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Angelo’s threat rings through my ears as I lie here in the dark. I can tell we’re on a windy gravel road, as my body bounces up and down and jolts from side to side.
He kidnapped me.
He has my mom.
And he sent Matteo to that warehouse. But for what? To get to me? None of the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together in my mind, and the realization that this entire thing has been set-up by Angelo has me sick to my stomach.
The car comes to a stop, and I hear him get out and speak to someone. Their muffled voices make it too difficult to decipher what they’re saying, but I know it’s another man.
The trunk door clicks, indicating it’s been unlocked, and my heart picks up speed even though my body freezes.
The door swings up, displaying Angelo and another older gentleman I don’t recognize. He’s wearing a gray suit, and his long dark hair, peppered with strands of silver, is slicked backinto a low ponytail. When I make eye contact with him, he displays a grim smile, showcasing a fake gold tooth. My stomach hollows out at the sight.
“Fausto, why don’t you help her inside,” Angelo orders.
“Wait,” I cry out, and scramble deeper into the trunk, wanting to get as far away from these men as possible.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You said you were going to cooperate, Lux.”
“Don’t call me that,” I grumble.
“You’re my daughter. I should be allowed to call you by your nickname, don’t you think?”
“I’m not your daughter.”
Angelo lets out an unenthused sigh. “I had a feeling you’d act this way. Fausto,” he snaps, and keeps his eyes coolly on mine. “Get her inside now. With force if you must. It seems she hasn’t learned her manners quite yet.”
Turning on his heel, Angelo stalks off. I let out a scream when Fausto wraps his calloused hands around my wrists and tightens his grip as I try to pull away from him.
“Get your hands off me,” I screech while sliding my legs in front of me to kick him in the stomach before he’s able to pull me out. His grip loosens and he heels over, coughing from the sharp contact.
Yanking myself free from his grasp, I try to jump out of the trunk, but he takes up the majority of space and I trip over him, falling to the ground. The jagged rocks send a sharp pain through my palms, but I ignore it as I push myself up to a stand.
I’m about to take off running but quickly plummet to the ground once more, except this time with the weight of a grown man on top of me. The side of my face slams onto the rocks, and I let out a cry as I endure the weight of Fausto on top of me.
“Lux, sweetie!” I hear a frantic cry from somewhere behind me. “Get off her!”
Sliding my face across the gravel, I lift my head as best as I can to see my mom standing on a cabin porch not too far away. Angelo’s standing behind her with a gun to her side. She’s wearing a dark blouse and a pair of jeans, similar to what she was wearing in the picture I received of her yesterday. Her hair hangs down in their usual loose waves that end just below her shoulders. My stomach sinks as I take in the dark shadow around her right eye and the split in her upper lip.
“Mom,” I cry out. Fausto lifts himself off me but drops his knee into my spine, putting enough pressure on it to know it’s a threat and to stop moving.
“If you don’t get inside the cabin right this second, Lux, I will make you watch me kill your mother in one clean shot,” Angelo threatens as he holds my mom against his chest. A whimper falls from her lips when he shoves the gun deeper into her rib cage.
“Fine,” I grind out.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” he calls out to me.
Huffing out a breath, I repeat louder this time. “Fine, I said.”
“Good. Fausto, get her up and inside the damn cabin now.” Angelo pushes my mom back inside, and I swear, even from this far away, I see tears form in her eyes. I do my best to keep it together as Fausto lifts me and clamps my hands behind my back.
“I’ll make you pay for that kick to the stomach,cara mia,” Fausto threatens in my ear. I don’t know what he called me, but the way the Italian words slipped off his tongue doesn’t resonate well with me. It sends a disturbed shiver up my spine.
He pushes me to start walking, and I do so, making my way up the small steps, then entering the cabin. I quickly scan theroom, locating my mom on the couch while Angelo stands off to the side a few feet away. Now that I can see her clearly in the light, I take in the dark circles under her eyes that have aged her since we last saw one another.
Her eyes widen as she takes me in, but before she can say anything, I throw myself down onto the couch and wrap her in a hug, squeezing her hard as if she’s going to disappear again and this is the only way I can keep her here with me.
“I-I’m so s-sorry, sweetie,” she chokes out between sobs.
