28. Adriana

Chapter twenty-eight

Adriana

I'm sitting on the floor, my throat hurting from screaming. No one is coming to save me.

Father has starved and locked me in my room since yesterday. My stomach growls as I slowly doze off to sleep. I'm too weak and thirsty to scream any longer. I let myself fall to the ground. The cold tiles cause goosebumps on my skin.

Altieri took my phone away, leaving me with nothing to reach Beatrice or Alessandro. I'm on my own now, and Father will keep me here for as long as he wishes. He can kill me off, as well, because I won't do any of his requests. Especially helping him to kill Ale.

I hear my heartbeat slow down as I let out tiny breaths, extremely exhausted. My head hurts, and I feel queasy. It doesn't stop as I squeeze my eyes shut and swallow hard.

"Oh, no."

I stand on my feet in a hurry and rush to the bathroom, holding my hand over my mouth. I'm desperately trying to fight off the urge to vomit. My face is pale as I stare at myself in the mirror. I quickly reach for the faucet on the sink to rinse my mouth, but I end up running to the toilet seat, falling to my knees and gripping it tight.

Ah fuck.

My body grows weaker as I finally let it all out. I puke out the pasta I had the day before with liquid content. It takes me a couple of minutes to feel better. My mouth is bitter, with a disgusting taste. I walk to the sink and rinse my mouth over and over again to get the taste out of my mouth.

"Fuck," I whisper as I find a vomit stain on my hair. I wash it off immediately, splashing water on my face.

A loud knock lands on the door.

"Leave me the fuck alone," I yell as I walk back into the room.

"Your father asked me to bring you some food," someone says from outside.

"Fuck off," I reply breathlessly, falling to the ground. My stomach feels empty. The door clicks twice and opens slowly. Tommaso is walking into my room with a tray in his hand.

"I said I don't want to eat."

"I'm only following orders."

He sets the tray beside me on the floor and walks back to the door. "Get your strength. Your father said to tell you he would be here soon."

I push the tray further away from me. "Tell him to go fuck himself."

Tommaso walks out of the door and shuts it from behind. I hear another click as he locks the door again.

The smell of risotto wafts into my nostrils. It's tempting, with the sweet aroma making my mouth water. My stomach grumbles again. Louder.

I sit on the floor next to the tray. I grunt stubbornly and pull the tray closer, reaching for the glass of water first. The taste of my puke still stings at the back of my throat. My hand reaches for the plate of risotto as I take a sip of water.

I can tell it's Savia who made it. The middle-aged woman has been working for my father for as long as I can remember. She must know I'm back here, making me my favorite meal. There's no strength in me to resist it. I play lazily with the fork, feeling weaker to eat.

My palm rests on my stomach as I remind myself of the human growing inside me. Alessandro still has no idea I'm with his child. With Father locking me here, he just might never find out.

Protecting my child from Father would be another situation to deal with. Especially when he finds out it's Alessandro's.

I take a little portion of the meal to eat, for the sake of the growing little human in me. The rich, creamy taste causes a soft moan to escape my lips. I hurriedly fetch more portions, satisfying my growling stomach. It's only a few minutes before I hear someone call my name from outside.

"Adriana."

A scowl spreads across my face, almost immediately after hearing his voice. I could never be mistaken by my father's Italian laced accent.

"Tommaso didn't deliver my message? Such a dumbhead. I want to be left alone, Father."

The door clicks open. "You remind me so much of your mother. Feisty and stubborn headed."

He walks into the room dressed in a striped blue and white shirt tucked neatly into light brown pants. He has a black fedora hat on. I grunt as he removes his hat to show his wrinkled face. His white hair is packed in a low bun.

"I'm surprised that figlio di Puttana (son of a bitch) has come barging in here like an idiot. He was lucky I wasn't around."

I shift backward until my back meets the bed frame.

"Thomas is finally dead. My plan was going just as I wanted, but you little brat…" He kneels in front of me and grabs my chin. I grunt as he pulls my head higher to stare at him. He squeezes my chin tight.

"Go to hell," I say through gritted teeth. "Arghhh!"

He slaps me hard in the face. My jaws start to hurt from his grip. "What has he done to you?" He pushes me further into the bedframe and squeezes my throat. The wooden frame hurts my body. "What would it take for me to break you?"

I'm struggling to breathe as he pushes me harder. "Let me go," I groan.

He stares at me coldly with a fierce gaze. "You have to learn to obey orders, Adriana. You disrespect me out there in front of my men."

"Let me… go," I whisper roughly. My fingers dig into his shirt to stop him. He doesn't budge as I deliver hits on his body.

"A fucking stain on my legacy."

My hands fall to the ground as I search for something to use to stop him. Anything. I can't let him kill me. Not when I have so much to fight for now—my child. I'm losing my breath as he grips my throat tighter. My eyes widen with the pressure I feel in my head.

