Chapter 5

Angelina's POV

The next morning, Joseph brought a doctor to my room.

I didn't want to let them touch me, but the wounds on my back had soaked through the sheets again during the night. The pain was constant now.

"Don't move," the doctor said as he peeled away the blood-crusted fabric stuck to my skin.

I bit down on the pillow and refused to make a sound. Joseph stood by the door watching with that blank expression on his face.

"The lacerations are deep," the doctor murmured while cleaning the wounds. "Some will scar. You're lucky there's no infection yet."

Lucky. What a fucking joke.

He cleaned everything, applied antibacterial ointment, and wrapped fresh bandages around my torso. The whole process took thirty minutes.

When the doctor finished packing up his supplies, Joseph stepped forward. "Angelina. Just apologize to my mother. That's all you have to do and this can end."

I turned my face away from him without saying a word.

"Fine." His voice went ice cold. "Suffer then."

The door locked behind them and I was alone again.

One more day, I kept whispering to my stomach. Just one more day until Father comes for us.

I didn't know what time he'd arrive, just that it would be tomorrow. The tenth day. The end of the two-year trial period he'd agreed to when I'd insisted on marrying Joseph.

I woke on the tenth day to pale morning light coming through the barred windows.

My heart was already pounding before I'd even fully opened my eyes. Today. It's finally today.

I sat up carefully because my back pulled against the bandages with every movement. I looked around the room that had been my prison for the past ten days and knew this would be the last morning I'd ever wake up here.

I moved slowly to the closet and pulled out a small bag, packing a few changes of clothes. I tucked them into the side pocket where they'd be safe.

I touched my stomach gently through my shirt. "Baby, your grandfather will love you so much. He'll protect us and keep us safe and we'll never have to see these people again."

We just had to survive until he arrived, that's all.

I washed my face carefully, brushed my teeth, and braided my hair back. Then I sat on the bed with my packed bag beside me and waited for my father's people to come.

At ten o'clock, I heard footsteps outside my door and my heart jumped into my throat.

The lock turned and I stood up fast, thinking maybe Father had come early.

But it was Rosanna who stepped inside wearing a cream-colored dress that showed off her pregnant belly. She smiled at me.

"Angelina! Good morning." She clasped her hands together in front of her stomach. "I thought we could go for a drive and get some fresh air, clear our heads. Maybe we can finally talk things through and put all this ugliness behind us."

"No." I shook my head hard. "I'm not going anywhere, especially not today."

"Oh, don't be like that." Rosanna's smile didn't change at all. "It'll be good for both of us. Just a short trip to the countryside where it's peaceful and relaxing and we can really talk."

"I said no."

Footsteps behind her and then Joseph appeared in the doorway with his face set in that hard expression.

"This is your chance to make things right," he said in that flat tone he used now. "You're going."

"I'm not going anywhere with her—"

"You don't have a choice." Joseph gestured and four guards appeared behind him in the hallway. "Take her to the car."

"No!" I backed toward the window even though I knew the bars made escape impossible. "Joseph, please, not today, I can't leave today!"

The guards moved fast and grabbed my arms, hauling me toward the door while I fought and twisted against their grip with everything I had.

"Let me go! Joseph, please!" I was begging now and I couldn't leave, not when Father was coming for me. "Please, just let me stay here, I'll apologize to your mother, I'll do whatever you want—"

"Too late for that." Joseph's voice cold.

They dragged me down the stairs with my feet barely touching the ground. I kept fighting even though it was useless.

They shoved me into the back of a black SUV and Rosanna climbed in across from me, settling herself comfortably on the leather seat like this was a pleasant afternoon outing. Two guards got in on either side of me, boxing me in so completely I couldn't even shift without touching them.

The car pulled away from the estate and I twisted around to look out the back window, watching the mansion disappear behind the trees.

"Where are we going?" My voice came out rough and hoarse.

Rosanna smiled at me while resting her hand on her belly. "Somewhere quiet where we can really talk without interruptions."

I looked at her carefully and studied her face. Her eyes were too bright and excited, her smile too satisfied and smug.

The drive took over an hour and we left the city completely behind. We drove through suburbs that turned into farmland, then turned onto a dirt road that cut through overgrown fields that hadn't been maintained in years.

The car finally stopped in front of an old warehouse with broken windows and walls covered in graffiti. Weeds grew up through cracks in the concrete and the whole place looked abandoned.

Dread settled into my chest and made it hard to breathe.

The guards pulled me out of the car roughly. Rosanna stepped out gracefully and looked around the abandoned property like she owned it.

"What is this?" I demanded while trying to keep my voice steady. "Rosanna, what are we doing here—"

Men in black masks burst from the warehouse entrance, at least six of them, and they were all carrying guns pointed straight at us.

"Don't move!" one shouted while aiming his weapon at my chest.

Rosanna screamed with this high terrified sound, but I saw it clearly. The brief eye contact between her and the man who'd shouted. The tiny nod he gave her in acknowledgment.

She planned this whole thing.

"Please!" Rosanna sobbed while clutching her stomach dramatically. "Don't hurt me! I'm pregnant, please!"

Two men grabbed us and zip-tied our wrists roughly behind our backs. I didn't scream or beg like Rosanna was doing. I watched her performance and saw how the kidnappers were careful not to actually hurt her even as they shoved me down to my knees on the concrete.

One of the masked men pulled out a phone and made a call. "We have them both. Five hundred thousand for their safe return."

I looked directly at Rosanna while she continued her crying act. When her eyes met mine, I saw the truth written all over her face.

"You planned this," I said quietly. "This whole kidnapping is your setup."

Her tears disappeared instantly and completely. She smiled at me with this cold victorious expression.

"You're too smart for your own good, Angelina." She leaned closer to whisper. "But it doesn't matter now because you won't get the chance to tell anyone what you figured out."

"My father's people will find me." I kept my voice steady even though my heart was racing so fast I could feel it in my throat. "They're coming for me today. And when they do, every single one of you will pay for this."

Rosanna actually laughed at that. "Oh, Angelina. Always so dramatic about everything. No one's coming to save you."

Yes they are. Father promised me. Today is the day he ends the trial period and brings me home.

I just had to survive long enough for his people to track me down and get me out of here.

An hour later, I heard cars approaching the warehouse from outside.

The kidnappers dragged Rosanna and me to opposite ends of the building. They tied me to a support beam with rough rope that cut into my wrists, then I watched them pour something from a large can all around my feet in a wide circle.

Gasoline. The sharp chemical smell burned my nose and throat.

I looked down at the liquid spreading across the concrete floor and my heart stopped beating completely.

The warehouse door burst open with a violent crash. Joseph stormed in with at least a dozen armed men behind him, the Valentino family soldiers all carrying weapons.

"Let them go!" he shouted while surveying the situation.

The lead kidnapper stepped forward with his gun raised and aimed at Joseph. "You can only save one of them. Choose right now. Your wife or your sister-in-law?"

"Joseph!" Rosanna screamed from across the warehouse where they had her tied up. "Save me! Please! Think about your brother! Think about the family legacy! This baby is a Valentino, the family to everything your brother built!"

I looked at Joseph across the space between us and our eyes met for just a moment.

Please, I thought desperately while staring at him.

I watched him looking at Rosanna and her obvious pregnant belly, at the future of his family and his brother's legacy.

Then he looked back at me.

He turned to his men and gave the order.

"Save Rosanna first!"