Keeping his bride

CHAPTER43Nicholas

THE ENTIRE CONTROL room is on edge, everyone buzzing with barely controlled rage, the tension so thick in the room that you could literally cut it with a knife. Constantine has Aria and Selina, and there’s not a goddamn thing any of us can do about it.

“They could be in another state…or hell, another country by now!” I yell, exasperated, running my hand through my hair and pulling at the ends in frustration.

It’s been hours, and Aldo isn’t any closer to finding out where Constantine has taken the girls. We lost the trail on them somewhere downtown, and he hasn’t been able to pull enough camera footage to find out where they went. And all of our men out there searching the streets, abandoned buildings and warehouses have come up empty.

My father’s expression is solemn when he announces to the room, “I’m going to call my contact person with the FBI. We need their resources and manpower.”

“The FBI?” I scoff. “If they help us, then Constantine will never get what he truly deserves.” Which is a long, gruesome, and torturous death. Only the best for that bastard, in my opinion. I want to see him die and rot with my very own eyes.

“And if they don’t help us, we could lose them forever,” my father says vehemently. “We need all resources on this. We’ve helped them out many times in the past. The least they can do is help us now when we need it the most. I have all the right connections to take care of this and walk away clean with no questions asked.”

I reluctantly nod in agreement. If my father is anything, he is a very smart man when it comes to matters such as this one. “Do what needs to be done,” I tell him.

He gives Aldo a nod, and I watch as Aldo begins typing on his computer, probably setting up the secure line we’ll need to contact the FBI.

I pace the concrete floor as my father gets on the phone, my hands curling into fists, my biceps trembling as anger begins to boil inside of me. I’ve never felt so goddamn helpless before in my entire life. Maybe back when Selina was first taken from me, but I was a dumb kid. I’m an adult now. With resources. There has to be a way to get them back safely. I don’t want to involve law enforcement, but every second, every minute, every hour that ticks by lessens our chances of finding them.

My father’s murmurs in the corner of the room cease, and I stop pacing to turn to look at him. “We move in one hour,” he announces to the room.

One hour. Fuck. That’s longer than what I wanted to hear; but considering everything that needs to be put into place before we can get to Aria and Lina, it could have been way worse.

One hour. I check my watch, set the timer and watch the seconds tick down.

I’m coming for you, Selina.

Selina

ALL I WANT is to be at home in Nico’s arms. I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before this moment. He’s my home. He’s my…everything. And I love him. I love him with all of my being, soul and body.

And if I ever escape from here, if I ever make it out of here alive, I want to tell him all of that. Because if I die before he knows how much I care for him, how much he means to me, I won’t be able to rest in peace. I will haunt this earth forever, mourning my mistakes and missed opportunities.

“Are you awake, my little pet?” Constantine’s voice instantly breaks me out of my reverie, forcing me to come to terms with my present and horrible situation.

I look him dead in the eyes. I want him to feel my hatred, the hate I have carried around for him for years. It’s been lingering deep inside of my chest, just waiting for the right opportunity to show itself.

A high-pitched feral scream breaks free from my lungs, and I relish in the surprised look he gets on his face. It’s nice to be the one scaring him instead of the other way around.

Constantine quickly schools his features and takes a step towards me. When my scream dies in my throat, he tells me, “My, my, little pet. If I wanted to hear you scream, I would just fuck that tight, little asshole of yours.” A devilish smirk forms on his lips, and I want to bite it off of his face.

He comes closer to me, and I strain in my bonds, snapping my teeth together like a wild dog, wanting to actually bite him if he comes any closer.

His hand snatches out to grab my throat before I can even blink, before I can even react. His chokehold on me grows stronger with every passing second, and I struggle to breathe as he crushes my windpipe.

“It’s a shame I’ll have to retrain you. I don’t know what the Vitales did, but they gave you some sort of backbone while you were gone.” His hot breath fans over my face as he promises, “I’ll remedy that soon enough. I’ll break every bone in your fucking body if I have to until you obey.”

