25- Two days later

*Morrison POV:*

Two Days Later...

I woke to Stefano shaking me. Before I could ask him what was going on, his hand slipped over my mouth. For a moment, I thought he wanted another round of celebration sex, but then I saw the look in his eyes.

The night before, we’d gotten a message from Stefano’s offshore banker that the deposits to his accounts had been initiated. We were supposed to check back in the morning for confirmation that they’d been completed and the money was available for withdrawal.

“Get up,” Stefano barked at me. “Get dressed now,” he said and let go of me.

“What’s going on? Why are you freaking out?” I was still half asleep and his panicked tone hadn’t infected me yet.

“Be quiet for a second,” he said. “Can’t you here that?”

I listened, and my blood ran cold. The sound of tires crunching on the weeds outside was faint but there. A few seconds later, we could hear vehicle doors slamming and footsteps.

There was no time for me to get dressed. I had seconds to pick up my jeans and T-shirt, and then Stefano dragged me through the living room to the basement door.

“I don’t want to be trapped down there,” I said as he pulled me down the stairs. “There’s a safe room down here. Come on, Morrison.”

I followed Stefano into the room with the dirt floor and brick walls. On the side of the room you couldn’t see from the main basement room was a door.

Stefano punched a code into the small number pad above the door handle. We went inside and he closed us into the room.

“I hope this door holds. This room was designed just to keep out intruders. It sounds like whoever is out there brought a small army.”

I finished getting dressed and regretted not grabbing shoes. If we had to run, I’d be in trouble.

Stefano handed me a handgun and we moved to the back wall of the safe room. My heart thundered in my chest and I wondered if the men outside were my father’s soldiers, there to retrieve me, or if it was the men looking to kill Stefano. Either way, things didn’t look good for the man I’d hired to kidnap me.

I tried not to think about what might happen to Stefano while we listened to the muffled footsteps of the men above us. Why did I care? It wasn’t as if he cared about me in any meaningful way. We were terrible for each other, and once the ordeal was over, I was certain he’d be happy to be rid of me.

“Aim at the door,” Stefano said quietly.

I trained my weapon in the direction of the door and listened as the heavy footfalls came down the stairs. It worried me that I could hear the men outside the safe room. It meant the walls weren’t thick enough.

“I guess this means the deposit didn’t go through,” I said.

“That is the least of my worries right now. I’ll be lucky to survive this, and what’s going to happen to you when your father finds out you’re not a virgin anymore?”

“Well, I guess that means we shouldn’t let them take us,” I said.

“I have no problem killing whoever comes through that door but can you pull the trigger?” Stefano asked without taking his eyes off the door.

“I’m good with a gun. One of my bodyguards taught me to shoot,” I said.

“Knowing how to shoot isn’t the same as being able to kill someone, Morrison,” Stefano said. “What if your father is with them? How are you going to feel if I have to kill him? You need to know that I will if it comes down to him or me.”

“You think I give a shit if he dies? He deserves to die after what he did to my mother. I’ll shoot him myself if given half a chance.”

Stefano gave me the signal to stop talking, and I heard it. The men were right outside the door. I could hear voices but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

There was more shuffling and muffled talking. Then, it went quiet. Stefano had moved to where our shoulders were touching. He turned to me for a moment. His gaze lingered on my lips. For whatever reason, I leaned in and kissed him. My chest ached because it felt like goodbye.

“Blow it,” I heard a man yell, and they did.

The explosion reverberated through the small space, shaking the walls and sending a rush of fear through my veins. The door splintered, the heavy metal buckling under the force. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling, and I instinctively grabbed onto Stefano, our bodies pressed tightly against the back wall of the safe room.

“Get ready!” Stefano hissed, his grip tightening on the handgun. My heart raced as the adrenaline surged through me. This was it; there was no turning back now.

As the door flew open, the men stormed in, weapons drawn, their faces obscured by masks. I felt a primal urge to fight back, to protect myself and Stefano, but a part of me was paralyzed by fear. I had never been in a situation like this before.

“Hands up! Get on the ground!” one of the men shouted, but Stefano didn’t move. Instead, he stepped forward, gun raised.

“Get behind me!” he shouted, and I obeyed instinctively, positioning myself just behind him.

The lead intruder hesitated, recognizing the threat posed by Stefano’s stance. “You don’t want to do this,” he warned, though his voice wavered slightly, betraying his uncertainty.

“Try me,” Stefano growled, his eyes fierce and unwavering.

In that moment, I felt a surge of admiration for him, an unexpected bond formed in the face of danger. He was willing to protect me, to fight for our lives, and it stirred something inside me.

Before I could process my feelings further, the intruders surged forward, and chaos erupted. Gunfire rang out, the loud cracks echoing in the confined space. I ducked low, my instincts kicking in as I tried to stay out of the line of fire.

Stefano was a blur of motion, his training evident as he moved with calculated precision, firing at the men who had invaded our sanctuary. I watched in awe as he took down one of them, but there were too many, and I could see the fear creeping into his eyes as he realized the odds were against us.

“Stay down!” he yelled at me, and I did, pressing myself against the cold, hard floor. My heart raced as I scanned the room, searching for anything I could use to defend myself.

Suddenly, one of the intruders spotted me. “There she is!” he shouted, pointing in my direction.

Panic surged through me, and without thinking, I reached for the handgun Stefano had given me. I aimed it, my hands trembling, and squeezed the trigger. The sound of the gunshot was deafening, and I felt a rush of exhilaration mixed with horror as the intruder collapsed to the ground.

Stefano glanced back at me, his eyes wide with surprise. “You actually shot someone?” he asked, momentarily distracted.

“I told you I could handle a gun!” I shouted back, adrenaline fueling my courage.

But there was no time to celebrate my moment of bravery. More men were pouring in, and I could see Stefano was beginning to tire. “We need to get out of here!” he shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos.

“Where do we go?” I yelled, desperately looking for an escape.