Callie
I lay there in Antonio’s arms. He was whispering something in Italian into my ear. I didn’t understand what he was saying, but it sounded romantic, which made me want to laugh because Antonio was the last man in the world that would ever be romantic, especially toward someone like me. I could still feel his cock pressed up between my ass cheeks, and it made me feel warm and loved. And that was a weird feeling because I knew he didn’t love me. And even though I felt like I was falling for him, I wanted to pretend that I wasn’t because I knew the inevitable heartbreak that would follow whatever was going on between us. This was a game of cat and mouse, yet I didn’t know who the cat or the mouse was. Other people called Antonio a wolf. He called himself a mole, and I called myself a lioness, yet none of those monikers fit us in our situation.
“So, do you think we’ll be able to escape soon?” I asked him softly, looking over my shoulder. His eyes were closed, and he just murmured. “Are you awake, Antonio?” I asked him as I turned over to face him.
His eyes flickered open, and he nodded slowly. “I am. I was just being in this moment.”
“What do you mean?” I asked him, confused.
“It’s nice here with you, quiet and peaceful, and I feel like we’re in our own little cocoon. We don’t have to think about the real world, and we’d rather stay locked up in this room.”
I hoped that that wasn’t a sign of what he had planned for me. What if he decided to lock me in a small, dark room and keep me there forever and just come in once a night or once a week to sleep with me and then leave? That wasn’t a life I wanted for myself, and I certainly hoped that wasn’t something Antonio was preparing me for.
“I would hate to be locked up in someplace like this. It would make me feel like Rapunzel,” I said, blinking at him, trying to let him know. “Do not lock me up in a room and throw away the key, Antonio. I would hate you forever.” I didn’t say the words out loud, though, because I didn’t want him to know that I knew that he had set all of this up. These kidnappings were a ruse to get what he wanted from me, make me trust him again, and get his final and ultimate revenge on my father. And while I understood and could even forgive him for what he’d done initially, I wasn’t going to let him get away with it. He was not going to use and abuse me. I was going to get what I wanted from this situation as well. I was hurt, really, really hurt, by him and by my father and by everyone who’d lied to me. And I was also nervous about Imogen and Gia. They must be so worried, and I didn’t know what Gia would do, what she’d tell Imogen. I knew they were both fighters and cared a lot about me, and I didn’t want them to get kidnapped or in trouble as well.
“You wouldn’t hurt anyone I knew, right?” I said, and Antonio frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“Like Gia or my best friend, Imogen, who was flying in from California to see me. And, well, I was kidnapped before I actually got to meet up with her and…” I bit down on my lower lip. “I’m just wanting to know if you think anything would happen to them, if they decided to go looking for me or—”
“Why would they go looking for you?” he said, blinking. “And when you say Gia, do you mean Alessandro’s friend?”
“Well, they’re not friends now,” I said, blinking at him, wishing I could read his innermost thoughts. This was a man whose head I wanted to be inside, if even just for a few moments.
“No, they’re not,” he said, shaking his head in frustration. “Well, Gia knows our world, so she’d be careful. I mean, it couldn’t hurt if she did start the process of looking for us, because I have absolutely no idea where we are right now.” He sounded angry. “This should not have happened.”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t have happened.” I tried not to roll my eyes. He wasn’t even being a very good actor right now. “I just want to get out of here, you know? This room is small and dark, and it gives me the creeps and—”
“At least I’m here with you,” he said softly. “Wouldn’t it be so much worse if I wasn’t?”
I nodded slowly. A sense of foreboding overcame me. Was he hinting at a future to come that I did not want to experience? I squeezed his arms tightly. “I would hate to be locked in a room by myself. I feel like I would not survive,” I said, staring at him. “Like, I really wouldn’t survive.”
“You could do it,” he said. “You can survive anything, Callie.” His voice was soft. “I’m going to get us out of here, and you may see some things that you don’t like, a part of me that…” His voice froze as we heard a loud banging.
“What’s that?” I asked him. I could hear the fear in my voice.
“I’m not sure,” he said, jumping up and pulling his pants up. “Stay there,” he said as he headed toward the periphery of the room.
“What are you doing, Antonio?” I jumped up, pulling my shirt down and pulling my pants up. I swallowed hard. The noises were getting louder and louder now. Someone was coming. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Maybe they’ll let us out. Maybe it had all been a mistake. Maybe Antonio was going to say, “Surprise, surprise. This was just a little game I was playing with you, and I wanted to see if you passed the test.” And then he’d say I did pass the test because I was a good girl and his little lamb, and… I knew my thoughts were rambling. “Was that a gunshot?” I said as I heard a loud bang.
Antonio shushed me. “Get to the side of the room now,” he said. I hurried to the wall. Within seconds, the door was banged down, and I could hear more shots.
