CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & SIXTY-TWO: Angela's POV: Useless. I'd never felt as useless as I did right now. I wasn't chained to a chair, didn't have my hands tied behind me, worse, i wasn't even blindfolded yet, I couldn't escape. These assholes were having the time of their lives showing me just how much of a disadvantage a disability was. They didn't bother taking extra care securing me because they knew for a fact that I couldn't run. So here I was, sitting uncomfortably this cold, hard, rocky ground. My back pressed against the cold, hard wall while Ava rested her head on my lap, her little feet bound together with a chain. It was stupid. There was no need for it seeing as she was really fucking scared and wouldn't dare leave my side. She'd been clinging to me for hours, even when I'd be roughly pulled off my wheelchair and tossed to the ground like a rag doll. She'd cried and called for Natalia for hours, our captors, clearly unbothered. I'd begged amd tried to convinc
Angela's POV:Wait…Were we really the only ones here? Like just Ava and I?I peered harder into the darkness, squinting harder like that would make me see any better. But there was nothing in the shadows, no movements, no sound, nothing.We really are alone.That realization made my heart pound harder as a thought formed in my head. My eyes darted to where my wheelchair lay, discarded carelessly from where one of the men had kicked it while making fun of me.“We could escape,” I whispered to no one in particular. All I needed to do was get to my chair. I had zero clue about where we were but I could come up with something when we finally made it out of here. Hopefully.With that plan set in mind, I shook Ava slowly. God, she was really hot, it was scary. She mumbled incoherently in her sleep making soft whimpers. She must be in a lot of pain.“Hey,” I whispered so close to her ears, trying to get her to wake up and I wondered if it was a good idea waking her up. “Ava, baby. Please
Angela's POV: TW: Violence, S/A (Please proceed with caution) I knew this was too good to be true. “You think you're so brave, bitch!” A voice snarled from behind me in the darkness as cold sweat broke out across my skin. My stomach lurched so violently, I almost shit myself from fear. My attacker's grip on my hair tightened and I could have sworn I lost some hair at that moment, but it was irrelevant. What was the loss of a few strands of hair compared to the fact that I'd been caught trying to escape by brutal, terrible men? “I'm sorry,” I heard myself whimper—it was all I could do in this situation, apologize. “The… the little girl is ill.. I..I had to do something. I'm sorry.” Cold, dark laughter shook the room, making my stomach clench. “Told ya this crippled bitch was smarter than she looked,” This voice was different from the one who spoke earlier. I was in deep trouble. I knew that so I tried to talk my way out of it. “Please, I'm telling the truth,” I plea
Angela's POV: At some point, I zoned out. And I think it was better that way. No amount of begging, crying or thrashing would have stopped these men from violating me as they took turns shoving their dicks into my mouth. It is official. I'm as good as nothing now. Completely useless, ruined, soiled, however the society deemed fit whenever a woman has been violated. It was always her fault and she became dirty to everyone. Guess who's joined the endless queue? Me. I didn't realize the last man was done until I felt the rough, hard sole of boots drive into my side, again. This time, I didn't scream or cry, I sucked it up as I barely registered the pain that exploded in that spot. I guess I was too busy trying not to throw up from the amount of salty, slightly sticky substance on my tongue and around my mouth. The thick substance thinned out as I gathered up saliva in my mouth, turning my head to the side and I spat it out. ‘Don't think too hard about it, Angela. Maybe the
Carlo's POV: I've never felt as worthless as I feel right now. It's been hours since they'd been gone and nothing positive has happened.Like a coward, I gave in to their demands. I called off the search, both within the police department, my men and even partner gangs. I still tried to search for them. But on my own. There was usually a tracker installed in Angela's wheelchair but I was only just finding out that it'd been deactivated since two weeks ago—and I didn't notice, not a single thing. Brother of the year award goes to me, really. It was worse that she had left her phone in the van—the only other place we'd installed a tracker and guess what? Deactivated too. I found the reason why though. He was in the dungeon right now being drilled by Enzo until he confessed what he knew about this.Her doctor, really? I thought after the drama at the dining room all those weeks ago, she'd know better than to have anything to do with him but no. Instead, they formed a fucking relat
Carlo's POV:“Answer it,” I ordered. Enzo gave a slight nod before swiping at his screen and placing the call on speaker.“Hello?” He said, eyes not leaving mine.There was a little whimpering noise before a distorted male voice filtered in through the phone speaker, “You're not Don Carlo.”I froze.How could he tell? Enzo cleared his throat, his eyes still on mine as he spoke, “Speak. He can hear you.”“Ah,” the man huffed a little laugh. “Good. Good.” “Where are the girls?” Enzo asked impatiently, his voice exuding dominance and anger. “Hai fatto un grosso errore a fare una mossa del genere, bastardo.” {You made a big mistake pulling a stunt like this, bastard}Laughter filtered in through the phone speaker, a mocking, degrading sound. “You don't get to call the shots, stronzo. I do…” He trailed off but the silence was immediately replaced by a loud, pain-filled scream, piercing through the air enough to make my pulse stutter.Angela. My heart stopped.That was Angela.I moved, r
