Carefully looking around, I saw that I was in a small room. Nothing bigger than a small closet. I was lying on a bed or what felt like a bed. The mattress was hard and lumpy. There was a tall narrow locker by the door where a metal chair sat next to it. The walls were metal, yet painted some green color, but I could see the rivets on the wall.
The door itself was some kind of metal hatch. I’d seen doors like that before, and that’s when I realized where I was.
I was on a ship.
Not just any ship.
I was on a shipping tanker.
Memories of what happened flooded back. I remembered walking into Gio’s bedroom. I was about to shut the door when a guard walked in. I’d never met him before. I remembered asking if everything was okay. I heard Illyria scream, and the next thing I knew, the guard lunged for me, sticking something in my neck.
I was taken.
Again.
Sighing, I tried to slowly sit up, but my body wouldn’t let me.
I was injected with something, and I was incapable of doing anything until the effects wore off. Moaning, I rolled over onto my back and looked at the ceiling.
Closing my eyes, I tried to brace myself for what I knew was to come. I wasn’t stupid, and I’d been here before, and I knew he’d found me. It was the only explanation.
I had survived him once.
I could surely do it again.
I had no idea how long I’d been gone or where I was, but I was sure of one thing. Gio would find me. He had to know I was gone by now. I knew he wouldn’t stop until I was safe again. I just never thought I’d be taken again.
I endured so much during my last captivity. I was starting to heal, to move past it all. I didn’t know if I could go through it again. Though it was looking like I had no choice.
I tried to think about Gio, his family, and our time on the island.
I told him I didn’t want to leave there.
I felt safe there.
Untouchable.
I’d been through too much, seen too much, endured atrocities no human being should ever have to go through. But I survived it all, and I would again. Only this time, when I got free, I would disappear.
I loved Gio more than I ever thought possible, but I couldn’t put myself in a position like this ever again, and being his wife and the head of the Capribella Family, I would always have a bullseye on my back. I would never be truly safe.
It wasn’t possible.
I knew that now.
I wanted to be the woman Gio loved and protected, and I wanted to trust that I would be safe with him no matter what. But no one was really safe in this world. Anything could happen at any time. No one could predict the future, and no one could ensure my safety. It was a dice I was no longer willing to roll. I had played the odds too many times, and I knew when it was time to accept my reality.
It was a hard pill to swallow.
It hurt to imagine a life without him.
When I told him I loved him, I truly meant it. I’d never felt anything like it before, and I so desperately wanted to have that life he dreamed of with him. I wanted to be his wife. To spend the rest of my days loving him, giving him his heart's desires. To forget about my past and just focus on where life would take us.
It’s funny how life puts things in perspective. When I was taken last time, all I wanted was to learn everything I could. I knew what would happen, and I accepted it, embraced it, allowed it to happen. I was able to separate myself from each situation and survive. My survival was paramount. I needed to learn what I could and help Kitty. I did my job. I paid dearly for it too. When my brother rescued me, I thought it was over. I could try and find some semblance of normalcy. Try to find a life I could live. I thought I had found that with Giovanni. And for the short time I was with him, he made me believe I could have it all.
But I couldn’t.
I wasn’t just a woman who had a horrible past, and her prince had rescued her to live happily ever after.