4

"Gwen!"

"Clara!"

I ran into the bedroom and gave Clara a bone-crushing hug.

"Thank heavens you're alright. I was worried he had hurt you!"

"You don't need to worry about me; I'm fine. Are you ok? Hurt? You aren't bleeding, are you?" Clara's voice trembled as she let go of me, and began checking my body.

"I'm fine. No hurt or scratch, but I can't say that for the window I broke." I grinned.

"You broke a window?!" She gasped. "Did you get into a fight or something?"

"No. Lorenzo locked me in a room too, so I broke it and escaped."

"You jumped out a window? How many times have I told you not to do crazy things like that?! You could have gotten hurt!" She frowned, and I rolled my eyes.

Please, I had a lot of experience in jumping out of windows and escaping from rooms.

"I'm perfectly fine, except Lorenzo caught me before I could find you. Now I have to pay for all my damages, but he offered me a job that pays better than my current one, so it's not like I lost anything." I replied and lay like a starfish on her bed.

"Just that? He didn't say he would lock you up? Starve you? Break your hands and legs?" She fretted, and I tilted my head to the side.

"No, why are you asking that?" I frowned and sat up. "Are you hiding something from me? Who exactly is your uncle?"

"Um... Didn't he tell you?" She mumbled as she fiddled with her top.

"You expect me to believe he's Diavolo? I would have believed him, but there's no way you're part of something as violent as a mafia group. You're too sweet and innocent to survive there, and I mean this in the nicest, sweetest possible way."

"I'm sorry, Gwen," Clara whispered and avoided my gaze. "Lorenzo is... my father was... I'm... I'm... It's a long story, but he's saying the truth. My uncle is the Don of the mafia."

"Oh..." I murmured, licking my bottom lip, and I patted the spot beside me. "Well, I'm very interested in this long story, so spill."

"I don't even know where to start." She sighed and sat beside me.

"Then start from the beginning. Lorenzo is your uncle, right? What about your parents? They had to be involved in it too." I asked, and she nodded.

"I didn't lie about my parents being dead. Mom died when I was two. Dad, when I was fifteen, and Lorenzo took over everything."

"Wait! Your dad was the Don! That makes you the mafia princess! My best friend is a mafia princess!" I stared at her in awe.

"It's not as fun as you think it is. I've hated being part of a mafia syndicate since my dad died. It's too risky, too rough, and too murdery and stabby for me. All for what? Stupid power!" She hissed and sighed. "That's why I wanted to leave, and I tried escaping a lot of times, but Lorenzo always knew what I was doing. After my eighteenth birthday, we made a deal. I would live on my own for four years, and if I was able to make a good life for myself, I wouldn't have to return to the mafia. If I didn’t, I would come back and never leave again."

"Did you?" I asked.

"Did I?" She snorted, and I laughed. No. No, she didn't. We were two broke college students who were struggling with debt and surviving on the bare minimum.

"I was naive and thought life was easy peasy. Lorenzo knew I was too spoilt to survive on my own, so he let me go. Honestly, I should've known when he easily agreed, but I was too hungry for freedom. Now the four years are done, and I'm back to this hellhole." She grumbled and flopped on her bed.

"I don't know about you, but this hellhole is kinda cosy." I mused.

"Oh, shut up! You only like it because it's fancy." She hit me with a pillow.

"Of course, I'm a material gurl." I laughed and patted my knee.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Gwen. I should have returned immediately when the four years ended, but I enjoyed the life we had, even though we were poor. I... I didn't want to leave it behind." Clara whispered, blinking back her tears.

"I'm not mad at you. Getting kidnapped by a mafia Don wasn't on my bingo card this year, but hey, life is a crazy b*tch." I tried cheering her up. "And don't worry; I already have a plan to get you out of here."

"Don't give me false hope, Gwen. Lorenzo won't let me out of his sight. The best I can do right now is plead with him to let you go unharmed." She sighed.

"Too late, I've already made a deal with him." I announced, and she turned pale.

"No! Please, Gwen! Tell me you're messing with me."

"Nope!" I jumped to my feet and grinned at her. "Your uncle has given me a month to break the two of us out of here. If I do, he won't bother any of us again and give us five million each as compensation. But if I fail..."

"If you fail? What will happen if you fail? I hate suspense." She fretted at my dramatic pause.

"He'll kill me." I said, crossing my finger over my neck.

"For God's sake, why did you do that?" She screamed and grabbed my shoulders. "You're crazy! That's why he's called Diavolo. No one makes a deal with the devil and wins. I tried, and now I've gotten you into all this.

"I thought he said he was called the devil because of how many people he had killed." I joked.

"This isn't a joking matter, Gwendolyn!" She shook me so hard my brain rattled in my skull. "Your life is in danger. You will fail, and he'll kill you. I can't let him kill you. I can talk to him; he has to change his mind and let you go."

"And what about you? I'm not leaving this place without you!" I said, taking her hands off me.

"I'm safe. Family don't hurt family. You—"

"But they can imprison them, right?" I scowled. "I'm not leaving you in a cage, no matter how fancy it is. It's either we leave together, or I'm not leaving at all. Even though you manage to convince Lorenzo to let me go, I’ll continue to plague him until he either lets you go or kills me."

"Gwen, please. I don't want you to get hurt. You're my best friend." She begged and grabbed my hand.

"And I don't want to either. Trust me, I've had a lot of experience escaping out of places I don't like. This one would be hard, but we'll do it. And once we're free, we'll use the compensation money to start a comfortable new life." I hugged her and patted her long, brown curly hair. "This is a sacrifice I'm willing to make for your freedom. Take this as payment for that time."

"But—"

"No buts. We can do this. Trust me."

"Fine," Clara whispered and hugged me back. "But the moment I sense we can't win, I'm going to make him change his mind.”

Jokes on her, I intended to die trying to burst her out of here.