Page 4 of Until You Break
“You’re with them?” I spat, blood on my teeth.
He looked at me, calm, unbothered. “This is the Valenti boy. Riccardo’s youngest. You got what you paid for. Now give me my money.”
The words hit harder than the fists.
I was a deal. A price tag.
Papà had warned me once that enemies go for the weakest link. I hadn’t realized he meantme.
I was going to die.
My thoughts scrambled for sense, who would do this? Old rivalries? New ones? Someone who wanted leverage? I didn’t know. And the not knowing burned worse than fear.
When they threw me into the van, I couldn’t fight anymore.
It was dark inside. Cold. Metal walls closing in, carrying the smell of blood and rubber.
Chains rattled. The sound crawled under my skin. Cuffs snapped around my wrists, too high, too tight. My shoulders screamed. My breath came ragged.
The van moved. Every turn shook the floor. Sweat glued my hair to my forehead. My body felt heavy, sinking into the dark.
I couldn’t see faces, just shapes, moving, breathing. Calm.
They’d done this before.
“Why me?” I asked, voice raw. “I don’t know anything. I’m not part of this. I don’t even know what was in the box.”
No answer.
“Please,” I whispered. “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not important.”
A man crouched in front of me. Not rushed. Just present.
He tilted my face, studying it. Measured. Cold.
“Why me?” I asked again.
Still nothing. Just eyes, steady, unreadable.
“This is the one,” he said finally. His voice was even, practiced. “Keep the face clean. Mama said he needs to look presentable.”
His gloved fingers pressed under my chin, turning my head like he was checking merchandise. My pulse jumped against his touch, but his expression didn’t shift.
That’s when I knew this wasn’t a mistake.
I’d been chosen.
Even cuffed, I fought. I slammed my shoulder into him, kicked, thrashed until someone cursed and shoved me against the wall.
Then came the sting. A needle.
I jerked once, hard, but the drug was faster. Ice spread through me. The edges of the world blurred and folded.
My body went slack, eyes open.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Once.
A sound too small for everything it meant.
