Adrienne's POV
Hours later
I quickly push myself away from the cell, desperate to get as far as possible from that monstrous man who resembles the person who was once my papa.
The pain of knowing my father is here, yet not truly him, is unbearable.
He's not my papa.
His face contorted into a sinister and frightening grin, sending shivers down my spine and making my heart race even faster as I stared at him with horror in my burning, watering eyes.
While I continue to distance myself from him, he slowly advances toward the cell, gripping his gun tightly as if debating whether to kill me.
I am curious about why he has not killed me and has me locked here.
Torturing me in ways I never knew was possible until I don't know who I am anymore.
Not after all this time.
"Why-why are you here..." My shivering, frail voice asks as my back hits the wall, making me gasps in fright I suddenly felt. Knowing I have nowhere else to go.
I am trapped.
Again.
My stomach knots and my chest grows tight looking at him. "To see my brave angel, of course..." his raspy voice states as he chuckles, locking his wild eyes on me.
My body shivers from the cold and fear, so I take a deep breath to regain control but regret it as I am bombarded with an intense obnoxious smell of pee, poop, puke, and dead rats.
I immediately gag, swallowing down my puke because I don't want to give any idea that I am pregnant.
"If-if you mean torturing me with old memories we shared before telling me you wished it was Dom..." I trail off, not wanting to say his name.
It pains me. I miss him so much.
And I miss Leah... I have been seeing her too. She feels so real. Just like Domi seems so real... it's like they are here. But they are angry.
They are my only company, but also my worst nightmares.
"Yes, and not to mention you killing him," his voice becomes stern and vile when he speaks to me with hatred.
My eyes uncontrollably slide shut at his words, paining my heart.
I killed Dominic, but I never held the gun.
My eyes snap open at the abrupt noise he makes, and I observe him swallowing some pills, piquing my curiosity.
As far as I know, my father has never taken medication. He's always been healthy and maintained a good diet. At least that was what I had known before he left me when I was a child.
2 months earlier
My trembling, dry lips somehow part, allowing me to address the man who claims to be my papa but is a twisted, insane version of him.
My body feels drained and weak as if I could collapse at any moment. "What... what happened to you?" My voice, hoarse and parched, inquires as I rest my pounding head against the brick wall behind me, my eyes fixed on the man standing before me, separated only by the cage bars.
My throat is parched, my skin deserted, and possibly pale from the lack of food, iron, and water.
I am famished.
I have not eaten in days. The last thing I ate was a sandwich and water, and it did not do anything to me because I had been ravenous and eating for two now.
My eyes water as they keep staring at him, sitting on the ground with his knees pressed into his chest, and his head leaned on his knees, his wild green eyes on me.
Just like a child.
My papa never acted this way before.
During the past few days here, I have come to fully understand that he is a whole new person, someone with issues.
Anyone could have guessed that from the moment I was held, but it's really obvious now.
"What do you mean, my angel?" He inquires, his eyes twitching. I've noticed that his eyes twitch occasionally, and I can't quite fathom why.
A grin spreads across his face when I remain silent, and he leans in for a closer look. "I'm just a bit on edge, you know..."
He reaches into his leather jacket pocket and retrieves a bottle of pills. "Yeah, I have one of these and a couple more stashed away. I've been battling depression, anxiety, and mental health issues," he chuckles, shaking his head as if it's hard to believe what he's been going through. "That's what those darn doctors said when I ended up in the hospital after getting hit by a car and stayed there for months."
I want to react to what he said, but my body can't, so I stay silent, staring at him as I try to keep myself from collapsing.
What was he even doing that made him get hit by a car?
"You...You were hit by a car?" My weak voice asks, barely audible.
"Y-"
"I wished you'd died that day," I mutter.
If he were mentally stable, I wouldn't have wished harm upon him. All I've ever wanted is to reunite with him and my brother. But now, he's become a deranged, unstable man.
"I could've been angry with you, but here I am, free while you're locked in there..." I feel the urge to roll my eyes, but my weakened body can't handle the strain. "I've been in mental institutions several times for months. After getting out, I ended up in jail a few times. It was tough, dealing with psychiatric wards and all, but the best part is that when I finally got out, I had my revenge in mind. You're first on the list."
