CHAPTER THREE: Lucia Romano's pov

Lucia had come into town to visit her father Jimmy, she had hoped their estranged relationship would become better, she didn't even know she had a father till three years ago when her mother died and he came for the funeral, she had gone through a lot in her younger years, her mom struggled to provide and take care of her, finding out she had a father all these while just messed with her emotions. He started calling her and begging her to forgive him which she did after a while, the history between him and her mother wasn't pleasant but still wasn't an excuse to abandon his daughter, but she just depends to let go of the past and try to build a relationship with him.

This was why she came to Sicily from Brooklyn, her mother moved out of the country few years after she was born, she had lost touch with her Italian heritage and hoped this new relationship with her father will put her more in touch with her heritage, her father has invited her to stay with him, she packed up her life in Brooklyn and decided to move to Sicily, everything was settled, her father was going to help her get a job with her law degree and she was going to stay with him until she was able to stay on her own. That was until yesterday, she had just returned home from a jog, when she heard the ruckus downstairs, she got to the top of the stairs amd looked down where the living room was, that's when she saw her father been beaten up by thugs, his eyes caught and and he whispered 'hide'.

The thugs were so engrossed in beating him up they didn't noticed his focus was on who stood upstairs his daughter. Lucia got confused, she didn't know what to do but she knew she could definitely not overpower the five hefty men that stood watch downstairs and definitely not the two men who consistently riddled her father with punches and slaps, she would hear one of the man standing watch ask, 'where is the shipment coming into?'.

Her father didn't answer at first, more blows landed on his faces until he said everything they wanted to hear, it was at the point she walked slowly backwards into her room shaking with fear and confusion, she searched for her phone,' I need to call the police' she said to herself. She searched her room for her phone,l frantically until it dawned on her, she left her phone in the kitchen when she got back and needed a drink. 'oh no!', she cried out, she didn't know she was crying until the salty tears found its way into her mouth. That was when she heard the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, from the noise and movement she could tell they were dragging her father upstairs.

The door to the room opposite hers opened with a loud bang, her father's muffled screams echoed in her ears as they dragged him into the room, that's when she hid in the wardrobe trying hard to make sure her trembles and whimpers are not heard by the intruders.

She heard them discussing among themselves and then silence, just when she thought it was over that's when she heard the gunshot, her heart skipped a beat her ears ringing, the heavy footsteps she heard earlier going back down the stairs. The silence was terrifying, she was fearstricken, she tried to stand up but her legs could not move, she must have fallen asleep still hidden in the wardrobe.

Hours had passed, she woke up with a start when she heard noises coming from the living room, 'they are back' she thought to herself.

The door to room opened, the person moved around, she waited for the wardrobe door to open but then she heard the person walking back out, she let out a small sign of joy, she was safe. Then the person stopped, oh no the person must have heard me she cried out, the fear returning, her body shaking with fear, then she heard,

' who's there?'.

She kept quiet.

'I'm going to count till three and if you are not out before three I'm going to lot this place up'

She was silent.

'one!'.

She was conflicted, should she come out and beg for her life? Or should she just wait and hope a bullet doesn't hit her?.

'two!'.

Option one it is, she reasoned.

She opened the wardrobe door and shouted ' please don't shoot me', hoping the whoever held the gun would be merciful, the overwhelming sense of fear and terror made her panic and just then everything went black.

* * *

Her eyes opened slowly, trying to adjust to the bright light that shown directly into her eyes,

'you are awake, let me see', a voice said, his hands holding the touch which shown on her eyes.

Her mumbled brain jerked into realization, where am I? She thought, have I been kidnapped?, the fear came back.

She jumped right out of the bed, she wasn't going to allow fear cripple her this time she thought.

She screamed, 'help me', her eyes searching the room for something, anything she could use to protect herself.

' calm down, I am here to help you ', the man said, she got a good look at him, he looked old,, good she thought, I will be able to take him on.

' where am I?, she asked.

' I am Dr Roberto, and I am here to help you, you fainted', the man said gesticulating dramatically as if she could not understand the words coming out of his mouth.

' where am I ?, she asked again, grabbing the bedside lamp and waving it at him as they run round the room, she was trying to run out and he was trying to prevent that.

' calm down, just put the lamp down , I am just here to help you',

' I am going to ask one last time before I hit you, where the fuck am I?', she cried out.

' you are in my boss's house, when we found you, we fainted we just want to help', he explained, pulling his phone out and dialling a number, 'she is awake', he said to whoever he called.

Just then the thought of the earlier events came flooding, her father!.

'i need to go back, please I need to find my Father ', she cried, dropping it lamp, it shattered as it hit the ground.

' oh, I'm so sorry love', Dr Roberto said.

' I need to leave right now ', she said walking out the door, the hallway was huge,the stairs leading downstairs was magnificent, she ignored the aesthetics and ran down the stairs, she got to the bottom of the stairs and stopped, she didn't know where to turn, Dr Roberto following her trail as fast as he could.

He shouted ' hold on, let me explain everything to you'.

Just then a huge figure emerged from the dimly lit room, walking towards them with so such a gait that you could this was a man, as she walked closer she could see his dark hair, chiseled jaw, his lips pouted in a grim way. His deep, dreamy voice bellowed 'where are you going to', as he grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her towards him.