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43. So Close, Baby
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 44. Biased Judgement
[LAURA]“Are you always such a chatterbox, agent Jorden?” Agent Dickens quipped, breaking the silence as we sat in the boat he insisted on hiring to take me home. I had made it clear that I didn’t need a chauffeur, but some men are stubborn as hell. Dickens was certainly one of them.I arched an eyebrow, giving him a brief, skeptical look. “Well, some of us prefer to let our actions do the talking. You know, the strong and silent type.”He chuckled, his eyes scanning our surroundings as the boat smoothly sailed through the water. “Fair enough. But I have a feeling there’s more to your quiet demeanor than meets the eye.”I let out a humorless chuckle. “Everyone has layers. No one is as simple as they may seem at first glance. I’ve learned that people are often hiding something, whether it’s their past, their true intentions, or their own demons.”His gaze returned to me, as he settled in the seat more comfortably. “What about Xavier Perazzo?” he inquired with a slight narrow of his eye
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 45. Playing With Fire
[LIZZY]Sometimes I wish I could have done things differently. That if I had another take on life, I would have made fewer screw-ups and more rational choices.These days, I can’t even recall the last time I got something right.Seriously, it’s all a blur.I wish I hadn’t been so stupidly naive back then, which eventually led me to put my trust in all kinds of wrong people. I mean, what the hell? Take Vector, for example.That man is all sin and nothing holy. Everyone knows that.But getting involved with him was only the tip of the iceberg. I willingly shot myself in the foot when I not only tried to run away from him but also kept a secret—a secret that would ultimately push him to reach for the gun in his nightstand drawer and finish me off.But I’m not thinking about that when he is occupied looking at me with those intense, dark eyes of his, like he knows something I don’t. It’s both thrilling and terrifying, because if there’s even a teeny chance he can read my thoughts, I’m in
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 46. Likely Just A Surprise
[XAVIER]I should’ve been smarter than to get sexually involved with Hazel’s teacher. The last thing I ever want is to disappoint my daughter.So why couldn’t I control my impulses?I can come up with countless reasons for losing control, one of them being the desire for intimacy. After all, every man has his needs, right? The last woman I slept with was Aurora, and it was during our secret affair that she conceived Hazel. The exact point when I stabbed my brother in the back and made an enemy out of him for the rest of my life.I know Mir has moved on. With Zarina in his life, he couldn’t care less about what I do or don’t do anymore. Of course, he would be furious if Hazel got into serious trouble because of me, but to be honest, I would be the first to blame myself for allowing it to happen in the first place. He would have to get in line if he had any desire to make me suffer.All I’m saying is that my sex life is nobody’s damn business but mine.But still.Still, I feel guilty fo
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 47. Got Played Again
[LIZZY]“Can we go to the zoo, Lizzy? Can you please take me? Please? Pretty please!”I take a deep breath, fighting the urge to massage my temples and relieve the tension building up around my head, feeling like an earthquake in my skull.Joey has been relentless since the crack of dawn. I have no idea where he heard about the Tropicarium Park in Jesolo, but ever since his curious eyes caught sight of me, he’s been like a broken record, playing the zoo visit tune on repeat.Now, it’s like wherever I go, he’s right behind me, trailing like a lost puppy, whining and pouting, begging me to take him to the park for a visit.We are currently in my room. I have bathed and changed after the unplanned run I went on this morning. I don’t know what came over me, but I found myself wide awake at four in the morning, unable to doze off again. Curiosity got the best of me, so I thought I’d see if Vector had returned. To no surprise, his room remained just as vacant and dark as it had been for the
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 48. Burn My Eyes
[VECTOR]“What do you have for me so far?” I ask, eyes on the closed door as I lean back and wait for something useful to come out of the mouth of the man on the other end of the call.It’s been a few days since Romeo Conti left for New York. He should have something for me by now, or at least, I’m hoping he does. I already asked Oranzio Petroni’s men to get him all the help he needs. The man has agreed. Now I just hope to get to the bottom of this blast as soon as possible.“I did some digging around. The locals in the neighborhood don’t have much to say, except that the family moved in shortly before Ms. Jones joined them. Actually, some people even assumed she was part of their family, like a sister-in-law or something. Anyway, I’ve hired some additional help to gather more intel. But for now, all I’ve got is a feeling that something about the family doesn’t sit right. The husband was definitely a cop, but as for the wife… some folks claim she was a housewife, while others insist t
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 49. Bad Mood Swings
[CRISTIANA] It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that I don’t have much say in the family matters. They all think I’m either too young and too naive to know or understand anything. I’ve been raised my whole life as if I were some delicate princess who would be corrupted by the darkness of the outside world. They thought I was too pure for this harsh reality, too easily fooled to avoid attracting trouble. In a sense, that pretty much sums up my entire life. I’ve grown up with not only overprotective parents but also a deranged brother who considers chopping off the fingers of any man who dares to look in my direction as his favorite pastime. And if that weren’t enough, throw in an irrational and hot-tempered older cousin who happens to lead a notorious crime syndicate. It’s a recipe for an impending catastrophe. The only relief I have in my not so run of the mill life is my sister-in-law who happens to be the only sane person I can freely talk to or reason with—Zarina is the only
