Cara

**Althaia**

I felt like I was losing my mind the longer we were being locked up in this shit hole. My heart was constantly aching at the thought of Damiano no longer being alive. The image of him being shot was in a constant reply in my mind, and as much I was trying to keep it together, tears threatened to spill.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, somehow trying to calm down my racing heart. Guilt was eating me alive. Maybe… if I had gone away, he would still be alive and he wouldn’t have had to deal with all those problems I carried along with me. He wanted to make life easier for me. To make me happy. And he did. But in return, I placed all the burden on his shoulders, causing his death.

Was this how it really was going to end for us?

For him?

For me?

To lose the people I loved so dearly in a blink of an eye?

If he wasn’t here with me, then I wouldn’t want to live anymore. And just maybe, with still a glimpse of hope in my heart, I would be able to see him again in the next life.

“We have to do something…” My voice was barely audible. I sniffed and wiped the tears that had managed to escape. I stood up, my legs trembling a little from being physically and mentally exhausted. The sedation left my body all messed up and my mind wasn’t giving me a break with anything with thoughts running like crazy.

“I know, but what can we do?” Cara sighed and stood up as well. I could see she was drained as well, but we had to shove it all to the side and focus on getting out of here.

I looked around in the basement room we were in. There wasn’t anything we could use to try and break out. And the door was being guarded.

“Wait, I have an idea.” Cara whispered and stepped closer to me.

“Maso is by the door. Maybe I can convince him to let us out to the bathroom.” I thought about it, assessing the possibilities.

“What makes you think you can convince him?” She drew her lower lip between her teeth before, hesitating a little before she spoke.

“He… kind of took care of me.” I gave her a questionable look, waiting for her to elaborate.

“He was the only one who was kind to me and took me to get treated whenever I was beaten to the point I couldn’t walk. I think, at some point, we may have had something going on but he stopped before it could turn into something more. Or maybe I read too much into it and confused his kindness for something more.” She sighed.

“I don’t think so.” I told her. Carlos was close to hitting her, but Maso didn’t allow it and stopped him before he could.

“He still has a soft spot for how, but how big, I wouldn’t know. Whatever it is, we have to take advantage of it and at least try to do something.”

“It’s worth a try.”

“Just one problem… We don’t know how many are out there with Maso.” If it was only Maso, we had a better chance of taking him down. But if more men were guarding the door, our chances were slim. Even more so as we had nothing to defend ourselves with. I let out a small gasp when I realized we still wearing our hair accessories. It was not much but at least they were still somewhat sharp enough to stab someone if put enough force to it.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do.” I lowered my voice to make sure no one would be able to hear me. I carefully explained what I had in mind to get out of here while mentally preparing myself actually to fight.

This was not out in the training field with Luca and Giovanni. This was the real deal, and it had my stomach churning and my heart beating in nervousness.

We both took a deep breath, preparing ourselves for what we were about to do. We only had one shot and we couldn’t fuck it up.

“Maso?” Cara knocked on the door while I stayed behind. She continued to call after him and knock until the hatch in the door opened. Maso didn’t say anything and just looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

“We need to use the restroom.”

“I will get you a bucket.”

“What?! If you think I will be willing to pee in a disgusting bucket, then you’re wrong!” Cara frowned.

“I can’t help you.”

“Wait, Maso!” She called after him before he could close the hatch.

“Maso, please… I really need to go and I’m on my period. Do you know how dangerous it is to leave a tampon in for so long? I could get TSS. Do you know what TSS is? It’s Toxic Shock Syndrome, and if you don’t want me to die from bacteria getting into my body, I suggest you let me use a *normal* toilet so that I can take care of my business.” Cara continued to plead her case in a passive-aggressive tone, holding her ground, and continued to stare him dead in the eyes.

“If you’re going to fucking hold women hostages, at least be a bit more considerate about our anatomy.” I looked back and forth between them as they continued to stare at each other for a while. My body was tense, hoping it would get us out of here.

Then Maso shut the hatch, and my heart dropped.

*We fucked up.*

“Bring tampons!” Cara yelled before turning to me with a small grin.

