Page 63 of The Mafia's Captive

Silence passes in the room. I think he’s going to kill me for mocking him. Then he bursts out laughing. He stands up, thrusts his hands in his pocket and closes the space between him and I. This up close, he’s even more menacing, than he is from a distance.

“Fine. Have it your way.” He nods at his men and they swarm towards me like bees. I know what they’re going to do before they close in. I don’t have time to fight or flee. The big one, the one who was with me, is the first to grab my hand. I resist, but it’s futile. My hand hardly twists in his iron grip. The next guy comes over and grabs my other hand. I try to kick, but they both hold me down. Finally, one comes over and punches me in the face. The last thing I see before I fall to the ground is Saccone’s face contorted in anger.

♠

I wake up surrounded by darkness. There’s an odd sound and the more I focus, I realize that a cloth is over my head. I’m seated and in a moving object. A car. I try to remove the cloth, but my hands are restrained behind my back. I twist and turn to no avail.

“Stop moving or I’ll punch you again,” a gruff voice says beside me. I pause. “Where are you taking me?”

“Do you want me to put tape over your mouth?” The voice says again. That shuts me up, but the panic inside me only intensifies. Is Saccone going to kill me? Probably. That’s the only way this makes sense, otherwise where are we going? Funny how I thought it was Dante who was trying to kill me when it’s actually my father.

“We’re taking you somewhere special.” I hear Saccone say. His voice sounds like it’s ahead of me. He must be in the seat in front of me in whatever car we are in.

“You’re not going to kill me?” I say.

He chuckles. “You’d already be dead, if that were the case. I’m taking you to your future.”

His words are chilling. I would rather he killed me than see this future he’s referring to. Nothing good can come from it. I should escape. I should find a way out of here, if I can. If only I can find out where we are.

My eyes have adjusted enough for me to notice that it’s still night and now and then, light flashes in from the cars passing by, making me see silhouettes inside the car. We’re in some sort of a luxury van from what I can tell, and I’m sitting right at the back between two men. I don’t know if I can jump out of the door if I lean over. I twist again. My bonds are too tight.

I’m still trying to figure out how I can get out, when the car swerves hard.

“Who the fuck is that,” I hear Saccone say. Gunshots follow and the car swerves again. “How did he find us?” I feel the men beside me move, and gunshots being fired. I really want to get away from here. I see myself turning into fodder for whatever Mafia gun fight Saccone’s involved in. “Dante, you son of a bitch!”

I freeze. Dante? Dante came for me? I try to ignore the elation inside me and focus on the present. The next thing I hear are windows being drawn, wind rushing in, and more gunshots. These coming from Saccone’s guys. The gunshots are returned and followed by a loud burst. The car swerves harder and faster. Next thing I know, the car is tumbling, like a violent roller coaster. The sack put over me falls, and I can finally make out what’s happening. The car is rolling across the road and when it finally stops, it’s on its side. I’m thrown on top of one of Saccone’s henchmen while the other is on top of me, crushing my ribs.

There’s smoke around us, making it harder to see. Through the window, and amidst the smoke and dust, I make out a figure coming towards the upturn car. The gait is familiar, but my brain is too foggy to make out who it is. When the figure approaches, the door is lifted and through the smoke, his face appears. Dante. I sigh audibly, happier than I ever thought I could be to see him. He opens it wider and shoves the man crushing me to the side. A rush of air enters my lungs and I breathe in deep.

“Corina.” His voice sounds strained and hopeful at the same time. He leans in further and offers me his hand, which I take, and he pulls me up. I squeeze myself up ignoring the pain in my ribs. He uses both hands to pull me further to him and he holds me in his arms and he cradles me like a baby.

“Are you okay?”

“You came for me.”

“Of course I came, baby.” He brushes away a few tendrils of my damp hair. “Are you hurt?” He asks as he caresses my face like it’s the most precious and fragile egg he’s ever held. I shake my head. He kisses my temple. “I thought…” his voice trembles as it trails off. He takes a deep breath as if to calm himself down. “Let’s get out of here,” he says. “This looks like it’s going to blow up any second.” He begins to move again and I look around us, adjusting my eyes to the smoke and the dark night. The moon is bright enough to provide some light to complement the bright lights of the vehicles. Dante is walking us back to two vehicles a few feet away from Saccone’s car and standing there are a few of Dante’s men, guns in hand.

I hear a sound like metal scraping from behind us that startles me. I glance in time to see Saccone, bloody and marred with char, staggering out of the car. “Stop,” his hoarse voice renders me frozen in Dante’s hands. Dante, however, does not respond. He keeps walking.

“Stop or I’ll kill both of you,” Saccone screams.

“He’s got a gun,” I say to Dante. He stops and turns around. We are now closer to Dante’s men and away from the crash. Saccone’s raised gun gets everyone else on high alert. Even though we are far away from him, we’re still within the range of his gun.

“Drop her,” Saccone says.

“You’re outgunned Saccone.”

“Drop her or you’re both dead.” Dante tightens his grasp. I can feel the fury reverberating in his body. Behind us, his men click their guns. “Tell them to drop their weapons,” Saccone adds.

Dante shakes his head. “No. This ends here. You tried to take her away, you failed to let this go.”

Saccone clocks his gun and focuses it on both of us. Is this how it ends? I think. I didn’t want to end my life like this, but if I die, dying in Dante’s arms would not be so bad.

“Com—” Saccone doesn’t finish the sentence. The car blows up, making everyone run to hide behind the cars. The explosion is far enough away, but a few shrapnel lands beside me and Dante. “Are you okay?” he asks. I look over to the burning car to where Saccone was standing. I can see nothing but flames. I take a deep sigh. I’m glad it’s over.

22

She sleeps like a baby. That must be the drugs working. After we came home, I called a doctor to assess her. She had been drugged; he said. Nothing lethal, but she was going to need to sleep it off. Even though I couldn’t talk to her at the moment, the thought of leaving her alone was anathema. She is back again by my side. There’s no way I’m going to let her go. She had gone through so much and partly it was because of me. Mostly because of me. Would her father have been gung-ho to find her if he didn’t know she was with me? Would he be able to find her?

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