THE MAFIA’S CAPTIVE ANGEL

A frantic-looking Samantha entered. I saw the look of fear in her face, and I moved towards her along with Luca.

“What’s going on, Sam?” I asked, looking at her dishevelled face.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “It’s… Mani.”

“What about Mani? What happened to her?” Luca asked, placing his hand on her shoulders.

“Come on, Sam, speak out,” I growled impatiently.

“She is.” She stuttered out again; this time her eyes were blurry, and my heart skipped.

I raced past her, upstairs to the room where Mani should be, and found it empty. Luca and Samantha stepped in as well. I ran to the bathroom to check if she was there, but it was empty as well. I turned back to Samantha, who had a full-blown tear gushing down her face.

“Where is Mani, Sam?” I asked as calmly as I could.

“I wasn’t around this morning, so I couldn’t bring breakfast for her.” I decided to check up on her this evening, and when I got here, the door was opened, and I found this on the floor. She brought out a syringe.

Luca took it from her, inspecting it. “I think she has been kidnapped.” Anger boiled deep inside me. “How were they able to pass security without any alert?” Luca questioned, and he was right: the security was increased after what happened in New York; no one could get in without the guards being alerted.

“Someone on the inside must have helped them.” Samantha said, after managing to get a hold of herself.

“It can’t be Jason because he’s been locked up; that means there is someone else here working with Jason.” Luca chips in.

“We need to get Mani back, Sin, especially in her condition.” Samantha laughed hysterically.

“Condition. What do you mean? I felt bad knowing that I had ignored her.

“She was going to tell me the night all this happened,” she said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “That she was pregnant.”

I stutter backward in shock, not able to believe her. Baby, she was carrying my baby. I remembered how harshly I had pushed her, and my heart rate escalated.

Luca used his hand to steady me, staring at me with a worried expression. “Are you okay?”

I shared my head, and my eyes darkened. “We have to find her; we have to find her now.” Anger exploded through me. I was angry at myself as well. It was my fault they were able to get to her.

“We will. We just need to narrow it down and find out who in this house is responsible for all this, which means we can’t tell anyone about this,” Luca said, his hand placed behind his back and a worried look on his face.

I paced around the room, moving back and forth, saying, “We need to interrogate Luna and Jason; find out what they know.” I growled. The skin on my knuckles was ghostly white.

Luca’s phone pings, and he turns it on. reading through the message. “Alesso is here. I told him to wait in the office. ” I nodded, taking deep breaths to calm myself.

“Sam, why don’t you freshen up and rest while we talk to Alesso?” Luca says.

“No, I want to help. Mani is my friend, and she promised to make me the godmother. Let me help,” she said, determined. Luca looked at me, waiting for my approval.

“Fine, but tidy up first,” she said weakly before leaving the room.

“Let’s not keep Alesso waiting.”

“Sin, I know what you are thinking, and I’m sure Mani doesn’t hold it against you.” Luca tries to cheer me up.

“I don’t think I would be able to forgive myself if anything happened to her and the baby.” I said, leaving the room.

◇◇◇◇

I have been here for three days without any food or water to drink. I was too weak to move my body.

No one had bothered to check up on me, not even the two men who were here the night I was kidnapped. I didn’t know how long I would be able to survive without taking anything. My head fell to my side, and my lips were dried. I brought out my tongue to groggily wet my lips since I had little strength.

The door opening caught my attention; heavy footsteps made their way towards me, and a plate of omelette and water were dropped in front of me. I raised my head to see Stefano looking down at me with a passive look, but I couldn’t give a shit; I was starving and my only focus was the food on the ground.

“I’m going to undo the rope on your hand; think twice before doing anything stupid,” he warned, and I nodded.

He went behind me, losing the ropes that bound my hands to the chair. I looked down at my bruised wrist, which had purple and red marks on it, and I winced in pain. Stefano placed the plate on my lap, and I hurriedly ate despite the pain I felt in my wrist.

I kept stuffing my mouth with the food, no matter how disgusting it tasted. I could feel a little bit of energy in me. I continued to eat until the sound of loud heels caught my attention, and I looked up at the entrance.

A woman walked in with a tight red dress and stockings and red heels on. Her face was painted with heavy makeup. She stood in front of me, her lips stretched into a devilish smirk, looking down at me with total disgust.

“Zoey.” I gasped out of disbelief.