Carlo's POV:5:17 AM “This is ridiculous!” Enzo snarled as he continued to stare at the text on his phone. “The ransom is fine, I mean, money isn't our problem but asking for fifty percent of the drug and weapon business, and asking II Porto del Diavolo is too much! He's crossing a dangerous line!” He was. Not just because he was asking for a huge part of my business—he won't be getting that not while I breathe and eat. But he was also asking II Porto del Diavolo. That territory might be mine but it was just mine, I had partners—not the friendly ones. But because of a peace treaty years back, we've all learnt to share it despite not meeting eye to eye we figured it was better than shedding more blood for that land. And the fact that this man was asking for it, wants it… that could only lead to a war that'd been long buried….“We can't give in to this, boss,” Enzo said again, his voice firmer and angrier this time. “Fine, we'll give him the monet he is asking for but we have to find
Natalia's POV: I didn't know how long they'd been driving. Minutes? Hours? It felt endless in the dark, cramped trunk—for some weird reason, it had a little bit of ventilation so I wasn't exactly suffocating but wasn't entirely comfortable either. My legs and back ached from the position I'd squeezed into and I was too scared to adjust, or keep changing position lest I get caught and sent back home cause I could really picture a fuming Carlo making an order for a car to take me back and I can't let that happen. The car suddenly lurched forward, and forced me to move too, making me bump my toe and the handle on the gun dug into the skin of my stomach in the process. I had to bite my tongue to keep me from crying out. Just great. It was already a long and uncomfortable ride and I definitely didn't need anymore suffering. I was just wondering how far the location was. Then, finally, the car slowed, rolling to a stop. I was really doing this. I thought, gently brushing the
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & FORTY-TWO: Angela's POV:No water.No food.No light.No human interaction.How original.I don't know how long I've been in this smelly, fucked up cell but if my guesses were correct, it's been more than three days.Sure, my throat felt parched, and drinking my saliva for relief was no longer working, my stomach had growled for hours, and my intestine had probably eaten the walls of my stomach until it gave up torturing me but it's nothing I can't handle. Really.That whore thinks she could break me easily. So this was her grand plan? I could still remember those silly words leaving her lips, ‘There are other ways to make a cruel bitch suffer.’ A small laugh escaped my lips. Was this suffering?Hunger pangs? Parched mouth? A little discomfort and dizziness from lack of food or proper sleep?Pathetic.Hell, if they'd even ordered some guards right beat me up or something, torture me in the worst ways possible, I would have applauded her. Even that, I could
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & FORTY-ONE: Natalia’s POV:It’s been five days since the whole incident and everything seemed a bit better now. I hope it was.Sadly, dad’s condition is the same, and in trying to not show how much it was affecting me cause Carlo might stop me from going with him next time. I keep praying in my heart for a miracle, that something should drastically happen and he wakes up….I know it's not that simple or easy but a girl can only dream…On the bright side, Carlo and Luca talked. They mended their relationship and Luca seems more comfortable around his father now. And Caterina? She'd been beyond shocked to find out what Angela had done. It tore my heart when the old lady broke down in body-wracking sobs, you could tell it hit her really bad… She kind of blamed herself for not raising her right but that's totally bullshit. Everything that happened was all on Angela. No one else was to take the blame.Period.When I'd called Tanya to dump every single detail of the
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & FORTY:Carlo's POV:I walked blindly to my room.Later, I might wonder how I got to my room safely without hurting a toe or bumping my head into a wall… Later…I slammed my door shut behind me and my legs were able to carry me some seconds more… Just enough to lead me to the edge of my bed and I fell to the cold, hard marbled floor.I failed.The first drop of hot tear dropped onto my sleeping pants as I drew my knees up to my chest, my elbows leaning on each knee as my head dropped into my palms.I failed everyone.I kept the enemy so close, that it had endangered everyone… especially my son.How could I have been so blind? How didn't I see it? Why did I think we were all one big, loving family?Why didn't I protect my son better?Why didn't I pay closer attention to him? To the things happening in my own home?!Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?????No matter how many times I asked myself that, I came up with nothing!!!No answer. Nothing!!What kind of parent let
