Chapter 2

Beth's POV

The cold feel of the nuzzle against my skull was all I needed to know that whoever it was meant every single word he said and I slowly raised my hands in surrender.

Asides shivering, I suddenly found it difficult to breathe and I couldn't tell if it was because of the gun or the thick smell of blood that filled the air.

“Beth Stone in the flesh. You are shaking so much, you must have thought we've all gone.”

The response got stuck in my throat as I realized that they had come here for me and it was my fault that Ari and her family were dead.

“Move!” His baritone voice boomed as he emphasized his statement with a whack on my head.

“If only you move as fast as you write,” He said with an oath as he realized that I was frozen and couldn't move on my own.

He dragged me roughly and shoved me into one of the blood stained dining chairs, binding me to it with a rope that had appeared out of nowhere.

As I came across the bodies of the Rossi family, the tears I had stifled since I entered the room streamed from my eyes. This was my second encounter with death but it still hit as hard as the first time. The family that had been so full of life were now lifeless corpses. In the short time that I knew them, they made me miss the family I never had.

As my captor bound me to the chair, I finally got a good look at him and was surprised by what I saw. He was extremely good looking and was nothing like I had imagined. He could pass off as a model with his high cheekbones, honey brown eyes and lean sculpted frame. To top it all, he was in an immaculate blazer which made it hard it to believe that he was a cold blooded murderer.

“Don't give me that look, you are responsible for this. You endangered them when you senselessly tweeted about coming here to spend Christmas with them.”

"It's not my fault. So the Italian mafia is enraged with the tweets of a young girl and decided to act on the death threats they've been sending since. What do you all stand to gain by killing an innocent family with no connection to me? They knew nothing,” I said, whimpering as my voice cracked due to how I was crying.

All I could feel was rage, a blinding rage that melted every sense of danger and fear I had left. I struggled against my restraints, fighting to break free until my hands and knuckles began to bleed.

My captor on the other hand remained still, almost emotionless as he watched my futile struggles. As though I didn't exist, he turned away to make a call.

“Gotten the girl. Come in now so we can clean up this place and get out of here—”

"No! Haven't you done enough already? If you touch them again, I swear I'll kill you all—"

The rest of my words were drowned out by the loud sound of a gunshot. I froze instantly, petrified for the second time in less than an hour. He had shot at me, yet I wasn't dead. The only thing I had lost was my sense of hearing, and then there was this burning heat by the side of my head.

“You care too much for them for someone that has known no family except for a dead brother. Your mouth is the reason you're in this situation. I'll be forced to gag you if you turn out to be a problem.”

As I made to reply, we were interrupted by his accomplices who filed in and cleaned up the place in a matter of minutes. Looking at the living room now, it was hard to believe that a whole family had been murdered in it.

"Don't try anything funny, you'll only make things worse." He warned me before crouching down to untie my hands. From his aura and all, it was clear he was a cut above the rest, their leader perhaps?

“The name's Nico, don't think too much about it,” He said as he pulled me up from where I sat. We were alone as the rest of his gang were patiently waiting outside for him.

Without restraint, I followed him steadily. He might not look it, but Nico had made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't hesitate to kill me if I dared to step out of line.

"Nico—"

Another voice called out to him. From outside emerged another figure, one that Nico was clearly familiar with.

"What is it Carlos? Why haven't you left yet?" Nico returned with a hint of disdain in his tone. He eyed the man up and down for a minute, before shoving me right behind him.

"The Beth girl, you knew she was here and tricked us into leaving. Why didn't you tell the rest—"

Carlos hadn't finished when Nico's gun silenced him and in the same minute, his dead body fell to the floor with a large thud.

"Why did you do that—"

"Don't ask questions, let's go." Nico interjected sharply before grabbing me by the arm and roughly shoving me into the car.

Getting into the driver's seat, he slipped the key into the ignition, and stepped down on the acceleration pedal bringing the car to life. The tires screeched against the pavement as Nico sped off into the night, his grip on the wheel firm and unyielding.

The rest of his gang members followed suit, driving in front and behind us. I sat in silence at the back seat, my mind still ravaged by everything that had happened. Arianna was really dead? I still couldn't believe it. It all seemed unreal, and as the car continued to drive towards an unknown location, I continued to pray that all of this was a nightmare.

Why did I even come here in the first place? Was this what I had wanted? Sure, I wanted to learn more about the mafia, but this hadn't been part of the plan. Arianna wasn't supposed to get caught up in all of this nonsense—

I hadn't finished my thought when I was interrupted by the car coming to a sudden halt. I jerked up and down for a second before finally regaining my balance. Curious, I stared out of the window only to realize that we had been surrounded by other cars.

"What's going on? What's happening? Are they your subordinates? A rival gang?" I demanded anxiously. The mafia was unpredictable, for all I could know this might be a rival gang, and I was hoping that was not the case.

"Calm your horses, they're my gang." Nico confirmed curtly.

I was scared of meeting them as a thousand torture scenes flashed through my mind and I knew that they were going to drag out my death. “Why are you doing all of this? Why not just kill me and be done with all of this madness?”

"Heh..." A brief mocking laughter came. "Kill you? As much as I would love to do that, I can't do it at least not yet. I have a deal with the consigliere who happens to be your father.”