Chapter 11

Maty

I wake up with a pounding headache, my mouth dry and gritty like I’ve swallowed a handful of sand. For a long, disoriented moment, I don’t know where I am, or why my body feels like one giant bruise.

Then it all comes rushing back - Ghost in my apartment, the cold fury in his eyes, the sharp pain of his blow before everything went black…

My eyes fly open, my heart kicking into panicked overdrive. I’m in some kind of abandoned warehouse, judging by the high, rusted ceilings and the smell of old metal and mildew. A single bare lightbulb swings overhead, casting shadows on the cracked concrete floor.

I try to move, only to realize I’m tied to a chair, thick ropes biting into my skin. A whimper escapes my throat before I can stop it, terror clawing its way up my aching spine.

“Well, well, well. Sleeping Beauty finally wakes.”

I jerk my head up at the sound of Ghost’s mocking voice. He’s lounging against the far wall, watching me with a predatory glint in his eye.

“Ghost,” I manage through my parched throat. “Please. You don’t have to do this.”

He laughs, a grating sound that sends chills down my arms. “Oh, but I really do, kiddo. You see, you and I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

He pushes off the wall and stalks closer, his movements fluid and menacing. I shrink back instinctively, my breath coming in short, sharp pants.

“I’ve spent the last five years dreaming of this moment,” he says softly, almost tenderly. “Dreaming of the day I would make you pay for what you did to me. To all of us.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I plead, tears burning behind my eyes. “Ghost, I swear, I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I thought… I thought you were all dead. I thought I was the only one who made it out alive.”

“LIAR!” he roars, slamming his hands down on the arms of the chair. I flinch violently, a sob catching in my throat. “You left us to rot! You saved your own skin and didn’t give a shit about the rest of us!”

I’m openly crying now, hot tears streaking down my cheeks. “That’s not true,” I whisper brokenly. “You were my friends.”

For a split second, I see a flicker of something raw and wounded in his eyes, a glimpse of the man I briefly knew. But then it’s gone, replaced by cold, hard rage.

“Well, you have a funny way of showing it, kid.”

He straightens abruptly and steps back, running a hand over his close-cropped hair. When he looks at me again, his face is a mask of cruel anticipation.

“But don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to make it up to me. To all of us.” His smile is a slash of white in the gloom. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging for my forgiveness. Begging for death.”

A sob hitches in my chest. “Please, Ghost. Please don’t do this. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for everything. But this… this isn’t you. You’re not a monster.”

“You have no idea what I am!” he snarls, his composure cracking. “You and your fucking mafia boyfriend made me into this! Took everything from me and left me to fucking die!”

He’s panting now, eyes wild and feverish in the harsh light. I’ve never seen him like this, unhinged, consumed by hatred. It terrifies me to my very core.

“What are you gonna do to me?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

He smiles again, a slow, sinister curving of his lips. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

He crouches down, bringing his face level with mine. I can feel his nasty breath on my skin and I gag, turning my head away.

But he grabs my chin in a punishing grip, forcing me to meet his burning gaze.

“But first,” he murmurs, his voice soft and intimate like a lover’s caress, “I’m gonna break you. I’m gonna shatter your mind and soul into so many pieces, you won’t even remember your own name. And then?”

He leans in even closer, his lips brushing my skin. “Then I’ll put you back together again. Mold you into the perfect weapon to destroy Alessio DeLuca and everything he holds dear.”

Icy horror slides like a knife between my ribs. “No,” I choke out, renewing my desperate struggles against my bonds. “No, Ghost, you can’t, please…”

But he’s already pulling away, his laughter echoing off the walls as he walks to the door.

“I’ll leave you alone to think about that for a while. Let it sink in how fucked you are.” He pauses in the doorway, throwing me one last mocking smile over his shoulder.

“Don’t go anywhere, Maty. I’ll be back… and I’ll be bringing some friends who are just dying to play with you.”

And with that, he’s gone, slamming the heavy metal door shut behind him with a resounding clang.

I slump in my restraints, my whole body shaking with terror and despair. Tears stream down my face as hopelessness crashes over me in suffocating waves.

