Chapter 72: ~ Where am I?

ELLA

My eyes fluttered open, but my body felt like it was on fire. My head pounded as if someone were hitting me repeatedly with a hammer. I rubbed my eyes, only to realize I was locked in a room I didn’t recognize.

I was at Lila’s apartment. So where the hell was I now?

Why had my body felt like it was burning from the inside out?

I tried to stand up but ended up collapsing back onto the bed.

“Easy there, sweetheart,” a deep voice rung out as the door opened. But it wasn’t as deep as Adrian’s or as soothing, his voice I would have recognized even in my sleep.

Who the hell was this ugly-looking bastard? I sneered as he closed the door behind him.

He had a round face and a mustache, his appearance not matching his voice at all.

Every time he spoke, I felt like I might laugh, but the pain in my body was too much for my facial muscles to even move.

“Welcome, princess. My name is Marco. Your new groom, no?” he said in a strange English-Italian accent.

New what?! I frowned before forcing a smile.

What kind of sick joke was this? “Why would you be my groom?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Because you need one and I need a wife too. So it’s a win-win situation. Your grandparents will soon both be here,” he said casually, as though discussing the weather.

What was wrong with this man? Why did he behave like some colonial-era brute with no brains, just words spilling from his mouth?

“No thanks,” I replied flatly.

His smile shifted into something darker, a sadistic grin that sent shivers racing down my spine.

“You don’t know, do you? Adrian is dead. And if you’re waiting for him, I suggest you wake up. I’ll only be nice this once,” he said, leaning so close I could smell his bad breath.

But that was the least of what I was feeling at that moment.

Adrian… dead?

It couldn’t be. That man was a machine with a heart as cold as ice, he couldn’t be killed. I didn’t believe it.

My headache returned, sharper this time, like pins stabbing from every angle inside my skull.

I turned my gaze to Marco, the son of a bitch, and felt only hatred crash down on me. “Wait till he comes for you,” I sneered before spitting in his face.

“You bitch!” he growled, his hand snapping across my cheek in a hard slap that made stars explode in my vision.

Before I could recover, he was on me, squeezing my cheeks between his thick fingers so hard I swore my teeth shifted.

“You are marrying me. There is nothing you can fucking do about it. If you do such a thing again, I will put a bullet inside your grandmother’s head. Do you understand, troia?”

“Go to hell.” I was about to spit on him again when my heart sank deeper than all the oceans combined.

Lila had walked in.

Normally, I would have panicked and jumped to protect her, but the way she looked, comfortable and almost at ease made my blood run cold.

I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing. She looked as if she was part of this psychotic crew.

But she had been my friend, right? I knew I passed out after taking her smoothie, but I felt there had to be some sort of explanation. I mean, Jay was right there.

Oh no.

Had the son of a bitch been working against Adrian too?

“Leave me alone with her for a few minutes, she’ll come around,” she said, and I decided right at that moment that if she came anywhere near me, I would fuck her up so badly she would wish she had killed me.

The training I did that day would definitely have to play its role tonight.

“Okay, tomorrow is the wedding. The priest won’t go through with it if she looks forced, so make sure she cooperates and her mind is in the right place,” round face said just before he walked out and that became my way out.

“You heard him, right?” she said as she slowly walked toward me. She looked different, wearing clothes that didn’t even suit her.

What kind of bad choices were those?

“Where is my husband-to-be?” I asked angrily.

The bitch laughed, pretending to be shocked before pointing her thumb toward the door. “He just walked out. Is your eyesight giving you a hard time?”

“Lila, why are you doing this? All I’ve done is be kind to you. Let me go, please,” I pleaded, trying to reason with her, but all she did was laugh like a psychopath.

“Why would you do that? Don’t you know it’s safest for you here? Let me make you feel better about Adrian’s death. He rushed the marriage because apparently you are from a special line. I always wondered what you had that I didn’t. I mean, how could you have bagged that hot stuff?” she said before stopping to take a seat on the bed, her hand reaching out to stroke my hair. I blinked several times before I fully registered what she just said.

Taking my confused look as permission, she continued, “Every mob man is looking for you because of that. Whoever marries you gets the stupid family ledger, so in case you were feeling confident, I suggest you rethink your decision. You’re just a pawn in his game. I’m just sad that you can’t even confront him, but if you behave, I might let you visit his grave.”

Tears rolled down my face, not from weakness, but from strength. They were hot as they fell, and I looked at the woman I loved, a woman I considered a friend who jumped to betray me for reasons unknown to me.

I  knew Adrian was up to something, and yes, he was quick and suspicious when he said he loved me but was it all for show?

My heart shattered like a thousand pieces were stabbing into my chest with every word Lila spoke. I had known, deep down, that what she said made sense.

How else could I explain what my grandparents would be discussing with a man as powerful as a Capo?

A man who could make anything happen. When he promised me ruin, I never thought it would hit this hard. And as I sat there in the corner of a foreign place, all I felt was ruin.

Because nothing hit me harder than the fact that I couldn’t even hit him back for doing this to me.

I should have focused on everything being said, but my mind had chosen to instead cling to the fact that the man I had grown to love had been taken from me. My reason to live and my reason to hate had been robbed from me.

As the tears continued to fall, I hadn’t given a fuck about the ledger or why everyone was after me.