CHAPTER 3

When I opened my eyes, my head was throbbing and my body felt heavy, and I wondered why it was so. It took me a while to recall the shootout at the wedding and the green-eyed guy injecting me something after he carried me to his car. 

Even though my body was screaming in pain and would have appreciated some rest, I needed to get up.  My father could have died in that shootout, and Ben might be in danger since he was at Salvatore's house during the shootout. I needed to get up and figure out where I was and then look for my family. I wondered how much time had passed. Ben needed to take his medication. He had type 2 diabetes, and it was never good for him to skip medication. With me away from him, I was not sure if that happened.

I sat up straight before opening my eyes. A sharp pain stuck my head and I held my head in my palms, trying to contain the headache. When the ache toned down, I looked around and the room I was in was completely lifeless. Just the bed and nothing else 

I jumped out of the bed and I was only in my pants; the gown I was wearing lay discarded on the floor, and I wondered who had taken it off me. But that was the least of my worries at the moment.

I quickly grabbed the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around my body and walked to the window. I realized it was not a window at all, but rather a solid glass wall, completely sealed, with no way to open it. I was going to have to break it instead if this was to be my escape plan. 

I took a look outside. Nothing looked familiar. I had no idea where I had been taken. I leaned out a bit, trying to gauge the distance to the ground below, assessing whether it would be a safe journey for me to jump if I succeeded in breaking the window.

My heart sank as I realized I was high up in the sky and I could not even see the ground.

“Don't even think about that,” a voice from behind me startled me and I turned.

Green-eyed, mafia-not-looking man walked into the room. 

 “You will not be able to break those windows, and even if you can, you will be dead before you reach the ground,” he cautioned.

He had the most soft and smooth voice I have ever heard. He sounded nothing like danger would but he was still the one who had drugged me and dragged me to wherever we were.

“Where are we? Where the f*ck did you take me to?” I demanded, “And who the f*ck are you?”

“You don't know who I am?” He raised his eyebrow while shoving his hands in his grey jogger pants that I suddenly noticed that they were hanging lower than his waist.

“I just asked, now you answer me? Who the hell are you, and where the f*ck are we?”

“Well, since we are going to be family, maybe I should introduce myself properly,” he said, his voice low and I could not help but notice the mockery in it. 

He took a few steps forward, moving close to me before he uttered, “Alessandro Conti, son to Salvatore Conti.”

Green eyes was Salvatore’s son? Salvatore had mentioned his son at a point, but I had imagined a block of ice and darkness, a younger version of Salvatore. He was nothing like that. So different from his father, from his appearance to his aura. I had a hard time believing the two were related.

“You are Salvatore’s son?” I had to ask and he nodded.

“I suppose I should call you stepmom, Amelia Banks,” he said, his voice still laced with mockery

“Don't you dare f*ck*ng call me that!” I shouted, my anger flaring, and he raised that perfect eyebrow again.

“But you are. You are married to my father,” 

“Just don't call me that,” I said, “And you haven't answered all of my questions. Where the f*ck are we?”

“Oh, you got to ask questions? I thought my father's whores are paid to do what they are told to do and not ask questions.” 

“Did you just call me wh*r*?” I asked, disbelief washing over me at his audacity to call me names when he was the son of Salvatore. His blood was tainted just from that.

“I am not anybody's wh*r*,”

“Didn't my father pay for you?” he said calmly, his eyes boring into mine with no shame or remorse if he had not just insulted me. 

“Your father...” I busted but caught myself before I said anything else. 

Salvatore had made it clear nobody was to know the terms of our agreement and I was not sure if that also included his son.

“What?”

“Nothing,” 

“You were about to say something about my father,” 

“Not anymore. It is none of your business.” 

He slowly nodded, “Well, I don't plan to make it my business so thank you for not saying whatever it is that you were about to say. I had come to check if you were alive or dead. Now that I have seen you are alive, I will take my leave,” he said and turned to live.

“Wait,” I said and he turned to look at me. 

“What happened back then? Is my father okay? How about my brother?” I asked and he shook his head.

“I don't know,” he simply answered.

“How the f*ck don't you know?!”

“The same way you don't know. We left together and we are here together.” 

“But you should know something! Haven't talked to your father? Anyone?” I shouted with frustration. 

“I got no news for you, sweetheart,” he shook his head and left. 

“Alessandro!” I called his name out and took a step in an attempt to go after him but I stumbled on the sheet and fell down as the door banged closed. 

I knew there was no way of getting myself out here. This was probably one of those mafia safe houses I had read about. So for now, I needed to know if my father and my brother were okay. And maybe get something comfortable to wear. Just then my stomach growled, reminding me I had not eaten anything. My stomach had been in knots and I could not eat anything.

I got up from the floor and looked for something to wear in the built-in cupboards and came out with nothing. So I just went in search of Alessandro with the sheet still wrapped around me. 

The place was not big, so it was easy to find him tucked behind a desk in the study room with a computer in front of him. 

“How can I help you?” he asked without looking up, still staring at his computer. 

“Some clothes to wear would be a good start,” I answered, “And some food in my stomach.”

He looked up at me. His eyes traveled up and down my body as if he were sizing me up. Or maybe, he was ogling me.

I felt my body getting warmer and I wrapped my hands around my body, securing the sheet that covered me. 

Alessandro chuckled and stood up from his chair.

“I will get you something,” he said leaving the room and I followed him. He got into what I assumed to be his room and I stood outside. 

A few minutes later, he came out holding a pair of joggers and a T-shirt.

“Thank you,” I said as he handed them to me and he only acknowledged me with a nod before walking away.

“What about food?” I asked and he stopped on his tracks and placed his hands on his waist, sighing. 

“Listen, I am not your babysitter here, okay? Find something in the kitchen, and leave me to do my work in peace,” he scolded and I frowned. 

I had not bothered him. I had only asked for two simple things and he was there, acting I am the world's most nagging person.

“Before you go back to what you were doing, can I ask you something? I will not bother you after this,”

“What?”

“Is there a way you can find out if my father and my brother are okay?” 

“No, there is not,” he answered.

“You can't call your father and ask?” 

“I do not call my father.

“You don't call your father or won't call your father?"

"I don't call my father, period,"

“Oh,” I simply said and asked nothing else. Though I really wanted to know why he didn't call his father, I didn't want to pry.

“Yes, oh. I am sorry to tell you this, but if you miss your husband, you will have to wait for him to come here,” he said and walked away.

I sighed and turned in the direction where I had seen the kitchen earlier on. I was not going to get anything from him so I decided to leave him alone and wait for his father to come and I hoped he was not going to take long.