Oh God. Oh God, what is he gonna do to me? How long will he keep me here, torturing me, before he kills me?

And even if by some miracle I survive… will there be anything left of me to save? Or will Ghost succeed in turning me into an empty shell he can use as a pawn in his sadistic game?

I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore, except that I’m in hell.

A hell of my own making.

I should have known my past would catch up to me someday. Should have known that the sins of my youth would demand their pound of flesh, and that flesh would be mine.

I think of Alessio, of his strong arms and beautiful eyes, his fierce protectiveness and the way he makes me feel cherished, treasured. Safe.

How could I ever have thought I could escape my demons and build a life with him? How could I have been so naive, so selfish?

Now he’ll also pay the price. Ghost will use me to hurt him, to burn his world down. And it will all be my fault.

A wail builds in my throat, tearing itself free in a cry that seems to go on and on. I scream until my voice gives out, until I’m gasping and retching and limp in my bonds.

But no one comes. No one hears.

I’m alone in the darkness, with nothing but my torn hopes.

And so I do the only thing I can.

I close my eyes… and I pray for the end.

* * *

Alessio

“Talk.”

I shove the trembling, bleeding mess of a man against the wall, my Glock pressed hard enough against his temple to leave a bruise. “Where the fuck is he keeping her?”

“I swear, I don’t know!” he babbles, tears and snot mingling with the blood pouring from his shattered nose. “I just deliver messages, run errands. Ghost doesn’t tell me shit!”

“Fucking useless!” I snarl, my finger tightening on the trigger. The urge to paint the wall with this scumbag’s brains is a living thing, clawing at my insides. But I force it down, knowing I need him alive. For now.

“Boss.” Luca’s voice is low, urgent. “We have a new lead - a possible location on Maty.”

I pivot instantly, letting the sobbing wreck crumple to the floor. “Where?”

“The old meatpacking plant down by the docks. It’s been abandoned for years, but our sources say there’s been activity there in the last 24 hours.”

He hands me a file, his jaw tight. “It’s thin, but it’s the best we’ve got right now.”

I flip through the grainy surveillance photos, my gut clenching at the sight of armed men moving in and out of the graffiti-covered building. It’s not much, but it’s more than we’ve had in the two days since Maty disappeared.

Two fucking days. Two endless, agonizing days of not knowing if she’s dead or alive. Two days of scouring the city, calling in every favor and threatening every lowlife. Two days of slowly losing my fucking mind, imagining all the ways that sick fuck could be hurting my woman.

I’m gonna rip Ghost apart with my bare hands. I’m gonna make him scream for mercy, fucking beg for death. And I’m gonna fucking smile while I do it, knowing every second of his agony is retribution for what he’s put Maty through.

But first, I have to find her. I have to bring my girl home, wrap her in my arms and never let her go again.

“Round up the men,” I tell Luca, my voice lethally calm. “We move on the plant in 30.”

He nods sharply. “And him?” He nudges the lump at my feet.

I glance down, lip curling in disgust. The rage is still there, simmering in my blood, but it’s sharper now. A cold, focused edge that will serve me in the fight to come.

“Bring him. He might be useful.” I slide my gun back into its holster, already turning to the door. “And Luca?”

“Yeah, boss?”

My smile is a dark promise, dangerous and unforgiving.

“Fucking load up. We’re not taking any prisoners tonight.”

His answering grin is just as ruthless, a baring of teeth that would make even the most hardened criminal piss himself. “You got it, boss..”

Twenty minutes later, we’re rolling, an armored convoy of blood-hungry wolves disguised as blacked out SUVs. I’m in the lead, Luca at my side and a dozen of my most loyal soldiers at my back.

We’re prepared for war, armed to the teeth and ready for anything. But all I can think about is Maty. My stubborn, brilliant, beautiful Maty, who burst into my life in a blaze of bravado and challenged me in ways no one else dared.

She’s my beating heart, the very air in my lungs. And I will storm the gates of hell itself to bring her back to me.

Hang on, baby. I’m coming for you.

And when I find the bastard who took you…

There won’t be enough left of him to fill a fucking ashtray.