For the last two days, the mafia man has been weird but unlike this weird and hoped that this weird would last forever because he was taking great care of me and didn't leave me even when he was going to work. It was like he had to have his eyes in me the whole time.Since the incident with Janet, I had woken up everyday to him sitting by the bedside with his head on the bed beside me.He would wake up early and go back to his room, thinking I didn't know but I knew very well.What was he up to?The switch up was too fast that I could not help but think it was another tactic to fulfilling his promise.“Morning Miss Sarah.” The man who had introduced himself to me as Daniel, comes in with a meal that I had rejected earlier.‘How did they known I didn't eat?’ I ask myself and then realize who it was, and so I saying my eyes at them who were already looking at me, causing them to turn their faces forward and very fast.I couldn't help but smile.“Thank you Sir but I'm not hungry.” I sta
Lorenzo's P.O.VIt was the day of the event, and I could not pretend that I was happy about it. Most of these business men had relations with the mafia, and if I pick one, I may be gaining an enemy which was why I never associated with any of them.I needed a plus one and Sarah would be coming with me.Somehow, that made it a little better because despite the fact that I didn't want to make another enemy, I hated crowds and events.Too many people somehow made me overstimulated. I preferred peace and quiet.Walking down to my room, I see the jewelry box that contained, an earring, necklace and a rin, that I got for Sarah.It should go perfectly well with her purple dress, and her skin tone. At least, that's what the lady at the store told me after describing her looks and dress to her.Using the door that I created to connect our rooms together, I walk in and my mouth almostwster at the sight in front of me.I hated the way I was so easily moved when it came to her but it appeared lik
The part was one that felt scary. I had never been to a party but I could tek that this was not an ideal party.The women were pretending and the men also all had fake laughter's. It irked me.As soon as we stepped in, the noise went silent and everyone began to whisper. Talk about hating to be the center of attraction.“Don't leave this spot.” The mafia man offered as he helped me sit down in a chair at the bar, due to my huge dress.I nodded in response and turned away immediately.I was angry at him.Who kisses someone abruptly and then walks away without saying a word, only to come back and drop something like nothing happened and the kiss was just a figment of your imagination.Everytime inremember that kisss, my lips tingle because that was exactly hownmy heart tungked with that kiss. He may be annoying and sometimes, wicked but his kiss out a fire in me that I didn't want.Now, everytime I look at him, my eyes are magnetically drawn to his lips and it scared me that I actually
Lorenzo's P.O.VI was filled with rage and the moment I saw Daniel, I landed a punch on his jaw in anger. I specifically told him to watch Sarah's every move and everyone around Sarah, but he neglected his duty.I was about to throw another punch when i saw the person I wanted to hurt the most, right now.Juliet.As soon as my tongue came in contact with Sarah's blood I knew immediately who he was that poisoned her.It was the poison that I had taught her how to use, and in the exact same dosage that I had structured how to use when I wanted to poison someone little by little.The thoughts that I was the one that taught us something that almost killed the one person that I care about pained me very deeply.I brought Janet in when she was about 11 years old. The both of us were on the streets, both of us lost our parents, both of us were miserable at the time, and so when I got help from my auntie I had no choice but to help her to because we were of the same kind at the time, and si
“Why hasn't she taken her drugs yet?” The mafia man asked from outside, and from his voice, I could tell that he was pissed, but a little smile appeared on my lips as the thought crossed my mind.He had been different.Theseoasr few days were one that had shocked me with every single second that passed. This notorious man had changed so much that I couldn't keep thinking it was a trick.Does he actually care for me? Or does he pity me? These had been the two questions that have plagued my mind but then, I also knew that I was not ready for the answers because I didn't know whether or not, I actually wanted him.Yes, I want the kiss again if I'm being honest but I think it's just out of curiosity, and the thrill of a handsome dangerous man kissing me.The thought had me imagining it.One of his ha ds in my waist and the other cupping my jaw, and his lips on mine. Tasking, feeling and exploring every single part of my mouth.Just thinking about it, had goosebumps appearing in my skin.