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & THIRTY-NINE: Natalia's POV: The guards took her out kicking and screaming. Soon, her shrill screams died out and the room fell quiet. Too quiet. The tension and unspoken words hung heavy in the air like the stench of cow dung.Soon, Enzo saw himself out of Carlo's office, muttering something about being needed in the hospital and I vaguely recalled myself replying as I watched my heart broken man standing rooted to a spot, unmoving….I'd never seen him like this. It made me sad.Luca stood off to the side, probably hoping he was invisible—he looked so small in my eyes it was painful. I think—know—they really needed to talk…What Angela did was unacceptable!When Luca's bloodshot eyes met mine, a sad smile stretched my lips and I urged with a slight movement of my head for him to speak to his father… They both needed it…Luca seemed to contemplate, the fear in his eyes was too sad to look at. I didn't even care that he'd hurt me in the past, he was hurting way
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & THIRTY-EIGHT:Natalia's POV: You know those moments when it feels like you're dreaming but you're sure you're wide awake… or like in movies where the actors are like dumbstruck or something…?All that paled in comparison to how I was feeling. It made no sense… Angela? Angela turning out to be the one who shot my father was crazy. I told her things about me, confided in her… she knew just how much I'd longed to see my own parents…. It hurt, it really fucking did.I almost couldn't breathe as my chest tightened.My nose tingled as I blinked back tears. Seeing my dad hanging on by barely a thread made me miserable, it had torn me and now, knowing it was my friend who'd done it….Did she know he was my father?She had to. Sure, she had been distracted while nursing Rueben back to health but there was no way zia hadn't told her or she hadn't heard gossip from the maids from all the times Gianpaolo and Carlo had fought over me since the discovery.She knew and she
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & THIRTY-SEVEN: Angela's POV:I'm furious. Enraged.Livid.Whatever. You fucking name it!Luca. Foolish, naive, insecure, Luca. Out bested me, outsmarted me…. Ruined my plans. Years and years worth of plans, hardwork, blood and sweat down the drain and all because of that bloody fool!!!But it seemed like it was all worth it in the end if the expression on Carlo's face was any indication. His powerful hand pressed down even more tighter ony wind pipe, robbing me of air, my eyes water and stung. My lungs burned and felt too big for my chest as I struggled. Everything hurt but the pained expression on Carlo's face made it hurt less.A little reward. But still a reward.For years, I'd wanted him on his knees before me, right before I take his life but who knew a man didn't have to kneel to look so… broken, so hurt and mad with anger. I could die like this…. I didn't want to. I still want my revenge but if it was time for me to go, I'd do it. Wherever Alessandro
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & THIRTY-SIX: Carlo's POV: While paying close attention to Luca, I almost missed two of my guards standing on the other side of the room, each of either side of a kneeling Angela. She had her arms behind her and her lips sealed shut with a tape.My first reaction was anger.Why on earth was she being manhandled this way? And where the fuck was her wheelchair?I dragged my attention back to Enzo. “What is the meaning of this?” I snapped at the same time Natalia, gasped…“She can kneel…” That made my brain stop for a brief second and my narrowed eyes were on Natalia. Of course everyone could see Angela was kneeling— Wait….“She told me she was paraplegic,” Natalia voiced the thought that rang in my head at the sudden realization.My eyes darted from Angela to Enzo and back to Angela. My stomach felt cold, tight, way too tight for comfort… “Take the tape off her mouth,” I ordered and one of the men moved to obey. “Angela, explain yourself, what's going on?”Silen
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & THIRTY-FIVE:Carlo's POV: 4:16 PMI squinted at my screen, blinking sleep away as I rose to a sitting position careful not to wake Natalia up.Alarm bells went off in my head as I realized what had woken me up; A series of phone calls and texts from Enzo. That could mean only one thing. Trouble.Frowning, I unlocked my phone and scrolled through his messages. Enzo: I've been trying to call you. Enzo: This is frustrating. You usually wake up as soon as your phone rings.Well, he wasn't wrong about that but Natalia had cried for hours—an exaggeration but you get the point. And she'd been so sad it had taken longer than expected to get her to sleep but at least she was eating so that's a win… Bottom line…. I was exhausted.I kept scrolling…Enzo: So I've tried calling Diablo to come get you and he just told me you gave an order to not wake Natalia up. This is fucking serious, Carlo.I exhaled deeply, rubbing the bridge of my nose. I needed her to rest, that was
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & THIRTY-FOUR: Luca's POV: FLASHBACK.. THE PREVIOUS DAY… Taking my phone out, I typed out one last text message and I hit send. I stared at the text I'd just sent to Enzo. Me: I know who shot Gianpaolo. Call me. As I waited for a reply or his call, I had time to reflect on my decision. There was no going back now. I thought as I drove back home. I was being fooled by Angela and it had to stop. I loved her. I really did but I know better now… She didn't love me. Not one bit. I was nothing but a tool and yes, years ago, when it all started, I knew our relationship was forbidden but something about the genuine love and care she'd shown me made me say, ‘fuck it.’ There was a time where I thought only she understood me. That her love was special. Sure, papà loved me, zia too but with Angela, it had been different. I'd shared my problems with her and she'd done the same. She'd told me the story about her mother's death and I really wanted