Page 120 of A Second Chance for the Beta

Still, hearing his voice and feeling his warmth gives me at least a bit of comfort.

The darkness lasts for a long while, feels like an eternity, but eventually the jeep stops. Someone moves towards us. I can hear groans coming from my side where Dario is supposed to be.

“Don’t hurt him,” I blurt out.

Oh fuck.

I shrink back, expecting them to retaliate and hit me like they did with Dario, but to my surprise, I just feel someone grab me and toss me over their shoulder. I hold my breath, too scared to even move. I’ve never felt that much like a failure before. I should fight, I should argue, I should do something. Felix and Dario instinctively tried to protect me and each other, but I can’t do anything.

The man carrying me stops, and I can hear a door opening with a loud screech. The air around me gets a bit warmer but also damper, and it smells like we are indoors. The man loosens my ties and then tosses me onto the ground before closing a door with a loud bang.

I hold my breath, trying to regain my senses before I tug the bag off my head. My eyes need a while to adapt after being blindfolded for so long. The light is dim around us, but relief fills me when I make out Felix and Dario lying on the ground next to me.

I allow my gaze to wander around. This is a cell. It looks like we are in a basement. Our cell is the only one, with a small toilet attached to it and a cot with a blanket. Nothing else. There are three guards stationed around us.

Oh fuck, where are we?

thirty-eight

Unexpected Help

*ELLA*

Ididmybestto reign in all my emotions when I talked to Dante. My first intuition was to lash out at someone, but seeing Dante so distraught and guilty put things into perspective for me. I’m so relieved now that in that first moment of shock and horror I didn’t yell at him.

I think it would have broken him, and no matter what happens, I want to be the last person to hurt him.

Charlie needs me level-headed, too, not just him.

Once Dante leaves the video call to go look for Charlie, I turn to Julianus. “You were saying?” I ask calmly. “You want to help?”

I stare at the man in front of me, unsure if I can trust him. I’ve only been here for two days. That’s barely enough time to judge someone’s character, especially when I am in the lair of a person who’s been said to be evil. Candy’s letter clearly states that Aloysius isn’t her father, but will he believe me?

“I…” Julianus’s lips tremble slightly, and unexpected tears fill his eyes.

“You can’t still be drunk?” Aryanna mutters.

Julianus rubs over his teary eyes. “I just miss him so much,” he blurts out.

“Him?” I ask confused. “Who do you miss?”

His body is shaking like he is suppressing his sobs, but other than that he isn’t moving at all. It’s eerily quiet until—“Silas,” he says quietly, yet his voice trembles.

I open my mouth to say something, but no sound comes out. Aryanna looks equally dumbfounded and just looks at Julianus. “Excuse me?” I mutter. “Did you say what I think you said?”

“Silas was,” Julianus says. “Everything to me.”

“Wait a moment, Lord Silas was the person you wanted as your beloved and the one who left you,” I say.

“Yes,” he mutters.

I frown while I look at him. “What did you do?” I ask.

“Why do you think I did something?” he mutters.

“Isn’t it obvious? Clearly Silas is a respectable person. He left because his brother was a murderer. He left behind his old life, his luxury, everything he had, and rebuilt his life. That’s what I call respectable,” I say.

“You know him?” Julianus says, shocked. He removes his hands from his face, looking at me now.