Dangerous Love (girl x girl)

Chapter 41

"What are we going to do after? You can't send your men in. Vincenzo will be in the alert. If he thinks you're attacking, he could use her as a hostage."

I turned to face him with an annoyed expression. "I'm aware of that, thank you very much. Arielle is already a hostage. I will figure it out. You see if you can track her phone or anything else on her person. I'll get back to you." And I walked away, leaving him gaping in disbelief behind me.

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Arielle

A soft rustling roused me from my unconscious state. I mumbled something incoherently. Every part of me was sore. I couldn't recall anything past being drugged, but it didn't take a genius to understand what had happened. I just didn't understand how it had happened. Dominic Versailles' estate was a safe place, so I hadn't thought to confirm the identity of the driver with Chase once he claimed that he was to pick me up for our meeting.

My head started to hurt as I tried to focus, so I stopped and slowly opened my eyes. My mouth felt extremely dry, and I could feel the soreness in my throat. Immediately, I took in my surroundings. I was in a dim cell. There was nothing else to call it. The floor was concrete and the cell had walls on three sides, with a barred door in front. It was empty aside from an old blanket that seemed more like a rag that someone had thrown on me.

The soft rustling could be heard again. I opened my mouth and winced before closing it again. I coughed a few times, feeling the dryness in my throat worsen.

"D-do you need water?" A quiet, feminine voice, barely there, drifted to my ears.

I looked around, started, but saw no one. I wasn't superstitious, but I knew I had heard something. "I'm to your left." The voice whispered. I turned to my left in confusion, only to be faced with a wall. "I saw them bring you into your cell earlier."  It dawned on me then that she was in the cell next to mine and I relaxed.

"Here." There was a soft rustling as I saw a hand reach out from the bars next to my own and push out a half-filled water bottle and slide it over to the front of my door.

I hesitated, not making a move. "It's alright, I'll be alright. They'll bring us water again in about an hour, I think. Take it..." I swallowed, feeling the temptation overcome me. I slowly reached between the bars to grab the bottle. I was able to slide it between the bars and I opened it with a shaky hand.

The moment the water touched my parched lips, I felt like I couldn't stop drinking. I gulped at it until it was empty, and I felt my stomach start to hurt. "I-I'm sorry-"

"It was for you." She replied softly again.

I curled up in a ball, still sitting upright and hugging my knees. "How long have you been in here?" I whispered softly, not wanting to be heard, even though I was quite sure that we were alone.

There was a silence, and it lasted so long that I almost thought she was just going to ignore my question.  Then-

"I've lost count." I felt a pang in my heart. Just how long did they intend to keep us here? What had she done to deserve such a fate?

"What did you do?" I found myself asking before I could contain my curiosity.

She was silent again. This time, I waited patiently. "I-I angered him." I could hear her taking a deep breath. "Tristan. It's all my fault..." she mumbled to herself for a bit.

I was confused. Did this girl work for Vincenzo? She said she had angered him. Yet that didn't seem right. She had referred to him not as Vincenzo Jr., or the Boss, nor his full name, but just Tristan. Something wasn't right.

"What happened?" I heard my own voice inquiring softly.

When she answered me, it was almost as if she was speaking to herself. "He was home late that night...and I asked too many questions. I should have known better than to question him..." she trailed off and began mumbling again. "I think he was out with Georgina again...that blonde witch...I know they're having sex behind my back...no, no, he was tired. I shouldn't have questioned him. He loves me. He'll be back. He'll let me out..."

I froze as I realized what this was. Clearly this girl had been in some sort of relationship with Tristan Vincenzo, but it was abusive and she had some form of Stockholm Syndrome. In my frustration, I absentmindedly rattled the bars of the cell that my fists were gripping on to.

Less than ten seconds later, I could hear that a door was flung open. I backed up against the cell's back wall instinctively. I couldn't see out the side of the cell where the door to this basement area was, but I could hear the footsteps approaching.

The man stopped at the front of my cell. I kept his head down. He chuckled coldly, making my veins turn to ice. I recognized that laugh. I kept my head down and tried not to react, but it wasn't me that he addressed. "How kind of you to offer the new prisoner water, Kate. Clearly you weren't thirsty yourself. I'll make sure to pass that onto the boss when I see him." I could hear the girl next to me, Kate, cry out in despair and he chuckled cruelty again before kicking the bars and walking back the way he came from.

My fists were clenched in my lap, gripped so tightly that the knuckles turned white. Everything made sense now regarding how I had been set up and how they had known about my plans.

Francis.

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*edited*

Hi everyone!

Sorry for not updating last week, I wasn't feeling the best physically.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Lots of love,
-Cindy