Page 18

I kick the base of the door hard enough to hurt my own foot. Then, in a dramatic tantrum, I shout at it and slam my fists into it.

I’m wasting energy.

Hours have been wasted over the past three days since Nico locked me up in here—hours spent trying to find a way out.

It turns out that his penthouse is ridiculously secure, and unless I want to jump off the balcony of this thirty-two-story high building, I don’t think there is a way out of here.

With nothing else to do, though, I keep looking. Boredom seems worse than giving up. At least this is something to do—something to keep my mind busy. The moment I stop looking, I get the sense that it will feel like I’m betraying myself by simply giving up the fight.

Niko is still going to work every day. He leaves me here alone while he heads out into the world to pretend that everything is normal.

I guess, for him anyway, this is normal. He’s kidnapped me and he’s keeping me prisoner in his home, and I think it’s totally normal for him.

I’ve heard crazy, scary, dark stories about the mafia. But in the world I lived in, my little, peaceful, normal world—those stories were so absurd that I brushed them off as unbelievable, most of them.

A normal person doesn’t process things like a criminal. There are so many lines I would never cross. So many lines that create my moral compass that aren’t negotiable in my decision-making.

Does Nico have those lines? The morals?

I huff and walk past another door. This one isn’t even locked, I know because I tested it earlier, but I kick it anyway.

Frustration is getting the best of me. The worst part is that a big part of my frustration is something I’m deeply in denial about, but basically, I’m failing to be in denial about.

No matter how hard I try to hate him, I can’t.

I’m angry with him.

I have a hate towards him.

I want to throw things at him the moment he walks into the house.

But I can’t hate him.

My heart won’t let me.

He’s taken away from freedom. He’s taken away my entire life at this point; I can’t go back there and work for that company.

It’s not even a real company. I wasn’t adding value to the world.

I wasn’t working towards good things. My entire life, without my parents to support me, I worked my ass off to get everything that I had.

I worked real jobs, I studied hard, I was a good person.

My heart sinks as my understanding of the situation deepens.

This is a horrible, terrifying mess.

I don’t have a job anymore.

And I’m trapped inside this penthouse with no way to get out.

And I should hate the man who put me in this situation.

But I don’t.

My stupid, pathetic, annoying heart is still in love with him.

Monday turns into Tuesday. Tuesday turns into Wednesday.

I do my best to keep my distance from Nico. Whenever he’s home, I stay in the guestroom with the door closed. When he tries to talk to me, I keep my answers short.

But I’m going crazy.

I want to know when I’m being set free.

He can’t keep me here forever, can he?

It’s just after lunchtime on Wednesday, and I’m sitting in the living room flicking through Netflix, not paying attention to the screen, just desperate for something to do.

A knock at the door makes me jump out of my skin, and it also makes me realize how tense I am.

I run up to the door and stand up on my tiptoes to peek through the spy hole.

“It’s Jade,” she says loudly through the door, making me jump again.

“And Aliyah,” Aly calls out.

“I don’t have a key,” I shout through the door.

“It’s okay, we have one.”

The door is pushed open, and my heart jumps with excitement.

But then I stiffen, hesitating. “Did Nico send you?” I ask, frowning, worried that maybe I’ve made a rushed decision to be happy to see them.

“Actually,“ Aly raises her brows high, “he would probably be furious if he found out we were here, so please don’t say anything to him.”

Jade dumps her purse on the sofa. “I just found out that he was keeping you a freaking prisoner in here. I overheard Rad talking on the phone. So, I snuck out, fetched Aly on the way, and we came straight over.”

“Are you ok?” Aly says, pulling me into a hug. She holds me for longer than I expect, and when she doesn’t let go, but instead wraps her arms tighter around me, I sink against her, trying not to cry.

“Not really,” I manage to stammer.

Jade shakes her head, angry. The red tips of her long black hair move like fire over her shoulders. “He’s such an asshat,” she huffs. “I’m sorry you’re going through this, honey. But we’ve come to take you out.”

“Out?” I say in surprise. “Nico says it’s really dangerous—“

“Ugh, he’s being dramatic,” Jade laughs. "There is always something going on in this family. He’s just doing it because he cares about you. Let’s go.”

I glance down at my jeans and sweatshirt. Nico fetched my clothes from my apartment, so I have most of them here—

“I should change. “

“Well, hurry up, but don’t get too fancy. It’s just dinner,” Aly says, waving me away.

I hurry and choose a dress, a different pair of boots, and a pretty sweater. I splash mascara on and give my hair a quick brush, pulling it into a bun on top of my head.

Aly and Jade are both dressed similarly, so that should be good enough.

“Ready,” I say, stepping back into the living room with my purse over my shoulder.

Following them out of the penthouse, my heart flip-flops with tension. Even though I’m angry about being locked up in there, the moment I step over the threshold, I know I’ve broken Nico’s commands. It sends a nervous thrill through me.

I tilt my chin up.

I’m free to do whatever the hell I want.

He doesn’t get to command me.

That is not how the world works.

Jade drives, stopping outside a quiet restaurant near a side of town I don’t often visit.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been here,” I comment as we climb out of the car.

“No one ever comes here. That’s why I chose it. It will at least be secluded. Even though I think Nico is overreacting, there’s no harm in being a little careful,” she says, gesturing for me to walk ahead of her into the cozy restaurant.

