•Nikolai•╌═❁═╌"Niko, she isn't here! I have checked the entire building myself four fucking times, our men are all over the place!!" Marco yelled over the phone. "She isn't here!" I got off my seat. "Well, fucking check the building again! How could you let this happens, Marco? If something happened to her, You are a dead man, you're a fucking dead man!" I hung up and called her cellphone instead. It rang and rang and rang but she didn't fucking pick up. I hung up and called Alessandro. Agitation rolled off me, I needed a fucking drink but I needed my wife more. "Niko?" his cold voice came through the phone. "I want you to track my wife's phone, NOW!""Give me ten minutes" Hanging up, I went out of my office. Did someone get to her? If someone fucking kidnapped her again I'm going to burn the entire fucking New York City to the ground. Shit! How could I let this happen, I fucking promised her I won't let it happen again. I went down the elevator and it annoyed me how fucking s
•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌I shook my head. "I'm not going in there" Leo grabbed my arm and ducked as a helicopter flew by over us. Leo opened up the trap door again and pleaded with me to get inside. "Evie, it's either this or Nikolai!" he whisper-yelled. Taking a long, deep breath, I stepped down the unsteady wooden ladder that led to nothing but deep darkness. I couldn't see anything, the second my feet touched the ground I heaved a sigh of relief and looked up at the faint morning light coming from the trap door. "Leo!" I called and there was no answer. A certain tension and anxiety crept up as Leo didn't answer, I looked around the dark place, my heartbeat accelerating. Goosebumps crept over the back of my neck. "LEO!" I called again and I was ready to climb back up the ladder. A second later Leo appeared in my view, he stepped down the ladder and closed the door behind him."Evie, touch the wall to your left, there is a flashlight mounted on it, grab it and turn it on" In the
•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌It's been more than one month in this hell hole. I haven't seen sunlight, I haven't breathed in the fresh air. This is the worse kind of isolation I ever had to endure. Every time I feel like I'm finally gonna be free, I end up in a way worse confinement. I heaved a sigh and played around with the scrambled eggs on my plate. We have limited electricity down here, we have an oven, a microwave, and a refrigerator that we can use in the kitchen. In the storage room, the clean drinking water bottles, boxed ready-to-make meals, cereals, beans, and so many more things were available but I didn't feel like eating anything. I'm so sick of everything. I glanced at Leo, who was silently eating his food. Without even looking at me, he said. "Eat, Evie, you need food to survive" I blew out a breath. "What am I even surviving for? More confinement and isolation? Even if the people—who you refuse to name—will be here and take us out of here, what then? It's not I can live fr
•Nikolai•╌═❁═╌"I swear I saw them, it was the same man that was in the news and the same girl was with him" a teenage boy explained, "They are living down there, I was sent to deliver the milk, I was supposed to just leave it in the middle of nowhere." "Then where did you leave it?" Scott asked. He pointed to the ground. "Right here, I put the milk right here and hid behind the bushes. I was curious" He pointed towards the area that was covered in leaves and tree branches. "The man came from under there" "You can leave now" I ordered. "But I can help—" "Leave," Scott told him. "Alessandro" Alessandro nodded and grabbed the boy's arm, taking him away from us. I went over to the pile of leaves and ordered my man to see what was under it. As they did, a trap door came into my view. I nodded to them to open it, it was way too quiet for anyone to be there. A broken-down wooden ladder led down, Scott and Lorenzo stepped down and I did as well. I had no fucking hope that she was
•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌I trained day and night, I fought with men twice my size and won every single time. Alone, out here, I had the freedom to let myself out. No one to tell me what are my limitations. No one to degrade me. No one to make me doubt myself. I felt free. No diffidence. No restrictions. When I first started I didn't even know what I was doing but I always end up surprising my own self. I didn't even know I was capable of such things. I thought I wasn't like him but funnily enough, I realized I was just as twisted from inside. There was certain darkness inside of me, I don't know if I was born with it or if he put it inside of me. I didn't cower away from the sight of the blood. I have killed men and slept through the night like a goddamn baby. It's like I finally understood what he was. The more everyone pushed me, the more confident and in control, I felt. I was done being pushed around, taking orders, or obeying someone—day by day I got stronger, and day by day I st
•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌Uncle Luca, Leo, and I laughed at an overly lame joke the President of the Senate had uttered. We had invited the man into our house for dinner, he had been on good terms with Uncle Luca when they were young, they both went to the same school in Sicily but then drifted apart later in life. Uncle Luca had decided to rekindle their lost friendship because I needed something from this man. Apparently in New York City, I was still the missing girl and Leo was still on the list of most wanted criminals. My so-called parents were still looking for me and my name had been stamped everywhere, the government officials were on high alert for anyone named Evangeline Bolton. The second I'll set foot in my country again, the first thing the American government will do is to cage me in a cell, arrest Leo, and alert my so-called parents. And we all know who those so-called parents work for. The second they'll know, their next stop will be Nikolai Costello—the tornado of dar
•Nikolai•╌═❁═╌I stared at the box placed in front of my door. A plain black box with a pink ribbon tied to it neatly, like a birthday present. I could imagine it was the return gift for the package I sent over the Moretti's territory. Lorenzo raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to open it?" "It could be a bomb that can detonate the second we'll open it" Scott voiced, lightly kicking the box. "I don't think so," Marco added. "Lorenzo, open it" I ordered. Lorenzo dropped to his haunches and pulled the pink ribbon off the box, he took off the lid and we saw another box inside it. This one was wrapped up quite badly and it was enclosed in plastic wrap. Lorenzo pulled a cutter out of his pocket and stabbed the plastic wrap, cutting it, and making blood spill out of it. Fuck! What was it? An animal? The stench of blood hit my nose, and Lorenzo pulled the plastic off, and a decapitated head dropped out of it. It wasn't any decapitated head, it was the severed head of my informant from
•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌The plane hit the tarmac and I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. We stepped down the air stairs and a line of black SUVs were parked out front for me and my men. Enzo had taken care of everything, Uncle Luca had a lot of property in the united states, a few of which were apartment complexes. We drove to the buildings, I checked my cellphone a couple of times as a certain restlessness ghosted over my skin. Enzo placed a hand over the small of my back and led me to the elevators. He pushed a button that took us straight to the top, straight to the penthouse suites. My men put my luggage and stuff into my room and went back down, leaving me and Enzo alone. "If you need anything, just call me, my suite is right across from yours," Enzo said before turning to walk out. "Enzo..." "Yeah?" "Find out where Nikolai Costello is right at this moment" Enzo frowned. "Why? It was a long flight, you should rest, we will do something about him tomorrow" I squeezed my