Chapter 9 Unravelling
Alessia's POV
I snap “ Why won’t you answer me, Alex! I hate being ignored, comprende!” I smack his chest, trying to shift him further away, from me but he won’t budge. I walk away from him quickly.
Alex strides toward me, holding my wrist in a vice-like grip.
“Watch your tone .”
“I won’t! It seems to be the only way to talk and get a response from you…” I huff, tears prickling my eyes. I blink them back. “Thomas called me a witch-blood. He was mocking me and my late mum.” My voice trembles as the tears rise to the surface again. “You could not even pretend to be surprised , you just stood there as still as a statue !” I scream at him. “You must have known something about it all along!”
He looked at me for a few minutes . His jaw tightens his voice is low as he answers me .
“I am from one of the richest Mafia families in the world, and we have been searching for La Rosa all my life! Your family is linked to it !” he growls. “ I know everything there is to know about you. I made it my business to know.”
I stare at him, shocked by his admission. I suck in a breath, sniffing as my tears fall in earnest now.
“I didn’t dwell on your ancestry, but it was considered important, so naturally it was added in the dossier,” he adds flatly, gripping my arm again and moving me toward the car.
I wrench my arm away from his.
“Then why didn’t you tell me? You had all the chance in the world when we were in the car! You asked me to trust you while you kept vital information about my life from me?!”
“There is no need for all this theatrics, cara mia.” He pulls the door open and stands back, waiting for me to enter.
“Theatrics?” I mock him. “Look at me !” I indicate with my hands “ I am bruised all over ! Since we met, it has been one carnage after another!” My body trembles.
He reaches for me and holds my chin, raising my eyes to his. His voice cold and commanding:
“It is better to be bruised than dead .I kept what I Iearnt from you because it’s not time to disclose it yet. I would have told you eventually.”
My heart twists in pain.
“I will never know now, will I? Perhaps you didn’t tell me because you wanted me to remain in the dark.”
His hand falls from my face as if I burned him with my words.
“To me, you are worse than Thomas Sirrano. Do you know why? Because Thomas never hid who he was!”
He stares at me, his eyes devoid of any emotion .
“Be careful with what you say.”
“Or What Alex ? What are you going to do? After all You said it yourself “I have La Rosa.” I scoff getting more angry by the second . “Dios ! Alex Did you even listen to me in the car earlier at all ? I told you already I don’t have the cursed jewel ! I ramble on like a crazed woman . “Besides, what is the worst thing you can do ? Lock me up in a gilded cage?”
His patience runs thin and he grabs me, putting me in the backseat even though I’m kicking and screaming bloody murder.
“Now listen to me carefully .” He presses his body on mine his voice hard and dangerous “ Whether you have it or not we are going to find it together . You being a witch or not doesn’t matter . I have staked a claim on you. So you belong to me now.”
“I do not belong to you!” I screech at him, clawing at his shirt, trying to break free. But he does not budge.
He smirks “You do not have a choice , You are mine .The way La Rosa will be mine soon .”
He lets me up a bit pushing me further into the backseat and slams the door so hard the window rattles. He enters the passenger’s side and shuts the door. Reaching for a phone in his pocket, he dials a number.
“Si. Find Gio Mezza, whether dead or alive. You have twenty-four hours.” He hangs up.
“Gio…” My breath hitches in my throat as I have a sudden vivid flashback of my escape .
Gio opening the back cellar door and freeing me. Whispering urgently: “Go, Alessia. Don’t stop or look back. May Dio be with you.”
I feel my eyes burning with fresh tears again. I punch the leather seat in front.
“What do you mean by ‘dead or alive’? You better not hurt him!” I scream at him, fear clenching at my heart.
He turns around and faces me.
“Did you not hear what I said? I did not say they should kill him! I said find out if he is dead or alive. Besides -” he shrugs. “if he is dead, he can’t be of any help to us.”
“All of you are monsters,” I whisper. “You don’t get to talk about Gio like that. He is the only reason I made it out alive, and you are talking about him as if he is just garbage.”
Alex’s eyes are blank as he answers me .
“Yes, because anyone dead is of no use to me.”
My voice is filled with pain and I mutter:
“Including me?”
He says nothing for a moment. Then his gaze softens for a second before it hardens again.
“If you forget your place and something happens to you… then yes.”
I wrap my hands around my stomach, my chest hurting.
“Dio…” I whisper. “You don’t have a heart.”
He doesn’t answer me he turns around an faces the front as the driver steps into the vehicle and keys the car . As he starts driving on the dark, wobbly road. Alex picks up his phone again and places another call.
“Hack all of the surveillance cameras at the Sirrano residence from the day of the theft. All angles, especially the room that housed the glass chamber. Find out who exactly took La Rosa. Time is not on our side!” He hangs up.
I press my head to the window, staring out at the dark road.
So he does believe me… not that it matters.
My mum's gentle voice whispers in my head, a keen reminder:
“Do not ever trust a rich man, Bella. They hide their true selves behind fake smiles and expensive gifts. If they ever show you their true colors . . run for your life.”
Back then, I laughed at her . I thought she was speaking in parables . I didn’t understand her words. But now I do. She was referring to men like them… men like Alex and Thomas.