Chapter 24

One month later...

It has been a month of pure bliss and I never wanted it to end. It's safe to say that it has been the best month of my life.

All Emilio and I did was have sex whenever we had the chance. He was very busy when we were Italy and now that we're back maybe we could spend some more time together outside of the bedroom.

We haven't talked about 'us', if there was even an 'us' to begin with. I was happy with us just having sex, but at the same time I wanted more. I honestly don't know if he saw me as more than a body to warm his bed at nights.

I was planning on confronting him about it tonight. Every time I brought it up, he would always come up with an excuse to leave. Hopefully this time I could corner him and demand that he answered my questions.

I was currently in the library looking at a calendar. I know you must be wondering who would use a calendar like this.

Well, when I told Emilio I wanted to know today's date, he led me here and showed me the calendar that I was now looking at like that would help.

He showed me today's date and left me in here. So, it's safe to say that he hasn't changed at all, he was the same old asshole that he was months ago when he had first kidnapped me.

I had confirmed that I was kidnapped three months ago.

Three months.

Three months was a long time and somehow it felt like it had happened just days ago. I could still remember it like it was just yesterday.

I overheard Luca saying something to Emilio the other day that intrigued me. He was talking about Stockholm syndrome. I looked around in the library for a dictionary so that I could find out what it meant.

I found one and looked up the meaning. So, Luca thought that I was suffering from Stockholm syndrome. It did make sense, but was that the only reason why I had developed feelings for him.

I needed to know if what I was feeling was real or was this just a survival strategy for me.

Did I really have feelings for him or was I just drawing closer to him to make sure that he didn't kill me?

I was more confused about what I felt now even more than before. I needed to sort out what I was feeling before I asked him what was going on between us. It felt unfair that I felt inclined to know what he felt, when I myself didn't know what I was feeling.

I was deep in thought, trying to decipher my feelings when I heard multiple gunshots.

What the hell was going on?

Going out into the hallway, I saw people rushing about with guns.

"What are you doing out here?" a woman with a gun practically screamed at me.

I was grabbed from behind as someone dragged me to who knows where. I was shoved inside a room. Looking around, this room felt familiar. It was Emilio's office.

Turning around to face the person who dragged me in here, I was now face to face with Emilio. I ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. For a second there I thought something had happened to him as I could still hear the gunshots coming from outside.

I was hugging him for a while and when I made a move to let him go, he put his arms around me. I felt safe and secure in his hands. I never wanted to leave his hold.

'What's happening?" I asked a bit shaken up.

"We're under attack. I want you to stay in this room with the doors closed and don't let anybody in until I come get you" he said quickly.

I just looked at him with my eyes widen in fear.

"Do you understand?" he shook me a little to get my attention.

I nodded quickly as he placed a quick kiss on my forehead and left his office in a hurry. I quickly locked the door behind him and sat on the ground beside the door.

I sat with my hands over my ears trying to block out the gunshots. It sounded horrifying. In that moment I wish I could have been anywhere but here.

I just hoped that Emilio and his men weren't hurt. But who was I kidding? I knew that I was just grasping at straws, because there was no way that with all those gunshots that everyone was still alive.

I've been in here sitting with my hands over my ears for a while now. It was quiet now, too quiet. I heard footsteps coming in this direction and backed up quietly away from the wall. I crawled quietly behind the desk in the room to hide in case they decided to look in here.

I couldn't be too sure who was coming and I didn't want them to find me easily if they managed to get pass the door.

The door handle rattled and then there were a series of hits on the door. They were going to kick down the door. I was shaking under the table as they continued their assault on the door. If they kept this up, they would be in here in no time.

I was a 100% sure that it wasn't Emilio behind the door, because I was sure he wouldn't kick down his own door.

Suddenly the door was kicked off its hinges and it landed on the ground with a thud. I jumped slightly at this and covered my mouth with my hands to muffle my scream of surprise.

"She must be in here somewhere. Find her!" someone seethed.

I could see a pair of feet behind the desk. The person bent down and grabbed me, pulling me out from under the desk.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here boys?" the man holding me chuckled and everyone joined him.

"The boss will be happy to know that we have her. Inform him right away" The one holding me instructed.

I'm guessing that he was the one in charge. They dragged me out of the room and into the hallway and down the stairs. We passed by many unmoving bodies that I assumed were dead. I felt sick. I wanted to throw up, so I did.

I threw up on the man that was dragging me shoe, which resulted in him slapping me across the face. I wanted to cry. Cry because all these people were killed because of me and I had no idea why someone would do that.

Who would kill people for me?

Moving over the dead bodies, I looked around and spotted Emilio's unmoving body.

"No" I screamed as I struggled against their hold.

"No, no, no" I repeated shaking my head in disbelief.

He can't be dead. I was thrashing around wildly wanting to be free so that I could go over to his body.

I continued to shake my head in disbelief as they threw me in a car. I couldn't believe it. He was dead.

I let the tears fall as my body sagged in defeat. At this moment I knew that my feelings were real. I thought I would have been happy to know that he was dead, but I wasn't. I felt broken, like a part of me died with him.

I didn't even put up a fight when the car stopped and they pulled me inside a mansion.

"Finally, I have found you. Welcome home daughter" I heard a male voice say.

Daughter?

He couldn't possibly be referring to me.

The strange man came and gave me a hug. It was very awkward. He was hugging me while I stood with my hands at my side.

"Irina, she's here" he exclaimed stepping back from me.

I was again engulfed in a hug by a woman.

Why was everyone so happy to see me?

"Finally, your home Masha" she said hugging me tightly.

Masha?

Who was Masha?

"Oh, I know you must be a little confused right now" she said taking a step back when she realized that I wasn't hugging her back.

"Masha, this is Boris and I'm Irina. We are your parents" she continued.

I was now confused even more than before.

Parents?

They couldn't possibly be telling the truth.

Or could they?