Chapter two

Drina’s POV

I woke up gasping. I had a throbbing head, and my throat was burning. I momentarily believed that I was in the van, still in darkness, but next I came to realise that I was on a soft bed. The papers were nice and costly. The air was faintly polished and flowery.

This is not my apartment.

I positively sat up, and the room turned. As I came to myself again, a great fear was in my heart. It was a big room that was silent, yet there were neither any windows I could open nor any doors that were unlocked. In one corner, there was a red blinking camera. There were two uniformed men in front of the door, keeping a blank stare at me.

"Where am I?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

No one answered.

I rolled my legs out of bed and attempted the door. It did not move. I strained more, feeling panic, but it remained closed. The guards did not react.

"So, this is a cage," I whispered.

My hands started to shake. I crossed my arms over my chest and had to make myself breathe. Crying would not help. Screaming would not help. Whoever had taken me here wanted me alive, at least so far.

The door opened after hours that seemed to me to have been hours. The guards stepped inside.

"Get up," one of them said.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

He did not answer. They held my hands and took me down long corridors with works of art and glass. The locale was cold, even though it was beautiful. This was not a home. It was a fortress.

We went into a big room, and then I saw him.

Dino Fazio sat, facing a large desk, and was calm and motionless as though nothing could startle him. He did not rush to speak. He did not even look angry. That made it worse. Slowly, his eyes went up to mine, and I could feel a great weight in my breast.

"Leave us," he said quietly.

The guards had withdrawn, although they had not left the room.

Dino walked slowly and calmly towards me. I wished I could take a step backwards, but I could not.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

“Yes,” I said, although my voice shook.

"Then you know why you are here."

"I stole the data," I admitted. "That's all."

"Why?" he asked.

I swallowed. "Because I needed the money."

He gazed at my face, as though he were trying to find something lurking under my skin.

"You expect me to believe that?" he said.

"It's the truth," I replied. "I am not a spy. I am not important. I just wanted to survive."

He circled me slowly. I was vulnerable, as the prey to the eye of a hunter.

“People did not steal from me accidentally,” I told myself. "Someone sent you."

"No," I said quickly. I do not even know what was in that drive.

“Lies,” he said without moving his voice.

“I am telling you the truth,” I said. “Had I known who you were, I should never have accepted the position.”

He then turned and stood in front of me and bent a little so that our eyes met.

"You expect mercy," he said. "But mercy is expensive."

I shook my head. "I don't expect anything. I just don't want to die."

Something flashed in his eyes, which was too quick to make me out.

“Give her back to the guards,” he said.

They pulled me out prior to my uttering anything further.

The walls in the room seemed nearer the back of the room. I dropped to the floor and clasped my hands over my ears; the memories came. The sound of gunshots. The smell of smoke. My mother is screaming my name.

"I was just a child," I whispered.

I huddled in a ball, trembling at last, which caused tears. I believed that I became stronger over the years, and the fear left me bare with only the broken girl I always was.

The door opened again.

"Get up," a guard said.

My heart stopped. "No," I whispered. "Please."

They dragged me to my feet and took me back to Dino.

He had risen now to speak factiously into a phone.

"Yes," he said. "Prepare everything."

He gave up the telephone and stared at me.

"You are a liability," he said. "And liabilities are removed."

My breath caught. "You're going to kill me."

"Yes," he replied calmly.

Something inside me snapped. It was still fear, but anger came over it, sharp and burning.

“You believe that by killing me you will correct what you have done?” I asked. “You believe you lose your blood because you have money?”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“My parents died, and it is people like you who made my voice shake,” I said. “People who determine that others are irrelevant.”

The guards came nearer, and they caught my arms.

"Take her," Dino said.

Trying to turn my head back to look at him, I was pulled by them towards the door.

“It is no use killing me and washing your blood,” I said.

Dino hesitated, the first time in a long time.

"Wait," he said suddenly.

The guards stopped.

My heart was relieved when his eyes met mine with a cold and unintelligent stare.

The room was silent.

And I was aware that my destiny had changed.