"I-I would've been-been so happy if you were lucid and would've been so-so fucking happy that I was the first person that you thought of when you-you left jail...but I am not. Not when you are this person, sick in the f-fucking head," my weak voice speaks coldly, my eyes watching his every move.
"It's a good thing that I don't care about your happiness and want to see nothing but you dead. I will kill you...oh, I can't wait. I won't kill you now, but soon. I just need you to suffer in unbearable ways as I did first." He then rubs his hands together, pivoting his head to the side where a bag I didn't notice before sits.
The mere thought of food and water makes my mouth water instantly. "Well," he says, causing my teary eyes to turn toward him as he approaches the bag, and I hope it contains food for both me and my baby.
My stomach rumbles loudly as he clutches the bag, my dry mouth slightly opening as he turns toward me, holding the bag like a prized possession.
"Ah, now you're hungry, aren't you?" He teases, delving into the bag and pulling out a bottle of water, and I watch it with my mouth watering.
The clear, crystal clear, refreshing water.
My eyes track his every movement as he twists the top, my heart pounding with each turn, fearing that something might come and snatch it away.
I fear not having to drink it.
The lid finally falls off, and my father shoves it through the bars.
As I am slowly reaching for it, he shakes his head and then starts pouring it out on the floor, suddenly making my heart fall to my stomach, and I somehow manage to position myself on my hands and knees, looking up at him with my mouth wide to collect the water.
I close my eyes as the coolness touches my lips, transporting me to a state of bliss and satisfaction. A soft moan escapes my lips, tears streaming from my swollen eyes as I quickly swallow the water he pours into my mouth.
My body relaxes from the sudden taste of heaven on my lips, my parched mouth suddenly getting life. It feels like paradise is pouring down on me. Drinking this water makes me feel like I have never drunk water in months.
Suddenly, the water stops flowing, and my eyes quickly shoot open to look up at him, panic taking me over as I still feel thirsty. "No..." I mutter in horror, watching him.
A vile smile takes over his lips as he starts covering the bottle before putting it away. "I think that is enough," he says, and my tears start coming heavier. "Be grateful, you disgraceful cunt. It's better than not having any." He hisses at me, and I swallow my loud sob, tears streaming down my eyes with hurt.
Before I know it, I lower my head to the ground, sobbing as my lips connect to the musty old floor, and I start licking where the small amount of water is settled.
I feel disgusted with myself, but I need water. I need to survive.
My unborn baby needs to survive.
I lick each spot where I can see water, my eyes shedding tears as I do so.
Suddenly, something lands near my head, and I instinctively turn to see a piece of sandwich. I immediately grab it and stuff it into my mouth, unable to stop myself as I let out a moan of satisfaction, briefly closing my eyes, but I quickly open them and seize more peanut butter and jelly bread he throws to the ground.
I whimper and moan as I hastily devour the food, my hungry stomach roaring loudly. My mouth waters as I consume each piece of bread, tears streaming down my face.
My gaze immediately locks on my father as he ceases tossing the sandwich, my hands gripping the bars tightly with pleading eyes.
He presents his empty hands, and my heart sinks into my stomach as tears well up in my eyes, watching him shake his head.
"You disgust me."
Alessandro's POV
"Alessandro, she is pregnant."
His words make my stomach abruptly churn, instantly filling me with anger and anguish as my body trembles with seething fury.
His voice continues to echo in my head, repeating those painful words I cannot stand to hear anymore.
It feels like fucking hell and damn torture to hear.
"Alessandro, she is pregnant."
I lost control as I clenched my fist and forcefully pounded it against the steering wheel with vicious and heart-wrenching strikes, hissing to myself as everything inside my body seemed to have stopped, and I was no longer functioning.
There is just no way he got her pregnant, absolutely no way that she fucked him raw.
It already hurts knowing she FUCKED him!
I run my hands through my hair, sensing the rage coursing through my veins before I grip the steering wheel tightly, my chest rising and falling with each labored fucking breath.
