“Perfect.” I take her hand in mine, and our eyes meet. “Thank you.”
“I look forward to seeing you soon,” she says and walks off to find Matteo, who’s been patiently waiting for her.
I’m an emotional mess. Why wasn’t the ring from Massimo enough? Maybe that’s how he shows love. Did I screw it all up wanting too much from him? Is it over or can we work through it?
I wipe a tiny bud of moisture from the corner of my eye as I exit the playroom and bump into a large person.
I mumble excuse me, but he doesn’t seem to hear, and he doesn’t move.
“Follow me and no one gets hurt,” the voice sounds familiar.
I look up. “Ridolfo!”
“Your family needs you, it’s urgent.” He grabs me by my elbow that’s holding my purse.
“What are you doing here? It’s called a phone call, Ridolfo. I’m sure if Giovi needed me, he’d call.”
“He wants me to bring you back, he doesn’t know who he can trust.”
I believe him. Although it’s strange he knew I was here. “My brother doesn’t know I’m here. And he didn’t message me.”
“I know, come with me.” His grip tightens on my elbow. I can’t cry out and scare the kids. I move my arm in an attempt to get away, but it’s futile.
He reaches for my purse, but I pull back, knowing I must protect my phone. I try to trick him by taking a step back and slide my purse down my arm.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Your phone, GPS.”
“You’re not on my GPS tracking anymore.”
He shrugs. I wind up the purse, hitting him in the face, which catches him off guard for a second and I run towards my meeting spot with Micro at the elevator. My hopes are dashed as I see his feet as he’s being dragged into a tiny room. The signage on the wall says blankets and sheets.
He’s incapacitated and his captor is none other than the infamous man with the neck tattoos. He lets Micro slump to the tiled floor before he pushes his feet in and closes the door.
“We don’t want that to be you, do we?” His menacing voice strikes fear and anger in me.
There are times to fight and there are times to go along with their plan and hope that the outcome will end in my favor. This is one of those times. I’m not armed, we’ve been caught off guard and I only hope Massimo can save me one more time.
“Tell me you didn’t hurt him.”
“He’ll wake up with a bad headache.” His snide smile makes my skin crawl. “I’m surprised a princess like you cares.”
“You, who are you?”
“Your worst nightmare. Let’s get going.” His gruff Sicilian accent comes through like an unleashed Marvel villain on a surfboard.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Ridolfo moves behind me and my worst nightmare lunges towards me, and even though I kick and hit, I’m not strong enough to save myself. A cloth slips over my mouth and nose before I have a glimpse of the stairwell door opening.
“Ridolf…”
28
Massimo
“What’s up with you? What was the last thing you drank? You need to drink a beer or something.”