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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Mya

It was dark all around me.

I didn’t know where we were. The plane ride had been bumpy, and I’d been frightened.

I didn’t like flying but when Dario had informed me that we had to leave and that our safety was compromised more than ever before, I hadn’t worried about an hour or two in the air.

Then that hour had turned into at least seven hours. And then we got in a car and drove for a while longer. I quickly realized that we were in London as the city rose before us.

For a moment, I had been in awe. Why were we here?

I didn’t have a passport. I didn’t even see a customs agent. It was scary how well-connected Dario was.

It frightened me just how much rules didn’t matter when you were someone like him.

And it also made me sad that in comparison, I was absolutely powerless. This man could move like a ghost all over the world. What did he have to be afraid of?

But he was afraid of something. When he had come back to bed that evening, he’d pulled me into his arms, and placed his hand under my chin, turning my face to his.

I had opened my eyes. I was sleepy but had warmed at his touch, thinking that maybe he had woken me to make love, but instead, he had taken my hand, brought it up to his face, kissed my palm, and placed it against his cheek.

I had looked into his eyes, and I saw gentleness and in the shadows of his gaze, I saw fear. It was there and it was gone a second later as he placed a chaste kiss on my lips and told me to get some sleep. I hadn’t imagined it, it had been love in his eyes.

When we arrived at the house, I found its appearance intimidating. I’d been half afraid that it was haunted.

“Dario?” I called out in the darkness. He’d dropped me off in what I now considered to be my newest gilded cage, a Tudor-style home that looked like something out of a story book or a British murder mystery.

I don’t know when I fell asleep. I had been sitting in the study next to a fireplace, listening to Dario’s voice in the distance. I had yawned, trying not to nod off.

I guess I hadn’t been successful. In the dark, I tried to find my bearings. I knew that would be impossible given that this place, shit, this whole country, was new to me.

When he said that we needed to find someplace safe, I hadn’t expected him to drag me to a whole different continent.

One step at a time , I said to myself as I gingerly made my way through the dark room, hoping that I wouldn’t trip over furniture or one of the plush area rugs that soaked up sound throughout the gigantic home.

I estimated it was at least eleven rooms. Given how long it had taken us to drive up the private driveway before we arrived in front of the majestic fountain that sat on the circular driveway, I would say the property was surrounded by acres of land.

The nearest neighbor wouldn’t be able to hear me scream. I’m not sure where that thought came from but it managed to cement itself in my head.

Did I really think that Dario would kill me? No. Did I think that someone seeking revenge on Dario would? One hundred percent.

When something brushed up against me, I screamed and sent a punch flying in what I hoped was the direction of whatever touched me. I lost my balance, went flying forward, and brushed up against a wall on my way down.

My hand dragging down the wall turned the lights back on, and I realized that I had apparently wrestled an umbrella stand to the ground.

Feeling ridiculous, I stood up and fixed it to the best of my ability. A little smile and then a bark of laughter escaped my lips.

Maybe I was hysterical. I was jumpy and attacking inanimate objects and I was in London. Nothing made sense anymore.

I couldn’t believe this was my life. My amusement faded quickly though, when I remembered why I was there. Dario didn’t need to say it. It was clear they were trying to kill us now, not just him.

When he left to go meet with his brother, I had been tempted to contact Dr. Kali. But something I didn’t want to acknowledge stopped me. Dario was difficult, and he made me angry, and I didn’t know if I could trust him.

But every move he made so far had been to protect me. I didn’t take that for granted.

Something told me that Dr. Kali would not be able to keep me safe the way he had said he would. No one would be able to protect me like Dario, I had realized.

I felt less grateful toward him as I made my way through the rest of the drafty home. It was built like a fortress. I couldn’t even imagine how much the front door weighed. As I admired the architectural details, I noticed the cameras everywhere.

He wasn’t trying to be subtle this time around. I wasn’t feeling charitable anymore. Maybe this was all for my own protection, but it only made me feel even more trapped.

My life as I knew it was totally gone. Would it be like this always? Would every movement I made be watched? How could someone live like that?

And how could I expect to keep a secret from him if he knew my every move? There was no way my pregnancy would go unnoticed for much longer.

My hands were on my hips and I was staring at the camera in the foyer, a look of disgust on my face, when I heard the front door open. I was tense, feeling the urge to hide. But then Dario came in followed by Joseph and Ivan.

“How was your nap?” he asked.

I was watched from all angles at all times, and he wanted to discuss naps. This was all insane.

“Can I speak with you in private?” I knew my request came out more as a growl, but I couldn’t help myself.

I turned on my heel and walked toward the nearest door, and realized it was a weird little sitting room. I waited for him to join me.

He came in a few seconds later, closed the door behind him. He waited for me to speak.

I folded my arms across my chest. “What’s with all the cameras?”

He raised a brow and had the audacity to say, “What cameras?”

Sighing, I took a deep breath and tried not to lose my shit. “The cameras that are lining every goddamn room in this house, Dario!”

“If you’re referring to the indoor security cameras, I would think you would appreciate them being there…all things considered.”

I hated it when he spoke to me so formally. It was as if, by doing so, he was putting distance between us.

And part of me felt like he was. When he came back after going to see Matteo, he hadn’t been himself.

Not that he was ever jovial and affectionate, but even for Dario, he was quieter than usual, more contemplative, and there seemed to be a weight hanging over him. It was as if he was carrying the world on his broad shoulders.