“You still haven't located where he is?” He asks Daniel as soon as he walked into the room.My room has now become their place of meetings as it has not been mine since I took that poison.It's already almost two weeks and I'm actually sick of these men in my room all the time but didn't dare say it out loud.“Not yet Enzo. The man is such a slimy thing. He planned it so well and made us think he was in several different countries. Almost all of which we have our men searching but we need to focus on one if we are going to get any leads.” He stated with a sigh of frustration.The quick look at me while sharing a weird stare with the mafia man, made me think for a second that the man in question was my father.I didn't care, why were they looking at me.“Have you had your lunch?” The mafia man asks as he and the doctor Theo went through some drugs that were apparently the last ones I would take before I make full recovery.I nodded a yes in response knowing very well that I had not tak
Lorenzo's P.O.V“He found us instead.” Daniel stated as he walked into my office in the midst of the commotion.I could understand why my staff were in panic.It had been a while since we were attacked so blatantly. “And he'll be sorry. I'll make sure of it.” I stated, as my blood rushed with adrenaline and excitement.It's been a while since I showed exactly why I was called the crazy mafia in the mafia world.“Send team 2 to the east wing and team 3 to the main gate. Team 1 comes with me.” I ordered as I put in all my weapons in my trousers.I never wore trousers that didn't have enough compartments for at least 10 weapons. There was a reason why I never went to the boutique and only allowed Aisha tailor my clothes.“She's too good.” Daniel commented as if reading my thoughts and I just scoff.There's nothing she did that wasn't exceptional to him just because it was Aisha.“Move!” I playfully yelled at his dreamy face, knowing very well that he was already thinking about her.The
The helplessness I felt as the man dragged me out was one that could not be measured because I fought hard.I fought but he didn't budge and just dragged me out even harder with every time that I struggle with him.This just made me resolve in my heart that if I survived today, I'm definitely going to train to be stronger because I've had enough of nit being able to protect myself from anything.As soon as he dragged me out, hoisted me up like a bag of chips on his shoulders and carried me steadily, no matter how much I loved and kicked.I definitely needed to add more weight because these men can't all be so strong.“P-plesse out me down!” I scream at him alongside other profanities but he just chuckled.Chuckled.Is this another psycho?“Now darling, you're just making me love you.” He stated with a smile in his voice and I immediately deflated.Love me?He needed to see me as the most disgusting person ever so that he would not try what that man wanted to.The thought of the possi
Lorenzo’s POVI didn’t sleep that night.Not because I couldn’t. Because I wouldn’t.Sarah lay curled against me, finally still after hours of trembling. Her face was peaceful now, but I knew that peace was borrowed. Fragile. Her breathing was even, but I felt the storm she was holding back. It pulsed under her skin, and in the small sounds she made whenever the wind knocked against the windows. Every time, I reached for her. Every time, she clung a little tighter.I kept my eyes on the ceiling, memorizing every creak in the cabin’s frame. Every groan in the wood. I tracked the trees outside by the way their shadows shifted across the floor. I listened for anything. Everything.Because I knew he was still out there.Donga.That bastard had come back, not just as a threat, but as a ghost Sarah was finally starting to lay to rest. And now, she was bleeding again.Not on the outside.But in all the places I couldn’t reach with my hands.By dawn, I had a plan. It wasn’t perfect. Plans rar
Sarah’s POVIt happened on a Tuesday.The kind of day that felt ordinary in all the right ways, socks warm from the dryer, fresh coffee in my favorite mug, and Lorenzo’s jacket draped over the kitchen chair because he never remembered to hang it up. The wind carried the smell of pine, and I had just sent my first message to a support group I found online. I was building something again. Piece by piece.I thought I was safe.I thought peace had roots now, buried deep enough that nothing could dig them up.I was wrong.I’d gone out to the clearing again, the same one I had walked to days before when I finally felt free in my body again. I’d brought my journal and a blanket, planning to spend an hour under the clouds scribbling thoughts and hopes and maybe even a letter to my younger self.The wind was softer today. The sky open and merciful.I didn’t hear him at first.Didn’t sense it.Didn’t feel the old, heavy darkness until it was already too close.The snap of a branch.I turned.An
Sarah’s POVIt started with a single step.One step off the porch, then two. Three steps into the wind, jacket zipped, boots laced, and heart thumping like it hadn’t done something this brave in a while. I told Lorenzo I needed to walk alone today. He didn’t argue. He just gave me a thermos of tea, kissed my forehead, and said he’d be here when I got back.It’s funny, idea of freedom used to terrify me as much as I craved it. Not the philosophical kind, the kind people post quotes about. I mean real freedom. The kind that requires choice. Movement. The kind that means you step beyond your safe place and trust the world not to hurt you again.But this morning, the sunlight through the trees was too beautiful to ignore. The wind too inviting. The quiet too rich to fill with fear.I had to go.Even if it was just a mile into the woods.Even if it was just for me.The trail behind our cabin was one I hadn’t walked alone since the kidnapping. Daniel had cleared it once, back when he was
