Chapter Two

The next time I opened my eyes, I realized I couldn't see. A sharp pain throbbing in my head stopped me from making the panicked movements I was making.

I tried pulling my hand to my head only to realize that my hands were cuffed behind me, and my mouth was gagged.

An unfamiliar stench hung in the air, and I couldn't stop myself from scrunching up my nose. 

“Ten million!” a voice called out, the sound filling the room in seconds. I jerked up as my senses came alive, I realized I wasn't alone.

My heart surged with fear. I said a silent prayer to whoever was listening, hoping that I was not naked. 

I doubted, though. I couldn't feel the breeze on my mid region and thighs the way I could feel them on my arms and lower legs. 

Another voice broke me out of my train of thoughts. “Seventeen million!” The thought hit me like a bag of bricks. They were bidding over something. 

Fear crawled up my spine. We're they bidding over people?

“Forty million!” a small voice called out. It was feminine, and that discovery seemed to make me shrink even more. There were women here.

“Anyone willing to bid higher?” A voice came through the speakers by my right, making me wince at the pitch.

Murmurs of a crowd filled the room. “The bid goes to Angela Julio. Congratulations, Mrs Angela!”

“Next….” The speaker was cut off by a voice that sent the room into an immediate silence.

“I want the redhead!” I heard the cold voice say, quite loudly since every other voice had been silenced.

My body tensed up from where I was sitting. 

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I wished with everything in me that the colour of my hair would change. Brunette, black, blonde hell, I would take green at this point. 

“Sir, I'm sorry, but someone already laid a stake on that one,” the previous man said in a shaky voice. The fear in his voice was unmistakable.

“Two hundred million!” the voice said in a tone that would have grown men pissing their pants.

Even though I couldn't see, my head snapped up in the direction of the voice, and I felt a pair of cold eyes already on me. I shivered visibly, I'm sure. 

I wished more that I could bore holes through the blindfold that were tightly secured around my head so I could see what was happening. There was pindrop silence in the room for a moment that I would have thought I was alone. 

The speaker cleared his throat before speaking through the microphone again. “There's been a change in agreement. The redhead would now go to Mr Luca Alessandro as he has won the bid!” He declared.  

I was trying to process the information I had just heard when I heard the gruff voice of a man arguing and then a commotion that ensued after.

 I could barely hear the conversations among all that noise, but I did hear something that stood out. “It's the mafia lord!” 

I drew my legs closer to myself, scared of what could be happening behind that blindfold. 

A loud gunshot sounded, and a gasp escaped my throat in fright. The room fell silent. “Bring her to the car,” the voice belonging to Mr Luca said. 

If I had any doubts of being the subject of discussion, they flew out the window when my body was suddenly seized by two pairs of hands and I was dragged down from what I assumed was a high platform.

I tried to scream, beg, anything, but it only came out as muffled sounds behind the gag.

My efforts to struggle were futile as my hands were still in cuffs at my back, and my wriggling did nothing to release their grip on me.

I felt a hand on my head as my body was pushed into a car. I felt a cold presence beside me, and I knew I wasn't alone. 

There was a snap of fingers, and I heard the door beside me open again. There was a hand on my head, pulling off the blindfold and the gag before the door was slammed shut again.

 While my eyes adjusted to the light, I turned to the figure beside me, readying my throat for a scream.

“If you shout, you die,” the familiar voice said in a low tone as if he had heard my thoughts. My blood stilled. It was a threat, and somehow, from his tone, I knew he meant it. 

When my vision returned fully, I noticed he had on a pair of dark sunglasses, but I could tell he was staring right into my eyes. 

“What's your name?” He asked, turning his head away to signal to the man outside before he rolled his window shut. 

“Who are you, and what do you want from me?” I asked, fear lacing my shaky voice. “I swear, I have nothing to give you,” I continued, hoping to get a reaction out of him. 

“I ask the questions, you answer. Is that clear, chica bella?” he asked, his voice deadly. I couldn't trust myself to speak without bursting into tears, so I nodded my head. 

“Nazlyn Antonio,” I murmured just loud enough for him to hear. He didn't show any signs that he heard me, but I knew he did.

“Your house or the house, sir?” The driver who I had not noticed before asked, starting the car engine. 

“My house,” he replied, turning away from me. 

My hands were still secured with handcuffs at my back, and I couldn't bring myself to ask if it could be removed. 

I just sat there, frozen, unmoving. It was like my brain had hibernated, stuck at the point where it was trying to process what was happening. 

The car moved on a smooth and majorly straight road, taking only a few turns here and there before rolling into what looked like an estate. 

He picked up his phone, dialling a number, and began speaking a language that sounded like Italian. He balled his fist that was on his lap, I could tell that the conversation was making him angry. 

Just as he ended the call, the car halted to a stop.

“Welcome to your new home, chica bella,” he said, giving me a bone-chilling smile.

Scary man say what?