Page 48 of Thalia De Luca

He lets me walk past him out the door. Once I get to my car, I ignore the throbbing pain in my head and just start driving.

Twenty Four

It's been almost a week and I still haven't eaten. My stomach hurts so much from how empty it feels.

I feel drained and weak. I feel like I want to faint, but I can't because if I do then who knows what the hell Vladimir can do to me or his men.

I don't want to take that risk so that’s why I am still awake, trying so hard not to slip into unconsciousness.

I wonder what my family is thinking.

I wonder if they know where I am and if they are trying to save me.

I can’t help but think about Alexander. I am also starting to feel bad for leaving and now I know I made a mistake by doing that. I should have just stayed until he woke up but instead, I acted like a scared bitch and left.

I hear talking from outside the hallway. The talking becomes more and more vivid. The door of my room opens but I don't bother looking up.

I hear a bag drop so I look across from me and see there is a plastic bag with food inside.

"Boss wants you to eat," I look up and see one of the guards. "Are you going to eat it or not?" he asks rudely.

"I would love to, but my hands are chained to the wall," I say in a raspy voice. It feels like a thousand tiny needles are stabbing my throat. The man walks forward, and he unchains one of my hands making it drop to the floor. I wince while stretching my hand. Fuck those chains were tight. I reach to grab the bag and as I get the food out the man still doesn't leave making me look up at him. "You need something?"

"Boss wants me to watch you eat to make sure you don't try anything."

I haven't seen Vladimir since our last encounter.

I honestly think he is scared of the little threat I gave him. It would make sense because he is a scared bitch.

Kind of like me.

But you see, I run away from problems that I don't want to face and that I am scared to face. But Vladimir is scared because of a small threat I made. Me, a little girl who is just the Italian Mafia princess.

I laugh at the thought before reaching inside the bag and getting out a bag of chips.

At least they are feeding me good food. So, I definitely can’t complain.

As I am eating I feel the man's eyes on me making me a little uncomfortable. "Instead of having your eyes dead set on me can you maybe just look somewhere else?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Not what the boss told me to do," the man says, shrugging his shoulders.

"What's your name?" I ask while eating.

"Rowan," he states coldly as he watches me eat.

I look back up at him and take some time to admire his features.

He has dark brown hair that looks soft and makes me want to pull at the roots. His eyes are brown with some blue mixed in.

I admire his body and notice the strong tanned biceps underneath the black shirt he is wearing.

He screams familiar.

"Last name?" I ask.

"Valentino," he states in an Italian accent.

That's it.

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