Sarah’s POVFor the first time in a long while, I felt like I could breathe.Not the shallow, anxious breaths I’d taken after the kidnapping. Not the trembling ones I’d hidden from Lorenzo at night. This breath was full, deep, real, grounding. The kind of breath that didn’t come with dread tangled in the back of my throat.I stood on the ridge just behind the cabin, wrapped in a blanket, watching the sunrise bleed gold across the trees. The air was crisp and still. Somewhere in the distance, water trickled through thawing ground. It felt like a beginning. Not just of spring, but of something inside me, something that had been buried under fear and pain.Healing isn’t clean. It’s jagged. Uneven. Some mornings I still woke in a cold sweat, certain I could hear the rasp of rope against wood or the sound of boots on barn floors. But those memories didn’t control me the way they used to. They no longer felt like cages. Just echoes. Old ghosts that I had stopped running from.Now, I faced t
Sarah’s POVI didn’t sleep much.Even though I was safe. Even though Lorenzo barely left my side, even to breathe. My body knew I was free, but my mind hadn’t caught up. The dark didn’t feel like peace anymore, it felt like the barn, like rope on my wrists, like metal against my skull.I’d wake in cold sweats, breathing hard, fingers curled into fists that refused to unclench.Sometimes I screamed.Sometimes I was silent.I hated that I had spiraled again. The last time this happened, I was still back home with nanny. Why was I being so weak again?However, Lorenzo was always there. Holding me. Steady as stone. He didn’t flinch when I sobbed against his chest or when I punched the mattress in frustration because I couldn’t stop shaking at the sound of a creaking floorboard. He didn’t speak unless I asked him to. He just stayed.And somehow, that helped.Still, there were moments I hated myself for what I felt.I hated how small I was now. How fragile. Like I was made of broken glass
Lorenzo’s POVShe was in my arms, but it still didn’t feel real.Ny wife, barely able to stand, but alive.I held her like the world would tear her away again if I let go. Her breath hitched against my chest, every inhale a sob, her fists gripping my jacket like she didn’t believe I was real.Truth be told, I wasn’t sure either.The barn reeked of rot and rust. One of the men was still groaning in the corner, gut-shot, barely breathing. I didn’t care. Not yet. My whole body was coiled tight, every muscle ready to snap. But I forced myself to focus on her first.“You’re safe,” I whispered, one hand cupping the back of her head, fingers brushing over a swollen welt behind her ear. Rage flared again. “I’ve got you.”I lifted her gently, cradling her against my chest. She was lighter than she should’ve been. Hadn’t eaten. They’d kept her tied up like an animal. I could feel it in the way she flinched, not from me, but from the memory of what they did.I carried her outside into the pal
I should have known something was wrong the moment the wind changed.It came suddenly, sharp and acrid, like sweat and smoke and blood. It wasn’t the cool, clean breeze I’d grown used to on the ridge behind the safehouse. I paused halfway through my usual walk, turning to glance back at the small cabin nestled between the trees. Everything looked the same. Quiet. Still.But my skin prickled.“Daniel!” I screamed, stumbling backward, as I saw him fall like a pack of card on the floor, already looking lifelessThree of them. Maybe four. Faces wrapped in cloth, eyes cold and distant, like they weren’t even human anymore. Just shadows with weapons.I could see from a distance that there were other men in total black, like the guards of the mansion but they seemed to actually attack the maids. It was definitely not our guards. Daniel tried to stand. He made it to one knee before the second man kicked him full in the ribs, a crack echoing through the clearing. I couldn’t move. My feet we
“You left her alone, didn’t you?” He said with a wicket glint in his eyes. I blinked. “What did you say?” He chuckled. “Sarah. How is she? Still making that jasmine tea at sunset?” He questioned. The look in his eyes told me that he was sure of what she was saying because she truly recently had been obsessed with Jasmine tea. The room dropped ten degrees. No. No, he couldn’t have I grabbed him by the collar, yanked his face up until we were eye to eye. “You stay the hell away from her.” “Oh, Lorenzo,” he said, voice a murmur. “I’ve already been.” I froze. No, he was bluffing. Had to be. Sarah was safe. I’d left her with Daniel, the only man I trusted enough to guard what mattered most. My wife. My reason. My center. But Donga… Donga was looking at me like the devil already had her by the throat. I shoved him back down and turned, pulling out my phone as I stormed out of the room. My fingers moved too fast, too clumsy, as I called Daniel. Ring. Ring. Voicemail. I tried
The moment Lorenzo walked out the door, the air in the room changed. It was as if the light had dimmed on purpose, as if the walls knew and mourned with me. I sat frozen on the edge of the bed, the last words he spoke still echoing through the hollow of my chest: “I’ll come back, Sarah. I promise.”But promises meant nothing when you were going up against Donga.I hugged my arms around myself, rocking slightly, eyes locked on the empty space where Lorenzo had stood only moments ago. The silence left in his wake was unbearable. I listened , not for footsteps, because I knew he was long gone, but for anything, anything at all that could tell me this was just a nightmare and not the cruel reality we had both been dragged into.My father, Donga. I hate saying his name, even in my own mind. It tastes bitter, like ash and rust. To the world, he was a ghost cloaked in violence, an outlaw whose name stirred fear even in hardened men. To me, he was a prison guard in a home that never knew peac