WHAT THE FUCK!
My mind explodes at the thought that keeps replaying in my mind about her.
God, no...FUCK!
Fury coils within me, an uncontainable blaze in my gut, threatening to devour me from inside.
She is pregnant!
My grip around the wheel tightens as my teeth grit, feeling the urge to scream so fucking loudly the world would shake before I brutally murder this fucker next to me.
In ways the devil fears.
She fucking broke and hurt me by marrying that dump fuck...damn well destroying me to the point I am not myself anymore, just an impious monster! But getting pregnant by him that one really hit deep.
A fucking double punch to the crotch.
It is like breaking me all over again, and I was never even healed.
Damn...damn. I do not only know I no longer have her for myself because Angelo Rossi took her from me, but I also know she is having his fucking baby.
It was supposed to be OUR!
I wanted a family with her.
I wanted a life...I cannot have that... not anymore.
The silence inside the car after his words is so fucking loud and poisonous, and I am on the verge of going even crazier than how I am right now.
The more they keep silent, the more pissed I get.
How could he drop the bombshell that she is pregnant and then say nothing?
Tell me something!
Fucking tell me something that can keep me from killing him right now!
I rest my head against the headrest of the car seat, shielding my eyes with my arm as the words continue to pierce my soul like a knife while my heart thrashes without mercy inside my tight chest.
The woman I love is not with me, and the news of her pregnancy feels like a heavy stab to my soul.
Ares rests his hand on my shoulder, understanding my pain and heartbreak hearing those words, knowing I am so madly in love with her, words cannot even explain.
Even if the child were mine, it would not change anything. She would still be with him, as she once professed her love for him, never for me.
That day hurt so much that I just wanted to die right there. She ripped me to shreds, and I let her.
"Let us save her," Ares whispers as I grip the steering wheel even tighter, squeezing my eyes shut and struggling to contain the piercing scream building up within me.
"I am sorry, dude-" the fucker starts when I cut him off by whipping my gun out and aiming it at him as I try to control myself from doing what I am burning to do.
"Say one more fucking word, and I blow your fucking brains out..." my deep voice utters atrociously. "One. More. Word." My voice threatens.
He has no idea how much it burns me to murder his ass right now, even worst hearing that she is pregnant.
My heart lunges at my chest, having to remind myself of that.
The fucker lifts his hands in surrender and stares at me blankly, intensifying my desire to shoot his face off without a second thought.
Right now, I have murder on my mind.
"Alessandro, he is less problem for you at this moment," Ares says, patting my shoulder reassuringly, and he is right.
What is important right now is saving her.
Angelo Rossi is a later manner that I will handle with blood spilling.
Shooting Rossi one last death glare, I place my gun inside my jacket then turn away from him and start the car.
I speed off, knowing she is worth saving, even if I do not think I can look her in the eyes when we finally see each other again.
I will not be able to look. Not now or ever.
But I still love you, forever.
-
After a few hours of driving to where I think she might have been captured, I pull into the opening and drive through, knowing that Ares is curious about being here and wondering how I know she had been in this area.
After a few seconds, we exit the car and survey our surroundings.
A gnawing feeling in my gut tells me she might have been here.
Where else could she have gone after arriving here?
She has no one else. This is the only location I have ever associated with her.
My stomach tightens at the thought of her being here the same day I was, and I was unaware of her presence.
I could have seen her.
She was so close.
And she is now far.
I could have seen her, and maybe I could have even prevented her from being taken.
"It fucking stinks here," Rossi whines with his hand over his nose and mouth while I scan the area, trying to figure out the source of the smell.
It smells like dead, rotten flesh, and I pray it is not who it could be.
"Ares, help me figure out where this smell is coming from," I utter to him, feeling my heart already racing inside my chest, having to think about her being the smell.
Despite my disgust, I continue to breathe in the repugnant scent, tracing its path with Ares by my side.
We both halt behind a large rock concealed by bushes, and a rush of relief washes over me when I spot the corpse, seeing that it is not her.
What a relief that is.