“It worked.” She whispered when she neared me and I looked at her confused.

“It didn’t look like that…”

“That’s how he works. He doesn’t say anything but will get the job done. Now, we just have to wait until he returns.”

Some time passed before the door suddenly flung open and Maso stood by the door. It now just dawned on me just how big he actually was, having my nervousness spike even more.

“Get going.” He ordered sharply and gestured with his head in the direction we should go. I held tightly onto Cara’s hand as we stepped out into the long hall. I wanted to curse out loud when I saw one more out there with Maso and he was holding a gun.

I stayed close to Cara when we walked down the long hall. She was the one who had to put the plan into action since she could take advantage of whatever relationship she had with Maso. I just had to stay close since she was my chance of surviving since they could not give a fuck about me, and would kill me in a heartbeat.

Maso and the other guy were behind us to make sure we wouldn’t be doing anything. My heart was beating like crazy and I couldn’t help but keep glancing behind me in fear I would suddenly get shot from behind.

“The fuck you looking at?!” The guy spat out and pushed me hard that I tripped over my dress and into the wall. I winced when I scraped my elbow, feeling the cuts sting immediately.

“Don’t touch her, you pig!” Cara stepped in front of me.

“What did you call me?” He hissed out and aimed his gun at her.

“Lower your gun.” Maso snapped and stepped closer to him. Cara made the move to cower behind Maso, and I noticed him immediately tense when her hand touched his back.

“That bitch - “ I couldn’t make out what was happening, but he never finished his sentence. He let out a scoff and kept his mouth shut.

“Leave. I will take care of it.” Maso ordered. He gave him a stare before turning around to leave. I let out a breath, feeling the tension easing a little now that it was only Maso. He turned to look at Cara, frowning a little but didn’t say anything and handed her something. Only now did I realize he was actually holding a box of tampons.

“Thank you.” Cara gave him a small smile and immediately looked away as if he didn’t want to see her smile.

*Maybe he did feel more for her than she let on…*

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I gave her a small reassuring smile.

“Hurry up.” Maso once again ordered, having Cara roll her eyes.

“Calm down, will you? We will be back in that shithole soon enough.” She snapped and took my hand. We continued down the long hall, going through a door before we reached the restroom. I was the one to go in first, and I looked at Cara to make sure she would be okay by herself. She gave a small nod and I swallowed hard before going.

Shutting the door behind me, I let out a shaky breath. Now, all I had to do was to waste time a little for Cara to work her charm on him. I pulled out the accessory I had stuffed in between my breasts. It was a wide, pearly hairpin I had in my hair and would be my best shot as a weapon. As quietly as I could, I managed to break the pearls off and sharpened the pin against the wall all while I heard Cara trying to spark a conversation with Maso.

“… Why exactly are you doing this to me? Was marrying me away not enough?” She was talking to him in a gentle tone, but he wasn’t replying.

“I didn’t expect this from you. You were the only one who was nice to me… Did you ever care about me? Or was it all fake as well?”

*Shit, she was good.*

The way Cara was talking even had me feeling so fucking guilty. I had no clue as to how much she had been abused in that household, and something in me told me she downplayed it a lot when she finally told me what was going on. I shouldn’t have listened to her at the time, and I should have done something to get her out of there. But in fear of making things worse, I was forced to stay put and only offer an ear to listen.

“… It wasn’t.” I stilled at his reply.

“Then why did you push me away at the time?” Cara asked after a while. She talked quietly as if she didn’t want me to hear. I knew she loved Lorenzo and was happy with him, but it sounded like she wanted some clarity.

“What happened, shouldn’t have happened. It was my mistake and I should have known better.”

“Why was it a mistake?”

“It was wrong of me to get involved with my boss’s daughter.”

“… That’s it? That was your lousy excuse?” Her voice raised. I jumped when there was a hard bang on the door.

“Time’s up! Get out.” Maso ordered loudly to me. I tried to compose myself and took a deep breath, holding the now-sharpened hairpin in my hand.

“Always go for the vital points.” I whispered to myself. I took another deep breath before swinging the door open.

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