Page 22 of Beautiful Enemy

I’m shivering uncontrollably when the basement door opens and footsteps come down the stairs.

I don’t bother to react. What will happen will happen. I’ll either be hurt or left alone. There’s really no other option.

What surprises me though is that it’s not Dante who comes down. It’s Matteo, the driver who took me here.

He’s carrying a paper plate with a sandwich on it and a water bottle. “Here. You need to eat.”

I look up at him, still not moving. “I’m not really hungry.” My fear won’t stop constricting my stomach.

“You need to eat. Dante doesn’t want you dead. You could try to starve yourself but that will take weeks. Here.” He hands me the water. “At least drink. If you don’t, you’ll die within four days.”

It’s at this moment I realize just how thirsty I am.

Without hesitating, I take the bottle from him and chug back the water. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.

“Careful. You don’t want to upset your stomach.”

“I didn’t think anyone would care if I upset my stomach.” I can’t quite meet Matteo in the eye.

“I just don’t want you getting sick. I’m the one who will probably have to clean it up because no one else will.”

“You work for Dante.” There’s something about Matteo that feels easy to talk to. Not as scary as the brothers and definitely not as intimidating as Dante. There’s a kindness in his face that I see whenever I get the courage to sneak a peek at him.

“I do. I’m his second in command.”

“So… then why would you do grunt work?”

“Because Dante doesn’t want too many people involved in this operation. He’s not going to clean up any vomit and I know Aiden and Finn won’t, so that leaves it to me. I don’t want this place to smell. That’s just unpleasant for everyone.”

That makes more sense. He would clean up my vomit for selfish reasons. Not to be nice to me.

None of these men are going to be nice to me. The sooner I can fully accept that, the better. I can’t be naïve in this situation. If I’m going to make it out, I need to be smart.

Information is key.

Matteo nods towards the bucket. “Have you gone?”

I shake my head, my face flushing.

“Well, after chugging back that water, you probably will soon. When you do, just knock on the door and I’ll come down and get rid of it. Like I said, I don’t want this place to smell.”

“Ok.” I hug my arms tighter around my body.

Matteo sighs and sets the plate next to me on the mattress. “You should eat that soon. If you leave it out, it might attract ants and that’s just going to make everything worse for you.”

“But you don’t care if it actually is worse for me. If ants show up, then that means you have to deal with them.”

“Pretty much. Eat. Don’t starve yourself to prove a point. If you try, I’m sure Dante will just force food down your throat anyway.”

The thought of that is horrifying. I grab the sandwich and force myself to take a small bite. It’s a simple ham and cheese. Nothing special. Honestly, it’s kind of gross.

But I soon find myself scarfing it down. My fear was masking how hungry I actually was.

“Trust me. It was better you ate.” Matteo turns towards the stairs. The thought of being down here by myself a moment longer is killing me.

“Wait.”

He looks back at me with a raised eyebrow. “Yes?”

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