Gotong-royong (n.) The joint sharing of burdens; the bearing of the weight of the world together with trusted friends.
Arabella's P.O.V.
"You know, I didn't expect you to be here without your men," Romano said as he used a corkscrew to open the bottle in his hand.
"But, here we are," he continued on as he took a swig of wine.
"And you, Miss Lady in Red..." he said as he took a step towards us.
"Don't get any fucking closer," Nicolo seethed as he raised his gun, but Romano held up his hand as he continued to stare at me.
"...I should've known you were trouble," Romano said lowly as he narrowed his eyes at me and threw the bottle of wine at the metal railing beside me.
I flinched as small shards of glass fell around me, some hitting my skin along with the wine inside of the bottle. Romano took another step closer as Nicolo pulled down the safety lever of his gun; the men surrounding us suddenly pulled out their weapons, aiming at Nicolo and I.
"Nicolo..." I whispered to him as I placed my hand on his arm.
"...put down your gun," I said to him softly, hoping that he would listen before getting both of us killed.
"You should listen to your lady, Nico. She's a smart woman," Romano said as he smiled at me and sat down in a chair.
"And don't think about making any foolish moves, we have a sniper right over there," he said as he pointed to a direction behind us.
I slowly turned around to find the sniper that he spoke of, but I could not see anyone for miles in the fields below.
"Do you see him, principessa? Right up there by the road, on the hill," Romano explained (Princess).
My eyes trailed up towards the road where cars were driving by, completely mindless of the dreadful situation happening below. I gaze towards the specified location and faintly saw a dark figure lying down, hidden in the tall grass.
"Don't stare for too long, he might put a bullet between those pretty eyes of yours," Romano said and I turned back to face him as he winked.
"What the hell do you want, Romano," Nicolo said as he tossed his gun to the ground.
"I wanna know what you fucks were doing in my resort," Romano said as he laced his fingers together and placed his elbows on top of the table.
"We were-" Nicolo began to say.
"No, no, no," Romano repeated as he waved his finger around.
"I don't want to hear it from you. I want to hear it from her," he said as he pointed his finger at me.
"What was your name?" he asked me.
"I could barely hear it in the security footage when Dante called out to you over the cries of women and children, due to you people pulling the fire alarm," he said as he rolled his eyes.
"Was it Anastasia?" he asked while he stared at me intently.
"Hmm, no. Annabella maybe?" he guessed again.
"Or perhaps, Arabella."
I pressed my lips into a line and held my breath once my name left his mouth. I broke eye contact with Romano as I couldn't withstand his intense stare that seemed to read me like an open book.
"Ah, Arabella is it?" he asked with a scornful laugh.
"Beautiful name for a beautiful woman," he said as he turned towards Nicolo and smirked.
Nicolo suddenly lunged towards Romano, but his men held him back. I winced as I saw a man punch Nicolo across the face, causing blood to drip down his cheek from a deep cut that formed.
"Have a seat," Romano said to me.
I tried to control my breathing as I bit my lip and stared at him with fear in my eyes. My fingernails dug into the palm of my hand as I couldn't manage to control my nervousness.
"I said, have a seat," he demanded through gritted teeth as he pointed his gun towards me.
"Non coinvolgerla in questo," Nicolo said angrily as one of Romano's men sent a fist towards his face again (Don't bring her into this).
"Silenzio!" Romano yelled as he slammed his fist into the table (Silence).
I quickly took a seat in the chair in front of him and stared at my hands as I couldn't stand to see Nicolo in pain.
"What were you doing in my resort, Arabella?" he asked and I slowly looked up at him as tears started to fall down my cheek.
"I-I was just..." I stuttered but my mind couldn't come up with an answer. I turned my head towards Nicolo and my lip started to tremble as I saw blood dripping down onto his shirt as his chest heaved from his heavy breaths.
"No, don't look at him. Look at me," Romano said as he took the barrel of his gun and pushed it against my cheek, forcing me to turn my head towards him.
"What did you do, Arabella? You went up to the penthouse with Giovanni did you not?" he asked and I nodded my head.
"Did you fuck him?" he asked as he turned to look at Nicolo with a smug smile.
"Sei fottutamente morto," Nicolo spat, but his words caused him to be punched in the stomach (You're fucking dead).
"So tell me, what were you doing up there?" Romano questioned as he turned back towards me.
"Did you place cameras around the suite? Voice recorders?"
"No," I managed to croak out.
"Did you hack into our systems?" he asked.
"No," I said quietly with a shaky breath.
"That's what I thought," he scoffed as he shook his head.
"Lies shouldn't leave that pretty mouth of yours, Arabella," he said as he stood up from the chair.
"Put them into the trucks and bring them into the warehouse! Take their phones and I want them searched," Romano ordered as he began to walk away.
"Ti ucciderò," Nicolo yelled out as he fought against the hold of the men around him (I am going to kill you).
"Not if I kill you first!" Romano said as he walked through the villa.
Romano's men started to make their way towards me as they pulled me out of the chair and pushed me forward. A man gripped my forearm and held my hands behind my back and gripped the back of my neck, forcing me to walk.
"Nicolo," I gasped out in fear as the man started to place his hands along my body, patting me down as he searched for any weapons.
"Don't touch her," Nicolo shouted.
Men began to search him for weapons as he tried to fight back, but he gazed at me with a sad look across his face but the only emotion that I saw in his eyes was regret. Tears continued to stream down my face as the man beside me took my bag and phone away. I gasped and cowered away as he threw my phone at the ground and fired a bullet at the screen.
"Arabella, it's going to be okay," I heard Nicolo say to me, but my panic worsened as they began to lead us separate ways.
"Andiamo," the man behind me said as he pushed me towards the road (Let's go).
"No, stop, please stop!" I begged as they opened the back of a box truck.
The man lifted me off my feet and pushed me inside, causing me to fall and scrape my knees on the hard surface. I pushed myself up from the ground then turned around to run towards the guard as he started to slide the door close.
"Please, let me go!" I cried out as I pounded my fist against the metal door.
Suddenly, the truck began to move and I fell back onto the floor as I lost my balance. My breathing became more rapid and I shut my eyes tight as I felt the walls start to close in on me. The unsettling feeling that I felt on the first night I met Nicolo began to slowly creep within me and I sobbed as I tried to prepare myself to relive that night again.
It's going to be okay, I repeated Nicolo's words in my head, but the sound of metal tapping against the floor caught my attention. The ride became more bumpy as the speed of the truck increased, but the sound became more evident. I slowly opened my eyes, but I saw nothing as the cargo area of the truck was pitch dark and separated from the driver's side.
I began to control my breathing and focused on the sound, but my heart rate quickened again once I realized where the sound was coming from. I quickly sat up and put my back up against the wall for support as I rolled up the sleeve of my sweater to find my smartwatch.
Author's Note:
Hi Humans,
What do you guys think Arabella has planned for her smartwatch?
The plot continues in the second part so I hope you enjoy!
-Love, A