LORENZO POVI sat there frozen. For 16 hours, I just sat there inside Alexander's million-dollar mansion, frozen out of my wits as my mind bombarded me with unwanted thoughts of what she could be going through at that very moment. With ticking second of time, the more I felt myself chilling to the bone. And the agonizing fact was that there were no clues so far about where she could be, or where they were keeping her.For all I know, they could have shipped her via the sea to some deserted land of Hades where it was going to cost a fucking arm and a leg to get to her or abandoned her somewhere in a ditch, a dumpster for her to die. For the very first time ever since I was given senses, I was scared so bad that my mouth felt dry. "I think I got something." Owen, one of Xander's dogs who was good with computers called out from his little booth full of machines and keyboards. In a flash, I was standing next to him glaring at the screen as he typed furiously on the keyboards to reveal a

LORENZO POVThe FBI director did as told. Seeing the three of us dominating his wife’s ward, and knowing that she was even changed from the one he thought she’d be safe at, he didn’t have much of a choice but to get his ass moving. And from there on, we did a search of our own. Verzi had a few of his men flown in from Texas to give a hand, and everyone got to help. With the FBI and more than 100 of our men on the search, we were guaranteed to find her. Either by nook or crook.As for me, I was weak. I felt it. Everything in me was barely hanging on and I knew if we didn’t find her before the end of today, then something was going to happen to me. Call it intuition or some voodoo, but it was all over my body and I couldn’t just ignore the signs. From the hospital, Xander had us piled into his car and drove us out of the city. It didn’t take long before he rolled into some clean neighborhood with clean, lined trees on the sidewalks and children milling around. It was a peaceful place an

CIELLO POVThey say love is the strongest factor in life.Of course, a hard nut like me never believed in that shit. Bazookas and grenades are the strongest factors in life because they bust with just a click, destroying everything in their vicinity. That was what I believed all these years. The love that was talked about in the movies and in novels never really fazed me, because to me it sounded like nothing but big BS.But then, I saw it with my own eyes.The moment SHE arrived in Dark Woods, she arrived with this enchanting vibe that just lit up the whole place. It was in the way that she accepted everyone without question or judging them. The sense of belonging that she always managed to give to everyone. Be a stinky motherfucker who sleeps with pigs at night, Senorita would accept you nonetheless. And my bosses, the kings I worshipped with everything inside of me, strong men who never bowed to anyone and had the world dancing in the palms of their hands, seeing them so humbled an

ISA POVDAY 2“Ari, you need to eat something.” Valerie called out gesturing to the food covered on the cart next to my bed. I didn’t reply, my mouth felt too heavy to even open. I rolled my eyes and turned to the side, then covered my head with the blankets and ignored her completely. I heard her giving out a loud sigh of defeat before she walked out of the room, not saying even a word. I wasn't moody, at all. I just needed to be alone. And luckily, someone understood the meaning of LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE.~~~DAY 3“LEIGH-ARI, IT IS NOT TIME TO TAKE SHOWERS YET. YOU KNOW THAT.” Ava screamed from the door of the bathroom I found when I was parading the halls in the ungodly hour when everyone had gone to bed. The room where they have locked me in didn't have a bathroom inside, so I could only come out to have a nice good, cold shower to clear my mind. I didn’t pay her any attention and ignored the blood that oozed from the bandages around my waist, then watched with fascination as

VERNERO POV“Miss Jones, it’s so good to see you.”The little American woman gushed over Leigh-Ari who stood in front of her, beaming with the biggest smile etched on her face. Lorenzo, Xander, and I exchanged confounded looks as we all watched the mutual exchange between a gang of women and Leigh-Ari. She was smiling and laughing with them as if nothing had happened. It was as if there was this switch she flicked on and all of a sudden, she was a bubbly, happy person again. But something about the way she exaggerated it all told me it was all but a façade, and that she had a role to play. No matter how much we may try to get her to be her old self, there was never a time we were going to go back to those days. I just knew it. What had happened changed her completely, and I was dying to know how I could make everything right again. We were all dying. I could see it in everyone’s eyes; we were dying with helplessness and great defeat.“Everyone, meet Vernero, Lorenzo, Val, and Laura.