I struggle against him, but my efforts are proven futile. My vision starts to blacken around the edges, and I fear that this is the end for me. It’s hard for me to remember the number of times I thought I would die at the hands of Constantine. There are just too many to count.

“I could end your life at any given second,” he snarls into my ear. “Don’t you fucking forget that!”

He releases me then, and my entire body sags towards the ground, my shoulders screaming in pain from the strain. I cough and sputter as I suck in lungfuls of precious air.

“You’re mine!” he says before he lashes out, punching me in the stomach.

I gasp from the pain, all the air suddenly leaving my lungs in a rush as a silent cry leaves my lips.

“You’ve always been mine,” he tells me, spittle flying from his mouth and onto my face. “And you’ll always be mine.”

He turns and walks away from me, running his fingers through his hair, messing up perfection. Now I know he’s really upset. If Constantine is anything, it’s a perfectionist.

And knowing that he’s on edge, I decide to defy him even further. Instead of being the docile, little mouse that I always used to try to be, I decide to let him know exactly how I feel. Looking up at him through blurry vision, I tell him loud and clear, “I don’t belong to you. I never did. And I never will.”

Maybe it’s my last act of defiance. But if he’s going to kill me, I want him to know that he’ll never own me. My heart belongs to Nicholas Vitale. And I will love him until my last dying breath.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Constantine asks, turning quickly on his heel and heading straight towards me.

He raises his fist in the air, and I close my eyes, trying to ready myself for the blow, but it never comes.

“Put your fucking hands in the air!” I hear someone cry out.

My eyes flutter open, and I see a man dressed in all black holding up a rifle with the words SWAT written across his chest in big, white letters.

I watch in utter disbelief as Constantine puts his hands in the air and follows the man’s next instruction, which is to get on his knees.

Thinking I must be dreaming or maybe I’m already dead, I don’t allow myself to feel relieved until I see Nico coming into the room behind more SWAT members.

A sob bursts free, and my entire body sags in relief when he comes running towards me.

“Help me get her down!” Nico yells as he comes for me, lifting me up in his arms to take some of the tension off of my shoulders. “It’s okay. You’re safe,” he says as I tuck my face against his chest.

I vaguely feel my numb hands vibrating as someone cuts through the ropes, and then I’m free, falling into Nico’s arms.

“I’ve got you, Lina. I’m here. I’ve got you,” Nico whispers to me.

I want to sink into his arms and stay there forever, but I can do that later. Even though it kills me to say the words, I know I have to tell him. Hopefully it’s not too late. “They took Aria. She’s gone! They took her to that island!” I gasp, trying to hold myself together but failing miserably.

His face drops at my words, but he simply holds me tighter. “We’ll find her,” he assures me. “We’ll make him talk.” Nico’s carries me towards the exit, his gaze hardening into a murderous glare as his eyes rest upon Constantine.

There’s a strong sense of urgency inside of me when I cry out, “Wait!” I want to watch my captor, my tormentor get his justice. No, it’s so much more than want. I need to see this.

Nico reluctantly stops in his tracks and turns me to face the bastard that stole my childhood away from me.

Constantine is down on his knees, his arms behind his back as they secure handcuffs around his wrists. He looks up at me, and I smile at him as widely and brightly as I can. I want him to know how happy this is making me. I want him to know he can’t hurt me anymore. I want him to know that, by making me suffer, he sealed his fate behind bars. Nothing will get him out now. No technicality in the world can help him. The SWAT team obviously observed the abuse towards me, and my testimony alone will lock him away. And as long as I’m alive, I will testify against him every single fucking time he tries to get parole or overturn his case. I will let the world know what a terrible man he is. I will show the world my scars to prove it if I have to. I will do anything just to keep him from hurting one more person.

