Chapter 123 Untitled Chapter

Chapter 123 Untitled Chapter
ANDREA

I parked a block away, my hands trembling on the steering wheel, my heart pounding as I looked around the surroundings of the abandoned warehouse.

My babies are just a few hundred or so feet away, waiting for me to come get them and take them home.

I steel my spine and stepped out into the cold night, I shiver wrapping my coat tighter around myself. My phone buzzed in my hand.

Alessandro!

I stared at his name on the screen, I swallowed hard, I swiped the answer button then threw it away between some trash cans.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the dark. “I'm going to have to do this, I know when you calm down, you'll understand.”

Maybe that was the problem. Alessandro would understand what drove me to make this decision, too well, but he would never want me to confront danger alone.

He'd want to protect me, and I knew it was eating him every day that he didn't find Alessio and Adamo.

But my babies were in danger. And that overruled everything. I searched for a bit before I found a way to slip through the wooden barricade that blocked the side entrance of the warehouse.

My heart hammers when darkness swallows me, I quickly switch on the flashlight, the smell of rot and metal tickle my nose.

The floor was damp, littered with dirt and waste and it was empty, too empty.

“Hello?” my voice echoed in the huge place. “Valentina? I’m here, alone. Just like you asked.”

Silence greeted me. I swallowed, feeling a creeping fear that overshadowed any fear I had before twisting my insides.

I whirled around just as I heard footsteps from behind me, but before I saw who the person was, something cracked against the back of my head.

Pain exploded behind my eyelids. The world tilted sideways. I gasped, stumbling forward before darkness swallowed me whole.



When I woke, my head pounded with pain, my sight was blurry, and it took a few seconds to remember what happened and when it finally dawned on me that someone had attacked me.

I tried to move, but my wrists were bound behind my back, a tape was slapped over my mouth, my legs were also bound to the chair I was confined in.

To say I was terrified was an understatement; something like doubt washed over me as I realized I'd fallen into a trap. But then it's not like I didn't expect something like this to occur, I guess I should be glad that I'm still breathing.

Although the binding constricted my movement, it wasn't as tight as I knew it could be, and I wasn't blindfolded, another thing to be glad for.

I blinked through the haze and lethargy. My heart slammed against my ribs as panic tried to get a hold of me. I forced myself to think, my eyes fell on the opposite wall.

Nothing special, just an ordinary wall that gave nothing away.

I was no longer in the warehouse, but in a house. I can't see much as I'm facing away from the door and windows, but if I have to guess, I think I’m in a kitchen, a big open kitchen, with a staircase to my right.

The place was dimly lit so that I couldn't be sure of anything, only make guesses. A low feminine humming started behind me startling me into focus, my ears twitching as the woman walked around behind me, completely ignoring me.

The sound of what I suspect was a coffee machine whistling suddenly cut through the humming. I started squirming, trying to get her attention.

Still she ignored me instead she turned on the lights and continued humming. Now, it was obvious she knew I was awake and was deliberately ignoring me. I didn't give up.

I kept trying to get her attention while she carried on with her cooking, whisking, frying and doing only god knows, while she hums unfamiliar music I didn't know.

Within a short time, the strong smell of coffee, fried eggs and bacon filled the room. And then just as sudden as her movements when she first started she was suddenly done.

Turning off the stove and everything. Her steps sounded closer and closer still until I felt her presence directly behind me. I was suddenly whirled around, chair and all and instantly my heart slammed hard against my ribcage.

Valentina?!

“Hello, Andrea,” she said, voice syrupy sweet, but the smile and look in her eyes were anything but. “I wish I could say it's good to see you, but we both know that will be a lie, isn't it?”

I moaned behind the duct tape and she blinked, “Oh, forgive my manners, I forgot you can't talk.”

She tore the duct tape from my mouth with brutal force. “There,” she whispered, an evil grin spreading across her face.

Crazy ass bitch.

My mouth hurts from the duct tape, but I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing me in pain.

I take a minute to compose myself trying to get over my shock of finding out she was the one who kidnapped my children and Meredith.

Valentina looks the same as always, although she'd lost a lot of weight, she still looks as beautiful and elegant as always. She had on leather pants that molded to her long legs and a bright red blouse.

Her thick brown hair was now chin length, I wish I could say it makes her look ugly, but that would be a lie.

Physically the woman was gorgeous, everything a man would look for in a woman if his taste ran this side. But mentally and morally, she's bat shit crazy.

My eyes flick around the room, trying to get as much information as I can about my new surroundings.

From the old kitchen, it's obvious this house hasn't seen people in a long time and had only recently occupied, ugly yellow curtains hung on the kitchen windows, vases with dry flowers were placed on the windowsill.

The floor beneath me wasn’t concrete, it was dark wood worn from age. The air smelled different, a bit musty the smell of her cooking overpower all other scents.

I took all these in within a few seconds and Valentina let me, I turned my head towards the living area and my breath hitched, two baby cribs were right across from me in the middle of the living room.

Alessia and Adamo!

With an unconscious Meredith right beside them, one of her eyes was bruised and swollen.