Page 64 of Forced Arrangement

“Sit tight,” Guiseppe says with a slightly unhinged laugh, and then he leaves, presumably to meet Angelo.

I close my eyes as my vision swims. I’m barely hanging on by a thread at this point. I think my wounds are becoming infecteddue to lack of attention and I’m increasingly scared for my child. I don’t honestly believe that any of us are going to get out of this alive. I’m losing hope and I’m so numb that I almost don’t care.

I start to give in to the desire to just sleep, just go to sleep, and never wake up. But then, I hear a noise. Fearing rats or perhaps the presence of one of Guiseppe’s men, I open my good eye a crack, looking toward the door.

It’s jiggling as someone pulls the deadbolt, and I suck in a deep breath, my heart racing. Guiseppe would not have come back so soon. Something else is going on.

As I feign unconsciousness, the door opens slowly. My heart feels like it’s in my throat, suffocating me. The door swings open a little and I nearly cry with relief when I see Franco poke his head inside.

“Shh,” he says quietly to me, moving quickly toward me and starting to untie me. “We have all the men under control, but we need to wait for him to bring Angelo here so we can spring the trap.”

“Trap?” I say hazily. He’s making concerned noises as he looks at all of my wounds. He hands me a bottle of water. I have no idea where he got it from, but I grab it and greedily drink from it.

“Slowly, slowly,” he cautions me. “Or you’ll be sick.”

“I’ve been gagging and retching for days,” I say in between sips of water.

“Is the baby…?” he asks me, his voice trailing off.

I press a hand to my waist. “Fine, I think. But not because of Guiseppe’s thoughtfulness. “He’s a madman, Franco.”

He nods. “I know. He’s Angelo’s brother.”

I nod. “He told me. It’s terrible. What a mess.”

“A mess that will be taken care of soon,” Franco promises. He pulls out some pain medication and passes it to me. “Over the counter. Safe for the baby. I checked.”

I take it and swallow it around the lump in my throat. Being hydrated is working wonders for my overall physical well-being and now my fear is back full force.

“I’m able to walk,” I say, rising from the chair. “Let’s go get ready to attack Guiseppe.”

Franco shakes his head. “There’s no better place to trap him than here. Just sit tight. We’ll take him out when he brings Angelo down to you. You can just act like you’re tied up when he first walks in so that he doesn’t realize we’ve come around behind him.”

“But…” I start to argue. Franco glances at his phone and curses in Italian.

“They’re on the move,” he says. “Get back in the chair and just pretend to be tied up. We will take him out as soon as he steps into the room, don’t worry.”

I open my mouth to protest, but Franco is gone, locking the door behind him. I will have some words with that man when I’m out of here. This cannot possibly be the best way to handle this, but what choice do I have now?

I sit still, the thunder of my heart filling my ears and drowning out all other noise around me. Finally, after what feels like forever, I think that I hear voices.

I strain my ears and I’m finally able to recognize Angelo’s deep voice speaking in reply to something that Guiseppe has said. My heart soars. He sounds like he’s all right. Maybe this will work after all.

“I just need you both to sign the documents handing the business holdings over to me,” Guiseppe is saying.

“Seems only fair,” Angelo says readily, his tone smooth, unbothered. “After all, you were supposed to be the don of our family. I’m sorry about what our father did to you.”

I think that I hear real sincerity in Angelo’s voice. He probably is experiencing the same mismatched emotions aboutGuiseppe’s story. The man is deranged but he was treated very poorly by both of our fathers.

“It’s nice to finally be able to speak about who I am in the open,” Guiseppe says. His voice sounds very close now and the door rattles in the frame.

I slump down in the chair, acting like I am barely conscious. The element of surprise is all we have going for us here and I believe Franco, that there is a plan in place. I can’t make a mess of the plan by seeming too alert.

I peer out from under my lashes as the door slowly swings open. Guiseppe gestures for Angelo to step in first. I see him hesitate. This was clearly not part of the plan. They look at one another for a few beats and a slow smile spreads across Guiseppe’s countenance. I know that smile. It’s the smile that he wears right before he inflicts pain.

I jolt upright in the chair, ready to spring into action, and Guiseppe’s gaze jerks to mine, his eyes going wide. He can tell that something is wrong.

“Angelo!” I cry, but it’s too late.

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