Page 42 of Mafia Love

“Come on now, Luc. I thought you would have guessed. Henry was your best friend; you came for him. On this occasion, as planned, I thought I’d act out of the goodness of my heart and get Amelia. She doesn’t need to worry her pretty little head over where we are. Oh no, no, no.”

My eyes bulged and I couldn’t blink. I released a sharp breath as shards of cold fear washed over me, like knives piercing through my body. I shook my head in disbelief.

My nightmare.

My worst nightmare actually happened. Tremors took my hands and sweat made the phone slippery in my hands even though I was gripping on to it.

“You have Amelia!” I could barely speak and just managed to whirl around to face Claudius, who released Antonio instantly.

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. I got your girl. Again. This time was so much easier. You all scampered away guns blazing, leaving the rat in the house. Don’t you know you should do your best to get rid of vermin? God, Luc, makes me wonder what your kitchen looks like. I don’t think I would eat from you.”

“Don’t hurt her. Don’t you hurt her.”

“Luc, you know how this goes. I always hurt them. Come on, I’m Victor Pertrinkov. I don’t want people to think I’ve gone soft. Oh no, no.”

“I swear to God, Victor, if you hurt her—”

“You’ll what, Luc? What can you do? Couldn’t save Henry, couldn’t save Lydia, and you couldn’t save their kids. Have you ever saved anyone?”

Bastard. Once again, he knew how to get to me.

“Just give her back, give them both back. There must be some humanity left in you. I’ll give you anything, anything.” Begging again.

“Tell you what, if you could be a dear and grab those diamonds, that would be awesome. It would save me from getting it. I already got paid a billion dollars for this job, and I’m a man of my word. I get hired to do a job, and I do it well. It’s good for business. People leave good reviews. I want five stars in all categories.” He laughed again.

“I’ll get the diamonds.” Claudius looked at me when I said that.

“Good, little boss, you get the diamonds, and I’ll tell you when to get to the arena.”

I closed my eyes as my heart shied away from the craziness. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I just couldn’t believe it.

He took Amelia…

He had my girl.

* * *

Amelia

* * *

Something burned my nose.

Something that smelled really bad. Like sulfur and shit.

My nose burned and stung from the inside, and my head felt like it would fall off.

Where am I?

I lifted my head. Big mistake.

Ugh. Why was it hurting?

I went to reach up to touch my forehead, but my hands… they were bound behind my back.

Tied up with what felt like thick ropes. I was able to run my fingers over the twines.

The room, or wherever it was, was dark. I couldn’t see anything. There was a light that flickered in the corner. Looked like a candle.