I was surprised that I found myself wanting him to let me in to tell me what was wrong besides someone burning down his mother’s house and trying to kill us. The attack on the island, it had seemed, was just part of his lifestyle. It felt crazy that anyone could live this way.

But whatever was bothering him now was different.

When he looked at me, the look in his eyes was different. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what had changed, but something had, and I didn’t know how to address it.

I felt like he was keeping a secret from me, but how could I approach that topic when I was keeping a huge secret from him? It was a secret that would reveal itself in no time. I was running out of time.

“Can you consider taking some of the cameras down? I don’t want to feel like a prisoner in my own home.”

“I’ll consider it. Was there anything else?”

Again, with that formal tone that made me want to rip my hair out.

Feeling defeated, I shrugged, “I guess.”

He lingered for a second and seemed ready to say something else but then just turned and left.

“Well, that wasn’t awkward at all,” I mumbled to myself. I flopped down on a chair that sat next to the windows and stared out at the expanse of lawn on the side of the house.

I noticed then that the camera in this room rotated. Interesting.

The next day Dario was gone again.

I pretended to read books in the sitting room, but instead, I was paying attention to the cameras, memorizing when it would pause and exactly where.

By that evening, I had a plan.

The window in the sitting room wasn’t too far away from the ground. If I could just get the window open while the camera was turned away, I would have an escape route.

The only problem was, I didn’t know if there were alarms on the windows themselves. I figured now was a good time as any to find out. I went to the window unlocked it, and tried to muscle it open.

It didn’t work. I tried again, but it barely moved.

Angry, I tried again and this time, it opened just slightly, letting in a hint of the cool air from outside.

Feeling like a million bucks, I was about to close the window, when I heard someone say behind me, “What are you doing?”

It was Ivan. I didn’t really know him, but I didn’t like the way he had looked at me on the boat. He seemed to naturally dislike me.

I didn’t understand why. I’d done nothing to him.

“I just needed some air.”

He stood there for a long moment, staring at the window and back at me. “If you need some air, I can arrange for Joseph to take you for a drive.”

I nodded, just wanting him to go away. He gave me the creeps. When he was finally gone, I absently reached for the little slip of paper that I kept in my bra.

It was Dr. Kali’s number. I kept it there, close to my heart, just waiting for the right moment to use it. My whole escape plan was dependent on Dr. Kali’s help.

I pondered how I had been swinging back and forth between trusting the doctor and trusting Dario. I still believed that Dario was more likely to be able to keep me safe, but there were so many things I didn’t trust about the situation around me.

I wanted to find out what had happened to Jason, needed to be able to figure out what was going on in Dario’s world, and I couldn’t do that while I lived inside this prison.

It actually broke my heart to think about leaving Dario. I knew he would never forgive me.

But I knew that we were both in danger now, and I couldn’t let him take me down with him.

I was outside the US, but something told me that it wouldn’t stop Dr. Kali from being able to help me when I needed him.

The rest of the day, I spent vacillating between boredom and jumping at every new noise I heard in the house.

It was clear that I was dealing with a little post-traumatic stress from the island incident. I sincerely hoped it wouldn’t impact the baby.

My hands rested on my stomach which was now definitely starting to grow thicker. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was running out of time. I kicked off my shoes and started massaging my feet.

They were starting to hurt and I had noticed some swelling around my ankles. That was new. I figured the airplane trip might have had something to do with that.

That’s how Dario found me, one foot across my lap, staring down with a pensive look on my face.

“Are you all right?”

His voice caught me off guard. When had he arrived?

“Did you just get here? I didn’t hear your car pull up.”

He ignored my question and came to sit next to me. He stared at my foot and commented, “How long have your ankles been swollen like that?”

I shrugged, “Not long.”

“You need to get that checked out.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. Don’t your feet swell after a long flight?”

“No,” he said shortly. “Get dressed, we’re going.”

I was tired of being ordered around. “You can’t just tell me what to do like I’m a child.”

Again, he ignored me. “I’ll meet you in the foyer in five.”

I stood up. “No.”

He turned around slowly and tilted a brow. “What do you mean, no?”

“You can’t order me around like this, Dario. The cameras, the orders, the guys following my every move…especially that Ivan—I just can’t deal with this. It’s too much.”

“Everything that you mentioned is part of me trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection.” I was lying, but I felt trapped.

“You do.”

He turned away again, dismissing me. Something about that made me angry.

“You can’t just hide me away forever?—”

When he turned back to me, his eyes were angry. “I don’t need to hide you forever, just for six more months. Isn’t that about right, Mya?”

The ringing in my ears sounded like a freight train. He couldn’t know. How did he know?

His eyes left mine and rested on my stomach. It was then that I realized I’d placed my hands over it in a protective gesture.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But when his eyes met mine, I knew that wasn’t true.

“You’re pregnant.”

My mind went blank. I couldn’t keep up with the emotions that flooded my brain. Fear, panic, defeat, and sadness.

I’d failed. He knew.

I didn’t know how but he knew, and from the look in his eyes, I knew my chances of escaping were now nonexistent.

The normal life that I wanted for myself and my child had vanished at this moment. It was a dream that would never be realized.

I closed my eyes, unable to look at him, unable to stop the tears from forming. It was all done. It was over.

I opened my eyes to meet his, and as soon as I did so, the room began to spin.

I took a step forward and it was as if I’d stepped into a bottomless pit. I felt like I was falling slowly, and then my world faded to black.