Page 3 of And Back

Benedetto kicks me back to the ground as he growls again, low and dangerous. In one fluid movement, Benedetto pulls out a gun and points it directly at mother. The sight of the gun stops her in her tracks, her face going even paler. The phone she had used to call 911 clatters to the floor.

My blood runs cold. Every muscle in my body tenses as I look at my mother, her eyes wide with terror, and the sheer helplessness of the situation hits me like a sledgehammer. I can't lose her. Not like this.

"Please," I beg in a small and broken voice. "Please don't hurt her."

Benedetto's eyes flicker with a twisted amusement as he shifts his gaze to me. "Begging now, are we? How far the mighty have fallen."

I swallow hard, and my throat feels as dry as sandpaper. My mind races for any solution, any way to protect my mother from this monster standing before us. But there's nothing. I'm utterly powerless.

"You're a coward," Benedetto spits, his grip on the gun tightens as he moves it closer to my mother’s head.

"No!" The word rips from my throat, raw and desperate. I scramble to my feet on shaky legs but I am determined. "Take me instead! Do whatever you want with me, just leave her alone!"

“But that’s not a fair trade, son,” Benedetto's lips curl into a cruel smile. "You see, I can do without a wife. But an heir... an heir I need." He steps back slightly, but his gun is still trained on mother although his eyes are boring into mine.

Mother's sobs become quieter but it is no less heart-wrenching as she whispers my name, pleading for me to stay down, to not provoke him further. The fear in her voice tears at me from the inside out.

Benedetto seems to relish the control he has over us both—the fear he's instilled in every fiber of our beings.

None of us speak again even as the wail of sirens erupt, the ambulance mother managed to call races toward us. Benedetto and I remain locked in a deadly standoff, our eyes never leaving each other.

Every muscle in my body screams at me to move, to do something, but I'm rooted to the spot by sheer terror and rage. The sirens grow louder, and the sound soon mingles with the rapid thudding of my heart. The longest minute of my life stretches out, and for a moment I believe that an eternity has gone by.

Then, the front door bursts open, and paramedics rush in. The room erupts into chaos as they see Dante on the floor and immediately move to stabilize him. They move in a blur as they check his vitals, apply pressure to his wound, and prepare him for transport.

Benedetto lowers the gun, but his eyes never leave mine. The look he gives me is one of pure, cold rage. "You will pay for this," he hisses. "You will regret ever defying me, you fucker."

CHAPTER THREE

ZOE

“Are you Dante or Virgilio?"

Cesare steps closer to me, his expression intense. "Zoe, listen to me carefully. No matter what I say or do in front of my father, just trust me. Okay?"

“What are you going to do?”

He doesn't answer me and just reaches into his pocket and presses something small and cold into my hand. "Take this. He wanted you to have it," he whispers urgently.

Before I can respond, the door bursts open with a violent crash. Benedetto strides in with a malevolent glare, his eyes flashing with anger as he sees Cesare standing there. My breath catches, the tension is suffocating.

"Dante," Benedetto spits out with disdain and bitterness. "I should have known you'd come crawling back."

Ettore is Virgilio.

Dante stands his ground, his shoulders squared as he locks eyes with Benedetto. "It's been ten years, Benedetto. Did you think I'd stay hidden forever?"

Benedetto's eyes narrow into slits. "You should have stayed gone," he snarls. "You're a fool to come back here."

Dante takes a deep breath and steps closer to Benedetto, his voice steady despite the underlying tension that vibrates through every word. "I'm here to offer myself in exchange for Zoe's freedom."

Everything seems to make sense.

Benedetto's eyes gleam with a mix of triumph and calculation. "You'd sacrifice yourself for her? How touching. But there are conditions if you want me to let her go. You will begin training to take your rightful place as my successor. And to prove your loyalty, you will kill Virgilio."

My heart sinks at the terms. I look at Dante, my eyes pleading, begging for some miracle.

Dante's face hardens, his eyes never leaving Benedetto's. "I accept," he says, his voice cold and resolute.

---