The Shadows

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Why"

A simple question with so many different and complex answers.

Why did he team up with her kidnappers?

Why is he with the Russian Bravata?

"It's actually really simple, Princess." She flinched when he said that nickname he made for her when they had first met. "It comes down to getting something all three of us want."

"What could you possibly want that would cause you to team up with the very people who tortured me daily for years!" Annabella asked, crying now.

What he said next sent chills down her body.

"You."

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When the Russians had taken Annabella, they decided to leave Armani in the vehicle with his mangled legs. He really didn't notice his legs at first since he was too worried about his twin passing out with what had caused him a bad head injury.

He had sat in that seat, trapped while they took his other half with them. Armani had started to cry by this point. To hell with the saying that men can't show emotions. He was in massive pain and his twin got kidnapped while he had to watch, not being able to do anything about it.

Armani eventually tired himself out, trying to escape the prison his legs were trapped in and from crying, and just closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of the De Luca's rushed out of the house and started to use the location they had from the GPS in the car.

Adriano was terrified of what might have happened to his princess and youngest brother. He just wanted to break down at that moment and ask God why all of these things were happening to his family, but he knew that he had to be the strong one out of his brothers and keep them together.

As they pulled up to the crash site, Adriano was horrified by what he saw.

The car that held, or maybe had, his youngest siblings was crushed. It looked like someone had taken a large pop can crusher and crushed it. The front was smashed into a tree and he was actually afraid for their survival chances.

Adriano shook those thoughts out of his head and hurried forward, trying to see if they were miraculously still in the vehicle. He had been the first to break out of his trance from seeing the car though, so he yelled at his brothers to come help him.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he would find in that car though.

As he came up on the driver's side, he immediately saw blood and broken glass. From the conversation on the phone with them before they wrecked, Annabella was the one driving. His heart shattered at that thought.

Adriano continued to pray that maybe she was still in the car. When he looked into the car through the broken window, he was met with a heartbreaking site.

Annabella was not there and Armani was passed out with his legs trapped.  From his knowledge of medical things, his legs were definitely broken.

"Hey guys!" Adriano yelled to his family that were still searching around the area for any clues or evidence. "I need some help down here."

At that proclamation, they all ran towards him with worried eyes.

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When Adriano said he needed help, Alessio's heart swelled with hope that his precious babies were going to be alright.

As he reached him first, Alessio immediately asked what he needed help with, not looking in the vehicle afraid of what he would find.

"What do you need help with? Are my babies okay?" Alessio asked frantically.

Adriano looked at him with tears in his eyes as he answered Alessio. "Armani is trapped there. He needs immediate medical attention."

"Where's Annbella?" Alessio asked slowly, scared that his assumptions would be correct.

He shook his head confirming his worst thoughts. He shut down and went into doctor mode. Annabella might not be here, but her twin was and he needs help.

"Okay. I need to get the passenger side door open and I need one of the ambulances here 20 minutes ago." Alessio started just as the rest of the family reached them. They all had hopeful looks, but they all got wiped off of their faces once they had seen his and Adriano's grim faces. They got to work though, hearing his orders.

He can only hope that Annabella is safe and Armani is stable.