcage. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. I came to get her back. But she must have ran. It seems she doesn’t like you, Leo.”
“She doesn’t like you either. She made it clear you’re a stranger to her. Is that true? Did you have any part in raising her?”
Alessandro shoves me back. “I don’t have to explain anything to you. I am getting my daughter back before you can get her.”
I leave Alessandro behind and run outside, searching wildly for her. But there’s no sight of Emma anywhere. The one card I had to use against Alessandro… gone.
But it’s not even that fact that’s making my chest squeeze. It’s the fact that I have no idea where Emma is. If she’s in danger. And that worries me more than anything.
She’s my wife. My prisoner. I get to decide what happens to her.
If she’s hurt…
I shake my head. Why would Emma be hurt? If she’s working with her father, then she’s a good liar. Deceptive. She’ll be fine.
But if all she told me was true and she’s completely innocent, then Emma is naïve. She could end up in danger once again. I need to find her before Gabriel finds out I lost her.
I also need to find her for myself… because I don’t want to let Emma go, despite my conflicting feelings for her.
The only question is: where is she?
Emma
“What kind of dress is that?” Mother asks, looking my evening gown over with pure disgust. “What happened to you?”
I’m standing beside my bed with my head bowed. It’s how my mother always expected me to greet her whenever she’d come into my room. “I was kidnapped by a man named Leo Detti. He wanted to use me against my father. The father you never told me about.”
She scoffs. “I told you, Emma. It was for your own protection. Your father is a bad man. I didn’t want him getting his hands on you. So I kept you here, safe.”
“You locked me up,” I snap.
“Is this any way to speak to your mother?”
I flush. “No. I am sorry.”
“Good. I kept you here to keep you safe. You have to see that. I will not give you over to those mafia men. Here you will be given food and safety, like you’ve always had.”
Food yes. But safety…
“Please stop locking me in my room at night,” I beg. “Please. I’ll stay here with you, Mother, but please don’t lock me up.”
“How can I trust that you won’t run away again?”
“I just… won’t.”
She walks over to me and rips the sleeve of my dress. “Good girls shouldn’t be wearing such whorish things. I’ll give you your old clothes to wear. This little adventure you went on is over. You’re safe back here. With me.”
Except, I don’t feel safe. I feel trapped all over again. My only choices in life: be a prisoner to my mother or be a prisoner to Leo. None of this is fair.