"Pl… pl… ease."

I grab the fork hastily and stab him in the neck. He grunts from the impact and slaps me in the face again.

" Puttana (Bitch)!"

I kick him hard to the ground and crawl out of his way.

He groans a curse as he struggles to get on his feet. But I walk to grab a shard of glass lying on my dressing table. They hadn't cleaned up my room since the last time I tried to kill myself.

"Stay the fuck away from me!" I run my hand down my raw throat, pointing the shard at him. My throat hurts.

"Arghh, you coglione (asshole)!" He yanks the fork out of the side of his neck and tosses it to the ground. "I'm going to kill you!"

He walks closer to me in heavy steps full of fury. I lose control, trying to protect myself—my child—as I shove the glass shard into his belly. The impact stops him in his tracks as the realization of my action dawns on me.

"What have you done, Adriana?"

I twist the shard, pushing it harder into his stomach. "What I should have done a long time ago."

Father staggers on his feet as I let go of the shard still stuck in his stomach.

I run out of the room in a hurry. No guard is around as I reach for the front door.

Three men I don't recognize are by the door as I open it. The man in front stares at me with a gun pointed in my direction.

"Where are you going, Princess?" He reaches for my arm and grips me hard, pulling me closer to him. His breath reeks of cigars.

"Let me go!"

"Not so fast." He pushes me back into the house.

"Cesare," he nods.

The scar-faced man behind him walks into the house and searches around.

"Check the rooms. Her father went into one of them a few minutes ago."

I let out heavy, rugged breaths as the man runs his gun up my arm to my neck and finally points it at my head. Cesare leaves to check the rooms.

"Poff!" He laughs as he releases air through his mouth to mimic the sound of a gun.

"Who are you?" I ask through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw.

"Aldo sent me here to get you, Princess."

Cazzo (Fuck)!

Cesare comes out after a few minutes. I'm thinking of a way to escape, knowing they are Aldo's men but their guns scare me.

"He's dead. She killed him."

They stare at each other in amusement. Or shock. I can't tell which it is as I look at them with contempt.

"Aldo would love to see you, Adriana. Now move."

A grunt falls from my lips as they push me out of the house to a red sedan. I'm blindfolded almost immediately. It reminds me of Alessandro, causing my body to jerk involuntarily.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To Aldo's home."

Cazzo (Fuck).

***

The blindfold is taken off a few minutes after a drive, and I have no fucking idea where I'm at.

A massive building is in front of me as I step out of the car. Armed guards are everywhere surrounding the building. The huge bungalow has its exterior adorned with some of the finest materials.

"Move, Adriana."

I stare at the house as one of Aldo's men pushes me. He has a gun pointed behind me.

We walk to the front door and a guard opens it wide for us. I stop outside to take a peek at the insides. The walls are painted white and left plain.

"Go on, Adriana."

One of the guards leads the way, walking in front of me. I follow behind with another guard at my back.

The air smells sweet. Like a baked pastry. An old woman dressed in a white and black uniform passes us by. She has an apron on. We exchange glances as she walks past me. All I get is a stiff smile from her.

The guards stop walking as we reach the living room. It is well furnished, with a small bar space at the left side corner.

Dark brown sofas are neatly arranged in the room. There are no pictures on the walls and I notice how clean the white walls still are.

"I finally get to meet the famously beautiful Adriana Gustavo," a voice says. It's coming from the hallway. His voice is mildly deep, with a coarseness that irritates my ears.

I turn to face the path to see who it is. A bald old man walks out almost immediately.

"Aldo?"

He lets out a crooked smile. His left hand is in his pocket as he walks closer to me. I swallow hard as he reaches for my hand and places a kiss on it.

"Everyone calls me Bruno. That's if you're not working for me or my prisoner, but you can still call me Bruno. Welcome home, Adriana. You are a very hard woman to find."

Aldo is of average height with big brown eyes that look like they would fall out of their sockets any moment. He has a checkered shirt on with black, well-tailored pants.

"In fact, I've lost a number of my men trying to get you here. Come, sit." He points to a sofa as he walks to the bar.

"What do you want from me?" I grunt, remaining in the same spot.

"Want from you?" he laughs and grabs a bottle of wine with two clean wine glasses. "I could have anything I wanted with just a flick of my fingers. The right question would be, ‘Why do I want you?'"

He pours the red wine into the glasses and comes back to me with a glass. He has one for himself.

"Here you go, darling."

The guard behind me nudges me with the tip of his gun to collect the glass.

"You are the answer to everything I've always wanted. A mafia empire. It's you I want, Adriana."

I reluctantly take the glass with a stern look at the fuckface.

"Watch everything play out, Princess."

He touches my face, sliding strands of my hair from my face. I flinch from his touch, turning my head away.

"New York City will soon be mine… mine alone," he smiles.