Chapter 77

Aurora POV

I get another chance to text Stefano an hour later to update him about Gianna’s plan to distract Alek long enough for him to send reinforcements our way.

The message is short and sweet, giving him enough precise details to let him know we’re still alive and to hurry before things get ugly.

After hitting send, all I can do is wait. Every passing second is a weight pressing down on my chest. I stare at the burner phone’s screen, watching the digital clock tick minute after minute, hoping, praying, pleading that he’s somewhere with his phone in hand.

Five minutes go by. Then ten.

Nothing.

I pace the length of the bathroom, biting down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep from unraveling. Every few seconds I glance back at the phone, but it remains quiet in my hand. What if he doesn’t check it? What if he sees it too late? What if my father tells him no and to let us deal with our own mess?

By the time the twentieth minute passes, my stomach is in knots. I lean against the sink, closing my eyes, trying to regulate my breathing. I need to stay calm and think. If I fall apart now, I won’t be able to help either of us get out of here.

A sudden loud bang on the door sends me lurching upright.

“Wrap it up!” one of the guards calls, his deep voice muffled but unmistakably firm. “Let’s go!”

Shit.

My fingers fumble as I stuff the burner back into the inside my bra. After flushing the toilet and running the sink for a few seconds, I take another extra one to fluff up my hair and fix my face. Stress lines have begun appearing between my brows from where I’ve pulled them together so often.

The dark circles under my eyes are prominent. It’s a wonder I don’t look half dead with what little sleep I’ve gotten the past few days.

Sighing, my hand grips the doorknob to pull open. Two guards are waiting for me on the other side, one of them with a plastic basket outstretched towards me.

“Give us your clothes.” the one with the basket says. “We need to wash them.”

“No!” I snap too quickly, my hand flying to my chest where the phone is pressed against my skin.

Before either of them can grab me, I duck around their large bodies to get to my room. The door doesn’t have a lock on it but if I can keep them out long enough to stash the phone somewhere, they can have every piece of clothing I own to do with as they please.

A hand latches onto my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Panic jolts through me.

“Stop!” My voice breaks halfway through, and I’m shocked to feel real tears burning behind my eyes.

The guard drags me away from the bathroom and down the hallway, barely grunted when I dig my feet into the plush carpet. “Let’s go.”

“Stop!”Fear and frustration all boil up into one ugly mess, forcing the tears from my eyes to spill faster than I expect. I’m able to wiggle free from his grip and slam back against the nearest wall. “I’m scared, okay? I’ve been dragged halfway across the world. I don’t know what’s going on. I just want… I just want to go to my room!”

The guards glance at each other awkwardly. The one who grabbed me shifts his weight, clearly uncomfortable. “We’re just doing our job.”

“Please. Just leave me alone. I haven’t done anything wrong. I just want to go back to my room.” I sob, hugging myself as more tears leak from my eyes.

They exchange another look.

Silently, they turn around and escort me back to my room, keeping a careful distance as if my emotions might be contagious.

The moment the door shuts behind me, the tears stop like a faucet’s been turned off. Gianna is nowhere in sight but that doesn’t exactly raise any red flags—Alek probably pulled her to go to another fancy dinner again, leaving me alone until god knows when he decides to return her.

I sag against the door and exhale slowly, steadying my breath before moving to the bed and peeling the phone from where it’s tucked into my bra.

Safe and sound.

I crawl to the side of the room where the bed meets the wall and lift the edge of the carpet, prying it back to reveal the corner of a loose floorboard. It takes some doing, but I wedge the phone into the shallow crack underneath and press the board down until it clicks. Hopefully, it’ll be enough.

Hopefully, no one searches the room too closely.

And… hopefully Stefano gets back to me with good news.

I don’t let myself think about what happens if he doesn’t.

Hours pass.

The next time there’s a knock at the door, it’s gentler this time. A new guard opens it halfway and gestures for me to come out.

“Dinner,” he says. “You need to eat.”

I follow him down the hall and into the dining room where a brown paper bag sits on the table. Grease stains bloom on the sides, the sharp scent of salty fries filling the air. A few other guards loiter in the corners of the room, watching me carefully as I sit and open the bag.

It’s a fast-food burger with some fries and condiment packets. Nothing special but at least it’s somewhat familiar.

I chew mechanically, barely tasting it.

One of the guards leans on the wall nearby, arms crossed. I glance over at him.

"Is he… is Alek going to kill me?" I ask. My voice is quiet, but loud enough to make a few heads turn.

No one answers right away.

“I mean, I’m not the one he wants, right?” I continue. “I’m just… extra baggage. So what’s the plan, huh? Sell me to someone else? One of you guys? Dump me in a river with a bag tied over my head?”

Still, no one speaks.

“Come on,” I say, a little annoyed now. “I’m not stupid. He’s not dragging me to Russia like he plans on doing with my friend, right? You can at least tell me that much.”

One of them sighs, his accent thick and hard to understand when he speaks. “It is not our job to tell you what the boss wants. We do as he says. That is all.”

“How about when I throw myself off the balcony?” I challenge. “You think he’ll care then?”

That gets their attention. One of them steps forward, clearly agitated now.

“You are not going anywhere,” he snaps.

They let me finish my food in silence after that, and I make a mental note: they’re easy to spook when they think they might be held responsible for something happening to me. That might be useful later.

Maybe Alek wants to use me for something after all.

When I’m done, they don’t say a word, just escort me back to my room and shut the door with a dull click of the lock.

Back to waiting. Back to pacing. Back to praying Stefano answers my message.

I sit on the bed and pull my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. The quiet in the house is suffocating. The longer Gianna is gone, the more my anxiety grows.

I press my forehead to my knees, squeezing my eyes shut.

I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the day after that. I don’t even know if I’ll see Gianna again. I don’t know if this is going to be the rest of my life: stuck in this god forsaken house all by myself surrounded by foreign guards who refuse to tell me anything.

My mind suddenly wanders to Dominic. Is he looking for me? Does he even care that I’m gone? Maybe this is what he wanted all along—a clean break. A world without the stubborn girl who keeps defying him.

But then I remember the sound of his voice on the phone when he’d gone to Russia. The softness buried beneath the clipped words and I wonder… if maybe he’s out there, tearing the world apart to find me.

Doubt it.

Sighing, I let myself fall back onto the mattress and close my eyes.

I can’t rely on maybes. I have to believe help with come before it’s too late. Because if it doesn’t…

Alek will win.

And Gianna and I?

Well, we’ll wish we never got on that stupid plane to freedom.