Page 52 of Vow to Me

Holy shit. Alessi is alive.

And he fucking drugged me.

I’ll fucking kill him.

My eyes fly open, and I drag my body into a sitting position. I’m on the floor of what looks like a basement, my left wrist is cuffed and chained to the wall, and I do a quick check of my body. I’m still wearing all my clothes, and I’m not injured anywhere other than my pride, but any weapons I had on me have been removed.

Of course, they have. He’s the one who taught you everything you know.

I pull on the cuff around my wrist but it’s too tight for me to wiggle out of. I grab the chain and try prying it from the wall but it’s too secure. There's no way I’m getting free from it.

Why the fuck would the man I considered my best friend, the man who was like a brother to me, my family, fake his death and then over a year later kidnap and me and lock me in a fucking basement? What does he have to gain?

THREE DAYS AGO.

I have no fucking clue how long I’ve been here. There are no windows for me to be able to see the time of day. I haven’t slept, not wanting to leave myself in a vulnerable position.

I’ve had no food, no water, no fucking bathroom to use since I’ve been here. It could be hours, it could be days, it could be a week. I don’t fucking know. What I do know is that Luca will be searching for me, surely, he’s close to figuring out where I am? He wouldn’t stop until I was back with him.

I keep that thought on repeat, because if I don’t? I’ll lose my fucking mind.

The deadbolt on the door on the opposite side of the room clanks and I shift my gaze towards it as Alessi steps inside the room, I glare at him but stay silent. If he wants me to beg him to releaseme, he’ll be waiting for a fucking lifetime. The only man I’ll ever beg is my husband.

He looks the same as he did before he‘died’except for the fact the has more scruff surrounding his jaw. He’s tall, standing at 6’4, with a wide build and broad shoulders. If I was at my full strength and wasn’t chained to a fucking wall, I might have been able to get the jump on him. But I’m weak, I have no chance in hell of getting free without a weapon.

“I missed you,piccolina.”

The nickname he’s called me since I was a teen makes my fucking gut churn. How dare he call me the pet name I always used to associate with safety? How dare he speak to me so casually, as though were catching up over coffee? How fuckingdarehe?

“What the fuck am I doing here Alessi?”

“You’re going to tell me everything you know about the Romano family and their empire, their business dealings, their alliances, everything.”

“Like fuck I am,” I growl as I glare defiantly at him.

He chuckles and raises his brow. “You’ve been here for two days little one, and your husband thinks you’ve run off with your lover—that’s the way me and your father made it seem when we sent him a thumb drive with some pretty damning evidence,” he grins.

Your father.

My father helped him fucking kidnap me. Of course, he did. Dear old Daddy strikes again. I want to ask what fucking evidence,but I know that’s what he’s waiting for, he wants me to question him.

Once he realizes I’m not going to voice the questions swimming around inside my head, he sighs before taking a seat on the bench in front of me.

“There’s you dancing with Muñoz at the club and you sitting on his lap. We even set up a little run in you had with a woman. Remember the woman who asked for your opinion on which hard drive she needed? We paid her and took a picture as you handed her the hard drive best suited for her, then we took a picture of her flirting with Muñoz and set it up like she was passing him something… see where this is going?” He gives me a manic grin and I shake my head. Theres no fucking way Luca would believe this shit, right?Right?

“But the best part was your reaction when you saw me on the street. The way you greeted me? How you ran and wrapped your arms around me? That’s fucking Hallmark shit,piccolina.”

Fuck. I know exactly how it appears, and now I know that Luca will be looking for me for the wrong fucking reasons. He’ll want me fucking dead.

“So, save yourself some trouble and tell me everything you know. Your husband won’t be coming to save you, the only one fighting for you isyou.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I say with a smirk. Luca may think I’m capable of betraying him, but I fucking won’t. He may have believed the worst of me, and that cuts fucking deep. But I’m not going todo shit for the asshole in front at me, he can try however he likes, but I’m no fucking traitor.

TWO DAYS AGO.

Alessi left me some water and a piece of bread yesterday after realizing he couldn’t get me to talk, so at least I’ve had something to keep me going.

The dead bolt moves again, only this time instead of being greeted by the face of my dead best friend, I’m greeted by the view of my father.

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