My hands instinctively cover my heart as I release a deep, shaking breath.
There is a great chance she is alive.
I know she is alive. I just have to find her.
The sight before me is a rotten, half-eaten body that flies and maggots swamps.
I cover my mouth and nose with my arm as I stare at the body that seems as if it has been here for a long time, which means he was the guard that drove her here.
"At least we know she was here," Ares mumbles with his arm over his mouth and nose, staring at the corpse that has a tattoo of the Rossi gang symbol, which means there is no doubt he is a Rossi soldier.
"Let us go," I say, turning away and making my way back to where Rossi is.
When I got there, I saw him trying to use his cell.
Fortunately, there is no reception here, so how lucky for him.
"It is your guard that stinks," I growl, walking towards my car as I try to figure out a way to find her.
We all know she was here, but we need to know who had taken her.
Fuck.
Why does this have to happen?
I hope she is safe.
It is unbearable to think she has been taken, fearing for her well-being, especially given her pregnancy and her possibly hurting.
Now what the fuck am I going to do? Where do I fucking start?
I knew she was here, but there was nothing that could help me find her.
Unless we thoroughly explore this area, seeking any clue that could lead me to her.
"Ares," I say, turning to face him as he crouches down to pick up an object from the ground. "Let us search this place for any possible lead to find her..." My words fade as I notice what he is holding in his hand, something catching the sunlight's gleam.
A necklace with a wedding ring.
"No need because I already found something," he says as I begin my way over to him and grabs the necklace from his hand with a silver ring on it. "And look," Ares gestures his head to the ground, where I see tire marks and other body marks. "Either the guard or Adrienne tried to fight whoever took her and pop this from his neck."
I breathe out a sigh of relief, my eyes closing and then reopening, knowing that this discovery could be the key to finding her. "A lead," I murmur to Ares, and I hear Rossi approaching as well.
"What are you two talking about?" The voice of the annoying man whom I want to murder asks.
Fuck.
If only I could push him from the cliff or kill him now.
"A lead. We'll analyze the fingerprints on this thing, and we'll soon discover who took her. It shouldn't be too difficult to track her down," Ares explains.
By the time he finishes explaining, I am already in the car, waiting impatiently, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel.
"If I fucking wait for another second for both of you, I will fucking leave you here," my voice growls, staring down at my tapping fingers.
Less than a minute later, the doors swing open, and as soon as they shut, I start the car and speed away.
I have no time to waste, so I need to find her soon before I go mad.
After a drive, we reach one of my closest warehouses, the necklace still in my hand.
Minutes later, we are inside the lab, and one of my soldiers is ready to help me obtain what I seek.
I place the necklace in a basin. "This is crucial. Find the owner of this immediately." He nods, reaching out to touch it, but I grab his arm and push it back. "Use a fucking glove, there are already enough fingerprints on it." Nodding to me, I step away, allowing him to continue his task.
I then face Ares before the person I hate the most. Rossi.
I grab a chair and set it before him, sitting as I adjust myself. "How many times have you both fucked?" The question escapes my lips without thinking, even though I have been pondering it since he mentioned her pregnancy.
I fixate on the back of his head as he chuckles and looks at me. "I don't believe that's any concern of yours, Alessandro..."
His response infuriates me, and I abruptly stand and then move towards him, but Ares quickly grabs my shoulder and forces me back down.
I want to know how many times she fucked him for some fucking reason! I know that it will make me go crazy when I get the answer, but not as crazy hearing that she is pregnant.
"But if you must know a few times. She is good in bed..."
Tin fucking ice...
"Rossi," Ares warns him, seeing how much I am shaking with rage to kill his ass.
He will forever be my number one enemy and the man I will forever hate to most.
I shoot him a menacing, hateful look while he smiles down at me and continues talking about the girl I love and fucked.
"And damn, is her mouth good as hell too-" Those were the final words he managed to utter before my hand closed around his throat, vigorously slamming him to the ground with a resounding growl escaping him from the force of impact.
Ares hands grasp hold of my body before he manages to yank me off from this shit, yanking me back into my chair.
