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My heart pounds at the reminder, fear striking through me like a gong.
I lay completely still, trying to get a sense of my surroundings, but nothing feels familiar. I'm not in my pretty cage at Brio's, I know that much. I'm not in a room at all. The vibration of the road beneath me is too obvious. I'm in a vehicle, going…somewhere.
Where?
I frantically search my mind, trying to remember.
Why can't I remember?
"Rafe is going to lose his fucking mind, Mattia."
Mattia.
I know that name. He said it to me.
Memory floods in like the sea. The man in my room was Mattia Agostino, Rafe Valentino's consiglieri. My brothers came for me…exactly like Brio said they would.
"I'm aware," Mattia murmurs to his friend.
My heart stalls as his chest vibrates beneath my ear.
He's holding me.
Heat shoots through me like a rocket, even though it shouldn't. It's an instinctive, unwelcome reaction. I don't want to enjoy the thought of being in his arms. I don't want to enjoy the thought of this man at all.
But part of me does anyway.
Good job, Aurelia. Out of the pan and into the freaking fire.
I fight to keep my breathing steady and my body lax so he doesn't know that I'm awake and listening. He drugged me. He doesn't get to know that I'm listening to every word he and his friend say.
"It's the best plan we have, Coda."
Coda. The other man must be Coda Passero, one of Rafe's captains.
"It's a shit plan," Coda mutters. "When Rafe finds out, you'll pay with your life."
"If that's the price I pay to protect this family, then that's the price," Mattia says. "The judge will meet us at the house to do what needs to be done." His hand drifts over my arm. "But this conversation is over. She's awake."
My heart slams against my ribcage again. How did he know?
"You can open your eyes, topolina. I know you're listening."
My eyes spring open, landing on his face. With it obscured in the passing shadows, his smile is almost sinister. But there's something soft in his eyes.
"You drugged me," I accuse. My voice is thick and uncoordinated.
"I did." He doesn't sound sorry. "It'll wear off soon enough. You'll be fine, Aurelia. I didn't give you much. Just enough to ensure we could get you out of there safely."
"Told you I didn't want to go." I sound like a petulant child, but I don't really care at the moment. He drugged me. I think I'm allowed.
Besides, he has no idea what he's done or who I am or what he's dealing with. He didn't rescue me. He did exactly what Brio wanted him to do. Now, thanks to him, I'm supposed to betray the brothers I don't know in the worst way imaginable to save my mother. If I don't, Brio is going to kill her. If I tell Rafe the truth, Brio will kill her. If I do anything other than what Brio wants, he'll kill her.
At least while I was there, I knew she was safe. Now, her life is in his hands. And mine is in Rafe Valentino's. And there's nothing I can do about it. All because this man couldn't just walk away and leave me there like I asked.
"Brio Cascella isn't the kind of man you should be living with, Aurelia," Mattia says, his voice firm and unyielding.
"And you are?" I scowl daggers at him. "He never drugged me, Mattia. You did."