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 50. Worst Case Scenario
[VECTOR]“How long are you going to sit there like a fool, Vector? If you have something to say, why don’t you just say it?” Sofia’s words cut through the air, accompanied by her familiar wicked grin. She disgusts me to the core, but despite being a sociopath, she’s the only family I have left.Perhaps that’s why, when I feel lost and unsure of what to do, I find myself unlocking the doors to my past and descending into the basement. It’s where I keep my adopted sister imprisoned, bound by shackles. For what she did to my family, she should be buried deep underground.But it seems the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Even though I have countless reasons to grab my gun and shoot her in the face, I keep her alive, hoping that someday she will come to understand the pain and destruction she inflicted upon the only people who cared for her.She tore them apart.She destroyed everything that mattered to me—the family who took her in, loved her, and gave her a chance at redemption. The
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 51. Not Me
[TREVOR]“Are you positive it was her?” Laura asks again, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Even though she’s keeping tabs on me from a safe distance, her repetitive questions really get on my nerves.I don’t have anything against her, except for the fact that her involvement with these mobsters seems way more sinister than a cop’s should be. But who am I to question her motives? As long as I get my share of the deal, I couldn’t care less about what drove her to join such a dangerous game. All that matters to me is ensuring Lizzy’s safety, and I couldn’t give a damn about anything else.“There’s no way to be sure, babe.” Doesn’t she already know this? Things rarely go according to plan when dealing with these mobsters. They’re too crafty and cautious to be fooled by people like her and me. That’s one of the reasons why they never get caught, and even if they do, nothing sticks to them. Like I said, they’re way too careful.If there’s one person I can be honest with, it’s myself. And
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ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL Epilogue
[VECTOR] I never thought this day would ever come. Not before I met Lizzy Jones. It’s all been a whirlwind, my life, that is. From the day I was born to the day I lost everything, I lived a greater part of my life in absolute fear. Fear of not being trusted, fear of not being enough, fear of not being there for my sister when she went through the same painful incidents before she even understood the word pain. Lizzy says that what happened in the past was hardly my fault. That the fact I couldn’t protect my family was not my burden to bear. After all, wasn’t I a child myself? How would I have known what Sofia had planned for that night? What possibly could I have done to stop her and her freak boyfriend? The answer: Nothing. I couldn’t have done anything. Literally. But then why do I feel responsible? Is it just survivor’s guilt? Or is this a way for my brain to tell me that I was equally accountable for not being prepared for what I knew might happen if Sofia wasn’t stopped?
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 93. Promise For Sure
[LIZZY]“This is awkward,” Laura mumbles under her breath, but maybe not so quietly to herself because I end up hearing every single word of it.“You don’t say,” I shrug, and I watch as the corner of her mouth twitches.She looks away and sighs, as if what we’re doing seems to be physically affecting her. I can’t really blame her, can I? When Xavier and Hazel showed up this morning, wanting Joey and me to come with them so they could see off this woman who pretended to have our best interests for five long years, I didn’t have many noble thoughts about it. Definitely not kind enough to think she deserved a heartfelt goodbye.But that would be the mean and hurtful side of me talking. Because if it weren’t for her, Joey would still be wandering around, scratching his head and trying to figure out how Vector suddenly turned out to be his father—the man he couldn’t share me with at all, the man he wanted to punish for making me cry alone.“I didn’t mean any of the things I said to you, if
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 92. Being Addictive
[LIZZY]“This is nice,” I say as Tony and I sit outside one of the street cafes near the stream after a very silent and awkward dinner.I have no idea what I was thinking when I agreed to come with him. Maybe I assumed he would want to talk about things that he should have a long time ago—all those days he remained absent in our lives—that he would like to give an explanation for it. That he would finally reveal the big reason for him to walk away from our lives the way he did. That I would truly know, for the first time, what drove him away and turned him so cold and crude towards me when I came to see him all the way from Venice to the US.Too bad, I have got nothing so far.During the entire dinner, all we talked about was food, Joey, and his weird obsession with fire. And now that the dinner is finished, and he has run out of all the random conversation starters, we find ourselves back to quietly sweeping our gazes around.I take another long and loud sip of my coffee, wondering w
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 91. Job Done