If only they understand the fucking rage, infuriation. I fucking see red now, and I am trying to control myself, which is why I have not murdered yet.
Hearing a cough, I quickly turn to find Rossi standing up and taking a seat, massaging his throat.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Ares hisses at him. "You know he wants nothing but to see you dead, and all you are trying to do is provoke him."
"I don't understand why both of you are acting like she and I aren't married. We're living together and expecting a child..."
Ares interrupts, "How can you be sure the child is even yours?" His question caused my eyes to snap at him, puzzled.
"What do you mean?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Is he suggesting I might be the father?
"For all we know, none of us know how long she..."
"The baby is mine..." Rossi starts, and I growl at him.
"Could, but also could not." Ares locks eyes with me. "Alessandro, didn't you guys fucked before she was kidnapped? Because all we know, you guys are always fucking. Like always..."
I do not say anything but keep staring at Ares. I am not sure if the kid is mine or not, or for all we know if it is alive for Christ's sake.
"All I'm saying is that the baby could belong to either of you men, and the only way to confirm is once she's rescued-"
"There's no need to confirm anything because we already know the baby is mine. We were together weeks before I discovered she was pregnant, and I don't recall using any protection..." He is cut off as I abruptly stand and walk away, feeling my anger simmer.
I know that if I lingered, I would lose control and murder Rossi, despite my efforts not to.
"Here are the prints," my soldier informs me, presenting four different sets of fingerprints to which we know who they belong. "This is Ares," he points to one set of prints. "Yours. Someone named Isaac Walters. The strange thing is, when I scanned all of your prints, all the information came through. It all registered because you guys exist," he explains, his expression troubled.
"So, what is the issue then?" I ask, arms crossed, a scowl forming on my face.
"What I'm saying is I received information for everyone who touched this necklace when I scanned the fingerprints, except for the fourth one. When there are no prints, it means that person doesn't exist. The fourth one I don't know, but there's nothing there for him or her."
A deep, frustrated exhale escapes my lips as I glare down at the man.
Fuck.
Whoever doing this is a ghost.
"Is your guard's name Isaac Walters?" I ask, turning on my heels to face Ares and Rossi, who are staring at me.
"Yes," Rossi responds, and I sigh.
"So you guys fucking heard!" Throwing my hands in exasperation, I turn on my heels and storm out of the room.
I have so much fucking build-in rage that I need to let loose.
***
I slam the car door shut and stride toward my house.
My guard opens the door for me, and I enter, shutting it behind me, finding my little sister sitting on the couch with her expression nervous, but she stands as soon as she sees me.
"Any news?" She asks, hope in her voice, and I shake my head, unwilling to discuss it.
I have no fucking idea how I will save her! Fuck.
"Do not worry, Giana, we will find her soon. Okay?"
She nods slowly, a hint of sadness in her eyes, and I move towards her, embracing her tightly, understanding how much she needs it.
I know how much she needs her big brother.
"I love you, kiddo," I say, kissing her head.
"I turned eighteen already, so I am not a kid anymore," she murmurs from within our embrace, and I smile down at her, knowing that she will always be my little sister, whether she likes it or not.
"You will always be my little sister. Now, it is past your bedtime. Go to bed," I tell her as we part, and I watch her head toward the stairs, but then she turns back to me.
"Alessandro?"
"Yes?" I look at her with curiosity, admiring her beauty, so much like Noemi.
Every waking moment, she reminds me of her. Of them.
"I love you," she whispers, warming my heart. With that, she walks away, and I smile after her.
She is my world.
"I love you more," I mutter as I head to my own bedroom.
After walking through the openings, I end up inside the sitting room, where I see someone sitting on the couch with their long exposed leg crossed over the other.
My feet carry me over to her.
"Stella," Her name escapes my lips as I grab her arm and guide her toward my bedroom.
I push the door open, ushering her inside, and with a sudden urgency, I close the door behind us, pushing her onto the bed.
"Get fucking undressed now."
~~~
It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes! LOL
Y'all must be hating me right now!
It's going to get better, I promise ;-))
She-stay-lit ;-))