Chapter 3

 

 ~~~ 

 

 CHASE WALKED UP the stairs towards his room with both his hands in his pants pocket. 

 

 "Don," 

 

 Chase stopped in his tracks and without turning, he waved his fingers at the person who just called him to walk up to him. Clearly understanding what his cousin meant, Luciano walked up the stairs till he was standing in front of Chase. 

 

 Chase brought out a cigar and a lighter from his pocket before lighting it."Parlare." He took a long drag from the cigar and blew out the smoke from his lips. 

 

 {"Speak"} 

 

 "The task was completed, but there was a witness at the scene. Valerie requested to bring her over here," 

 

 Chase stared at Luciano, his calm composure still on. "E voi, branco di sciocchi, avete fatto questo?", 

 

 {"And you bunch of fools did that?"} 

 

 "She was insisting that the girl shouldn't be killed. She said she didn't deserve to die," Luciano defended. He knew his little sister was likely to receive an earful from Chase. 

 

 "And other witnesses? Did they deserve to die? “Chase flung off the cigar he was holding in irritation. “Valerie conosce le dannate regole e non è stupida. lei per eliminare la ragazza stessa, altrimenti lo farò io e ciò avrebbe lasciato una cicatrice sulla sua salute mentale", 

 

 {"Valerie knows the damned rules and isn't stupid. Ask her to eliminate the girl herself. Else, I'll be doing it for her, and it would put a scar on her mental health"} 

 

 Chase was not someone to make empty threats, and if he said he was going to do something, then he would do it. Luciano couldn't begin to imagine the torture Chase would make the teenage girl go through. “Don, she-" 

 

 Luciano was cut off by Valerie's presence. “Don, I’m sorry, but please think about it. She doesn't deserve to die. She has a whole life ahead of her. She’s such a naive and innocent teenager," 

 

 Chase snorted out. “Is that why you asked to let her live? Because she's naive and innocent, doesn't mean she wouldn't leak information, Valerie. In our world, you don't show your fucking emotions", 

 

 "I-", 

 

 Chase turned to Luciano. “Where is the girl?", 

 

 "She's in the first room close to the basement", 

 

 Immediately Luciano finished talking, Chase walked back down the stairs towards the place his cousin just told him of while he tugged off his tie from his neck. 

 

 ~~~ 

 

 "Wake up," 

 

 Sophia's eyes snapped open the moment she felt something cold poured over her head as it trickled down her skin. She shook her head to clear her hazy eyes before squinting them to take note of the room she was in. 

 

 She was in a dimly lit room. Her hands and legs were tied tightly to the wooden chair she was seated on while her lips were sealed with tape. Images of how she got there flashed across her mind. 

 

 Flashback 

 

 The moment she screamed, Sophia’s palms instinctively flew to cover her mouth as she realized what she'd just done, but she was too late because the three murderers whipped their heads towards her and her eyes widened in fear. 

 

 She shouldn't have screamed. 

 

 But then, that didn't stop her from acting immediately she felt the adrenaline rush through her veins. She turned on her heels and ran back towards the coffee shop. 

 

 "Let's get her”, She heard the laptop guy's voice and she increased her pace. Her bag fell on the floor but she was too caught up in her run to pick it up. 

 

 She could get it back in the morning, but all she wanted at that moment was to run to the coffee shop and lock herself in their till they left. Her plan was already in motion but she couldn't pat herself mentally again and praise herself for her smartness. Too bad because she felt someone's palms clamp over her mouth and the person used their other arm to hold her shoulders in place, leaving her against their warm, hard, muscular chest. 

 

 Sophia tried to scream, but it was as futile as her trying to wiggle out of his tight grip. 

 

 The person growled. “Stay in place, girl, “Immediately, she knew it was the laptop guy. 

 

 Soon, the other guy and the already holding her bag appeared in front of them. 

 

 "What do we do with her?" the second guy asked. 

 

 "What else? “The laptop guy said. “We will kill her and dispose of her body with Russo's. There's a lake not far from here," 

 

 Listening to the three siblings talk about how they'd kill her and have her disposed of had Sophia panicking the more, and she continued to struggle. 

 

 "Why would we do that? She's innocent" " the lady said, noticing Sophia's panic mode. 

 

 "No one said she isn't innocent, Valerie", the Laptop guy said. “She’s a witness and isn't meant to live," 

 

 "We can take her back home," Valerie suggested. “But not murder her," 

 

 The second guy turned to his sister with a glare. “Are you out of your fucking senses, Val? Witnesses shouldn't live. They should die on the spot", 

 

 Valerie turned to him. “Luciano, please", She then looked at the Laptop guy. "Lucas?", 

 

 "Sorry, Valerie but that's not the right thing to do. If Don gets his hand on her, it would be worse. We all know that", 

 

 "Please", 

 

 "Dammit, Val", Luciano muttered and looked straight into his twin brother dead in the eye, before nodding his head. 

 

 Before Sophia could understand their silent communication, she heard Lucas groan in annoyance and irritation before she felt something cold and sharp prick her neck. 

 

 In no time, everything went blank. 

 

 End of flashback. 

 

 Sophia began to wiggle in the chair again, trying to scream out for help, but the tape on her lips muffled her voice. 

 

 "It's useless trying to scream because no one will hear you", Sophia looked in the direction where the voice came from, and her eyes fell on Luciano, leaning against the wall, staring at her. “This place is huge, and no one can save you from your death. If you had minded your business, you wouldn't have been here,"