[VECTOR]“What the fuck are you doing here?” Marcus looks stunned to see me, his brows furrowed deeply, flaring his nostrils as if he’s this close to grabbing a gun and aiming for my good knee.Well, maybe I do deserve that. Lizzy did warn me this was a bad idea.Not that I regret it one bit.Marcus and I have worked together for a very long time. We were even together that night, the night that boat exploded, and left us with the kind of scars that would take long to heal—his longer than mine. While I busted a knee and got several burns on the back, Marcus lost his right arm and got half of his face fucked up, including one eye.Let’s just say, I feel slightly responsible for what happened—felt obligated to pay him a visit despite everyone telling me to stay in the room and rest for long hours.It’s not like I’m trying to be difficult, or I don’t respect the care I’m getting even though I have done very little to deserve it. But after Lizzy asked me, with those doe eyes of hers, if w
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 90. Smart Boy
[LIZZY]I wring my hands for the hundredth time, trying to shake off the nervous jitters.After a week of contemplation, Vector and I finally agreed on how to reveal the truth to Joey about his real parentage.Honestly, I can’t believe I allowed my life to become so complicated. What was I even thinking? What was I so damn afraid of? Looking back at everything that happened in the past few months, it’s obvious I have been worrying for literally nothing. Vector never did any of the things I imagined he would once he got a hold of me. He didn’t hurt me, make me suffer, or punish me in any way. In fact, if there’s anything he did, it was to love me more intensely and passionately. Never did he ever try to hurt me, at least not purposefully. He did express his anger in the beginning, but now that I think of it, more than anger, it was hurt that he tried to mask as temper.I was terrified to even think about what he would do if he learned I kept such a huge secret from him. That I had been
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 89. Forget & Forgive
[One Week Later][LAURA/ERICA]“What are you doing here?” I ask, bored, although for this tough exterior that I’m putting on so fucking gracefully, I should get a damn Oscar for it.Then again, even if I did get nominated for an award, and had to choose between kicking some butts and wearing a sparkly, twinkly or some sort of shimmery thing ever over myself, I would rather just stick with what I do best, and we all know what that is.Except for my last encounter with the Perazzo brothers didn’t go as well as I planned.But, most of the time, they rarely do. That’s why this job is so darn tough and risky because, most of the time, the bad guys are one step ahead. They usually are. You can’t expect them to be playing poker when we storm their hideout. Nope, they’re always ready for the worst. And when the cops do catch them off guard, we don’t get a warm welcome with tea and cookies. No, they rain a hail of bullets on us.Perhaps that’s the reason there’s a saying about the best-laid pl
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 88. Only Mine
[VECTOR]I was ten when my sister Emma was born. She was this small, delicate thing that I was too scared to even touch. Her big doe eyes were like pools of laughter and innocence that spilled from her mouth every time she giggled and thrashed her little arms around, wanting attention, wanting someone to hold her, carry her around, keep her squeezed against their touch.She used to love it when our mother used to talk to her, holding a long and silly conversation while little Emma babbled away, God knows what. But that hardly mattered when I was too busy wiping sweat off my palms, wondering if I would finally get to hold her.Mom wanted me to not shy away, always telling me that I was supposed to protect her. Dad, however, seemed a little unsure. He sincerely believed that I needed to grow up a little more if I wanted that kind of responsibility. And I always believed he was right. That I needed to grow not only physically but mentally. That I needed to make myself capable, just like
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 87. Ridiculously Crazy
[LIZZY]When I wake up next time, my body aches like hell. It’s as if a terrible weight has been thrown over me, pinning me down, and I can’t summon the strength to get up.I snap my eyes open and practically groan when sunlight cuts through my eyelids like a laser, and irritates me and my skin like hell.Damn Vector. All this time, he has been cocooned in dark with doors fucking shut and curtains tightly drawn, and now that I’m the one who desperately needs darkness and a lot more sleep, he has flung the windows wide open. Ugh. I’m going to kill him, I swear.A voice in my head warns me against going back to sleep, but my body seems to have different plans entirely. In seconds, I grab the duvet and pull them back up over my head, rolling on the bed like a cinnamon roll to escape the heated rays. However, I barely settle into a comfortable spot when something suddenly clicks.My eyes snap back open.Joey.“Shit shit shit!” The happenings of the previous night smack me in the face and
ENTRAPPED BY THE DEVIL 86. No Matter What
[LIZZY]“You’re leaving?” I blurt out, eyes wide as saucers, my heart sinking deep into my stomach.The dark night stretches overhead, filled with scattered stars that twinkle like precious diamonds. The wind blows stronger, making my hair flutter all over my face.Zarina walks toward me, gracefully brushing the dark brown strands out of her face, her peaceful eyes briefly trailing over a sleeping Joey, who’s still tightly clutched to my chest.I had just walked out of the plane, only to find Zarina stepping out of the car. Theo, one of the caretakers of the Island, carries her bags, and Chiara is holding the baby, flashing me a cheerful smile as they pass one by one, heading up the airstairs.My heart sinks even more with her confirmation. “Why?” I ask, my eyes starting to well up.“Because it’s time,” she says and gently runs her long fingers over Joey’s back. “Mir is taking over the business, and although he told me to stay here as long as I want, I know he hates being away from hi
