Page 16 of Twisted Vows

I can’t reconcile him with the monster who grabbed me in the streets, but maybe he’ll keep his word and let me go if I never see his face.

After feeding me another cup of instant ramen—without incident this time—he attaches my wrists to the headboard with less slack than last time and moves through the room. Fear bands around my chest as I realize he’s preparing to leave.

My mind races for a way out. I can’t lie here all day. I’ll go insane.

My heart sinks. No one is looking for me yet. Katherine left with her college buddies for an extended weekend trip, and I’m off work for four days.

“I still haven’t seen your face. You can let me go.”

With a sense of finality, he zips a bag closed and stalks toward the door.

“Wait! If I don’t show up for my shift, my work will—”

“I checked your schedule. You don’t clock in until noon on Tuesday.”

I tighten my hands into fists and swallow my angry response. I want to ask him how he knows, but I’m too scared of the answer.

“You can’t leave me here like this,” I demand.

“I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“No!Porca puttana, just let me go! I won’t tell anyone. Nothing happened. I got off work, went home, slept in my bed, and woke up alone in my apartment, just like normal,” I insist.

His menacing presence is the only warning he gives me as he crosses the room on silent feet. I jerk when he brushes my hair back from my face.

“You’re gorgeous when you’re furious,mia caramellina, but it’s not safe for you to leave yet.”

“It’s not safe for me to stay here tied up and alone! What if I need the toilet? Or there’s a fire? Or a break in? Or you get hurt and can’t come ba—”

He presses his bandaged hand against my mouth, cutting off my tirade.

“Ismia caramellinaworried about me?”

The dark mirth in his tone clenches my insides and fuels the fury in my chest. When he lifts his hand, I can’t hold back.

“Of course, you fuckingstronzo. You kidnapped me, dragged me to some unknown location, and now you want to abandon me without the ability to fend for myself, so of course I’m fuckingworried. You’re forcing me to rely on you for survival. I’d be stupid tonotbe worried.”

“Your temper is going to get you into big trouble one day, Mia Rivera.”

Terror straightens my spine. Even lying on my back with my arms above my head, I stiffen at his tone and his pointed use of my fake name. Doubt batters at my insides. Does he know my true identity?

“Anything I should know before I visit your apartment today?”

Ice infects my veins.

Did he just threaten my sister?

What if our meeting wasn’t a coincidence? The emergency room may not be in the nicest area, but the gang activity isn’t as bad as in some neighborhoods. What if he meant for me to stumble on him?

What if the mafia man I treated recognized me and told my father? Or worse, Seppi Capito? What if they sent this man to drag me back to San Francisco and he’s just playing with me before taking me back?

That makes no sense. None of my father’s or Seppi’s men would have hesitated to beat or rape me.

My sister. He’s looking for my sister, not me. I swallow the bile climbing up my throat.

“I have a roommate, but she’s visiting her family this weekend, so my apartment should be empty,” I say.

“You told me you lived alone.”

---