“Where are they?” a deep voice sounded. Antonio rushed forward, and I could hear shooting around us.
“Get down, you stupid fucking idiot. Do you want to fucking die today, Antonio?”
I didn’t recognize the voice. It certainly wasn’t Jimmy, but Antonio had a lot of guys working for him. Most of them I’d never met before in my life. Maybe it was one of them.
“Who are you?” Antonio said, jumping up.
“I will fuck you up.”
“I don’t think so.”
Two men rushed into the room and grabbed me. I started screaming. “Stop! Please, no!” Before I knew what was happening, a piece of silk was tied around my mouth. I couldn’t speak, then my eyes were covered again, and I was blind. I let out a muffled, “Help.” I tried to scream, but nothing would happen. I felt two arms around me, holding me back, and then lips pressed to my ear.
“You shut up, little girl, or I will fuck you up right in front of Mr. Wolf. But maybe you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he said and chuckled. I wanted to cry, but I was in shock. The man moved away, grabbed me by the upper arm, and dragged me out of the room. “Come on, bitch,” he said.
I tried to kick and punch, but he was far too strong for me to do anything. I didn’t know what was happening, but this was no longer fun or funny, not that any of it had been. The guy eventually picked me up and carried me as if I were light as a feather. I wasn’t sure how long he walked for, but then we were outside. I knew it because I could hear birds chirping, and I could hear the sound of a highway and cars going past. A car door opened, and he threw me unceremoniously into the back. I knew that I was going to be black and blue in the morning. The car door slammed behind me, and he must have jumped in because it went speeding off down the road.
I was by myself. Antonio was no longer with me. I was going on to the next stage. This was the third kidnapping. I didn’t know why Antonio was torturing me like this when he kissed me. I just thought it was real. I was more stupid than I’d ever imagined. I didn’t think that Antonio would keep escalating it. I didn’t understand why he would do that to me. I did realize that I was a fool for thinking that I could play the player, that I could get what I wanted from him, what I needed from him, without him having any inkling. He was way smarter than me. He was darker than me. He was harder than me. He knew how to torture me, and that was what he was doing.
I must have fallen asleep because when I awoke, it felt like we were going down into the woods. The van or the car, whatever I was in, was bumping up and down a trail, and I had no idea where we were. The van stopped suddenly, and I could hear voices. The doors opened.
“Where is she?” a deep voice sounded. I couldn’t tell if it was the guy from the room or someone else. I tried not to make a sound. I wanted them to think I was still sleeping or unconscious or something. I lay there, my body a dead weight as I tried to pretend I was out of it.
“Help me. She’s out of it,” one of the voices said.
“Okay,” another voice sounded, and I felt my body being lifted. They carried me about fifty yards, and then I heard a door opening. This time, whoever held me laid me down more gently on the bed. “Let’s go. We got to check on the other room.”
“Okay.”
They headed out of the door, and then I heard the door slam and several bolts sliding into place. Wherever I was, it was going to be very hard for me to get out of here. I just lay there in case they were coming back. I must have counted to ten thousand before I finally decided to pull off my blindfold and the cloth around my mouth. I wanted to scream so badly. I wanted to cry for help, but I didn’t want to alert anyone to the fact that I was awake.
I looked around the room. I could see there was a light on, a lamp. I felt weird. The decor looked like it was from the 1970s. I was in a small single bed next to a log wall. There was a rocking chair in one corner and a small wooden table beside it. There was a little kitchen with a white fridge, a white oven, and some old pots and pans sitting on it. I could see some plastic bags and a cutting board sitting on the table. I got up slowly and walked softly across the floor just in case it creaked. There were slabs of meat on the board, all sorts of different cuts of meat that I didn’t recognize. I could feel myself shivering as I looked around. I was scared. I was really, really scared, and I was nervous because I had no idea how I was going to get out of there.
“Antonio, please don’t do this to me,” I mumbled. “You win, okay? You win. I don’t want to be here.” I wanted to cry, but I knew I had to be strong. I had to think of how to get myself through this. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, and I didn’t know when Antonio was going to come to save me or do whatever he was going to do. I just knew that I was in over my head. I knew that I had played with fire, and I’d gotten burned. This wasn’t a joke. This wasn’t some TV show where the detectives found you at the end of an hour episode. I was screwed. And if I didn’t figure something out, I had a feeling I would be here for a very long time. And that was the stuff of nightmares because I didn’t want to be here for even another hour.
I looked around to see if I could see any windows or doors. There was the front door, but I already knew they’d locked that, and I didn’t want to try opening it in case that alerted them to the fact that I was trying to get out. Then, I saw a small door to my right that I hadn’t noticed before, and I crept over to it and took a deep breath. I was going to try opening it. I had no idea what was on the other side. I had no idea what awaited me, but I knew I had to be stronger and braver than I’d ever been in my life. I had to take control.