And it’s not until I watch them loading Constantine into the back of a black van that I feel like I can finally breathe again. Nico takes me to a waiting SUV, and we climb into the backseat where I allow myself to touch, to feel Nico. My needy hands grip his t-shirt, bringing him impossibly closer to me. I can never get close enough to him. I want to bury myself inside of him and never leave.

Nico holds me the whole way home.

Home.

I never really had one before. My mother jumped from trailer park to trailer park, couch surfed or stayed in motels until she could get her fix, dragging me along for every second of her drug-filled antics.

When the car stops outside the Vitale compound, I lift my head and peer into Nico’s eyes. “You’re my home,” I tell him.

Wherever he is, I will be too. And I will be happy.

Nicholas

Selina is recovering nicely in her room, sleeping peacefully thanks to a sedative. It was almost impossible to calm her down after we got home. She wanted to go find my sister. And while I feel the same way, we must let the authorities handle it. We got them involved, and now we have to, unfortunately, play by their rules.

If we had known beforehand that Aria was missing, we would’ve approached the situation entirely differently. And I would have taken pleasure in torturing Constantine until he talked. Then I would have killed him with my bare fucking hands, strangling the life out of him until I saw his evil soul leave his lifeless body.

My muscles ripple with anger, and I land my fist on the punching bag before me. I’ve been working out for hours, trying to calm myself down to no avail. I’m too angry, too sad, too…everything. The emotions I’m feeling are overwhelming me, and I feel like I’m drowning in them.

Lying there in wait until they gave us the go ahead to burst through the door to get to Selina was torture in and of itself. They almost put me in handcuffs because I refused to back down. I went in with the SWAT team, unprotected, at my own risk, not giving a single fuck. And I’d do it all over again.

Seeing Selina hanging there…fuck, it’s going to be an awful and unwanted memory ingrained in my mind forever. Every time I close my eyes, I see her. Helpless. Her tear-streaked face crumbling with disbelief and then relief the moment her eyes landed on me.

I punch the bag again, my muscles straining and vibrating against the force of the blow. If only it were Constantine’s face I was hitting and not this stupid bag.

Renato enters the room, and he looks like he’s barely holding it together. When his eyes lock onto mine, there’s a silent understanding that passes between us. He lost the girl he loves. I know the hell he’s going through right now, and I feel for him immensely.

Hopefully they find Aria before it’s too late. Selina mentioned Constantine wanting to sell her, auctioning off her virginity at the island that we never were able to find and probably never will.

Just thinking about it has my blood boiling.

What should have been a simple, fun night out for Aria and Lina turned into something horrific and cruel. Aria is gone. And Selina…well, she barely survived. Who knows what that bastard would have done to her had we not come to save her.

Renato runs his hands through his hair as I land a few more punches on the bag. “I was just down in the control room. They still haven’t found her,” he says, updating me on my sister, as his fingers tug at his hair in frustration. “She could be halfway around the world by now.”

“Don’t say that.” I take a step back and close my eyes. The old feelings and emotions I had when Selina went missing all come rushing back full force. When someone in your life goes missing, your mind goes on a journey of all the possible situations and outcomes; none of them good. You imagine the worst-case scenarios over and over again until you’re almost crazy with grief. “They’re going to find Aria,” I assure him. “We have the entire police force and the FBI looking for her right now.”

He shakes his head sadly. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose her, man.” Then he adds, “I love her.”

I give him a nod. His words don’t come as a shock to me at all even though he’s never voiced his feelings before now. “I know you do.” I don’t know if Aria reciprocated those feelings or not, but I know Renato has been in love with her since the day he met her. They spent a lot of time together, but I think it was more out of convenience for Aria since my mom and dad pretty much kept her under lock and key over the years. Although now I can see why they were so strict with her and why they were always trying to rein me in as well.

There are a lot of bad people in this world, and all they need is one opportunity, one single moment to prove how awful they truly are.

“We’ll find her,” I grind out as my fist lands on the bag multiple times. “And I’m going to make sure that bastard Constantine pays for what he did.”