It’s a small pizza and pasta restaurant with a warm orange glow flooding from the lights, and a delicious, rich smell of creamy garlic sauce and melted cheese.

We find a table tucked away in the corner, and Jade orders a bottle of wine.

Aly turns towards me with a sour expression on her face.

“What have you been doing all day, locked up in there—aren’t you going crazy?”

“I am. It’s so boring. To be honest, I’ve spent most of the time looking for ways to escape,” I giggle, covering my mouth with my hand, trying to stuff the confession back into my throat. It sounds so stupid when I say it out loud.

“I would have been doing the same thing,” Jade grins.

“He’s a barbarian. Honestly . Who the hell does something like that?” Aly huffs. “You can’t just go around kidnapping people and keeping them prisoner. I’m so mad at him.” She drums her perfectly manicured, long pink nails on the tabletop as agitation surges through her.

Jade shakes her head. She brushes her hand over her shoulder to push the red flames of her hair behind her shoulder. When she looks at me, her eyes are soft. “You know, he didn’t do this out of malice. He had good intentions, he just carried it out the wrong way.”

“Don’t defend him,” Aly snaps.

“I’m not defending him, Aly. But this is Nico we’re talking about. He’s the most logical, kind, soft-hearted person I know. His intention would never have been to hurt her. You know that.”

Aly rolls her eyes, and I take a deep breath, pushing away the stinging tears in my eyes. I want to believe her. I want to believe he is kind and gentle and soft.

Jade turns back to me and notices the tears springing to my eyes.

She hands me a napkin. “Oh, honey, I really mean it. He went about it the wrong way, but all he wanted to do was protect you. He feels responsible for you being in this situation because you work for him. He’s doing whatever he can, in whatever way he can, good or bad, to make sure that nothing happens to you. ”

Aly picks up her wine and takes a big sip.

“I’m still angry with him,” she says, rolling her eyes.

Jade laughs. “That’s fine. I’m sure Sera is, too.” She turns to look at me, reaching out across the table, she squeezes my hand gently. “He did it because he cares about you.”

“I want to believe that,” I say, sipping my own wine. “But he lied to me about who he really is.”

“What do you mean?” Aly asks.

“He lied to me about being part of the mafia. I thought I knew him, but I don’t.

When he stands in front of me, I have no idea who that man is.

The man I know—he’s—he’s not mafia,“ I say tightly, knowing that I might be touching on sensitive ground because both Aly and Jade are part of a mafia family.

Jade laughs, lighthearted, not offended at all.

“Honey, being part of a mafia doesn’t mean you are the mafia, ” she says. “Sure, there are ties, there are things you do that aren’t the same things normal people would do. But he’s still Nico. He’s still the man you met and got to know. He’s just Nico with mafia ties.”

I bite my lip. What she says is trickling into my mind and making sense.

She tries again. “Okay, so look at it this way. If you study accounting and become an accountant. You, as a person, are not accounting. It’s just something you do to make a living. You have your own dreams and hopes and fears and ability to laugh and be happy and—fall in love.”

She raises her brows at me.

“Do you really think he’s just being overprotective?”

“Completely. Because he cares,” she nods.

“It’s not really fair of me to hate him for caring,” I sigh.

“Do you hate him?” Aly asks, her brows knitting together and her eyes tight with worry. She doesn’t want me to hate her brother. I don’t want to hate her brother.

“No,” I sigh again heavily. “I tried to, though.”

Both Aly and Jade start laughing, and I can’t help but join in.

“I tried really hard, actually, but it’s really difficult.”

We’re still laughing when Nico bursts through the restaurant door in a blind rage.

He storms over to the table and turns his full anger onto Jade.

“Was this your idea? Are trying to fucking get her killed? What were you going to do if someone tried to take her while you were running around town, out in the open? You don’t even have protection on you,” he snarls, his voice deep and savage.

Jade shifts and lifts the corner of her dress to reveal a small gun strapped to her ankle. “I have protection, Nico, you need to calm down.”

“Right. So when eight men ambush you, shoot you to get to Sera, kill Aly—or take all three of you—you think that’s going to help?”

He yanks her out of her chair and pushes her towards two bodyguards standing behind him. “Make sure my sisters get home. Do not let them go anywhere else. And explain to Radmir what she did.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, please,” Jade huffs.

This spikes Nico’s anger even more as he spins towards his sister.

He stands over her, his body tense, his voice low.

“It’s fine if you want to put your own life at risk by making stupid decisions, but leave Sera out of it.

If anything happens to her—“ His throat closes, and he takes in a sharp breath.

Jade looks down at the floor and swallows hard. “I’m sorry, Nico,” she mumbles.

“Go home.”

She reaches out and takes Aly’s hand. “Bye, Sera. Sorry.”

I smile tightly at both of his sisters.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I say.

Nico turns to glare at me.

“Don’t you dare look at me like that. You’re the one in the wrong here,” I snap.

Nico grabs my arm, his fingers digging into me as he storms out of the restaurant to leave the final bodyguard to sort out the bill.

He pushes me into the car and slams the door behind me. Immediately, I try to open the door again, but it’s locked, and I can’t get it open from inside.

Nico climbs in, and all the way home, he lectures me about how I’ve taken a dangerous risk, and how stupid it was, and blah blah blah—

All the way up to the penthouse, he doesn’t release my arm until we are inside, and the door is locked behind us.

I’ve been biting my tongue for the whole drive home, but I’m so angry at this point that I can’t hold it back anymore.