Page 83 of Dark Mafia Vows

His eyes meet mine for a brief second before he looks away. His face is expressionless. Cold. As if he doesn’t even know me. His mother whispers something in his ear, and he nods, stepping forward.

“He took it, Papa,” Lorenzo says, his voice calm and detached. “I told him about it yesterday, and it went missing today. Dario stole the watch.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. The room spins, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. My heart feels like it’s being torn apart, ripped from my chest.

Lorenzo’s father smirks, satisfaction dancing in his eyes. He turns back to my father, his fist rising?—

I jolt awake, my breath ragged, my body drenched in sweat. My heart races, and I remind myself it’s just a dream.

I’m not twelve. I’m not in that room.

I’m in Ginny’s bed. And she’s gone.

My phone buzzes on the nightstand, the sound slicing through the silence like a knife. I grab it with shaky hands, my heart plummeting as I read the chilling message on my screen.

You’ve stirred the wrath of too many vipers, Dario. If you want to see your girl again, come to the Manor’s junkyard behind the old cemetery. Alone. Or she dies.

35

GINEVRA

The floor beneath me is cold, and I can feel the rough concrete through my clothes as I sit huddled against the wall. The room is small, with nothing but bare, peeling walls and a dim bulb overhead. Musky air clings to my skin, smelling like dampness and rotten wood.

It’s very quiet here, except for the sound of my shallow breathing and water dripping in the distance somewhere.

It’s been three days...or maybe four. Heck! I’ve been holed up in here for a long time, and the only source of outside lighting is the small, broken window high against one wall in the room. I can’t exactly count the days accurately.

My stomach growls in the silence, and a tired sigh leaves my lips as I slide my hand against it. I’m starving. It feels like hours since my last meal was brought.

As if on cue, the door creaks open, snapping me from my thoughts. I tense, my heart pounding. It’s the same man as before, his smirk already plastered across his face. He swaggers in with a metal tray, his grin wide and smug as he kicks the tray toward me with his boot. The metal screeches against the concrete, the sound grating on my ears.

“You know the drill, Doll,” he drawls lazily. “Eat up. Can’t have you dying too soon, can we?”

The contents of the tray are the usual watery soup that barely passes for broth, and a slice of dry, hard bread. My stomach growls in hunger, and even though the sight of the food makes me nauseated, I know I have to eat it. I’ve been forcing it down since I got here, just enough to keep up my strength, just enough for the baby. I wonder if they know about my pregnancy. If they found out...I think it would be worse for me.

My unwelcome company stands there, watching me with those eyes full of malice and something else, something disgusting. He waits for me to break, to cry, to scream. But I’ve learned not to give him anything. Not anymore.

On my first day here, I insulted him when he touched me. He slapped me so hard that my ears rang for hours. Since then, I’ve been meek and quiet. I’ll do whatever it takes to leave this place alive and safe.

If I ever leave this place.

I pick up the bread, and crumbles fall into the tray as I bring it to my mouth, chewing slowly. My jaw aches as I struggle to digest the bread, so I bring up the bowl to sip some of the tasteless soup.

He chuckles, and the sound makes my skin crawl. “That’s right, sweetheart. You keep eating like a good little girl.”

Disgust rolls through my body as I glare at him, resisting the urge to throw the tray in his face. Instead, I drop my head back down and stare at the soup, the pale, lifeless vegetables floating on the dark green liquid.

“You think he’s coming for you, don’t you?” he asks, leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. “Dario. Your knight in shining armor.”

I stay silent. The first day I was here, after I woke up from my drugged slumber, I screamed at him, demanding to know whyI was here. I threatened him, claiming that Dario was going to come save me. That had only made him laugh harder.

Now, I don’t give him the satisfaction.

He sighs, clearly bored with my lack of response. “We’ll see how long that hope lasts.”

He kicks the door shut as he leaves, the loud bang ringing in my ears long after he’s gone.

I sit in the quiet, cradling my belly. It’s only been days. But it feels like an eternity. I close my eyes and picture Dario panicking, frantically searching for me. I wonder what he thinks and how he feels.

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