Cruel Betrayals (Savannah Sharks Hockey and Mafia #3)

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

ALEXANDRA

Giuseppe Rossi took my pictures and left. He hasn’t been back since. I don’t know if it’s been hours or days.

I’ve cried off and on and even napped when my eyes refused to stay open. I’ve tried counting, but that’s not really entertaining.

There’s no way for me to escape this room. I’ve tried twice. There are no windows to crawl out of, the door locks from the outside, and the air conditioner vent is too narrow.

My only option to get out of this room is for Giuseppe or Vincent to let me out, and that’s as likely to happen as a unicorn coming to save me.

The lock tumbles on the door a second before the metal hatch swings open. Vincent steps into the doorway with a smirk on his face. “I think it’s time for some family bonding time. You two can get reacquainted.”

He shoves Dad into the room with me. Dad is skinnier than the last time I saw him. His hair is longer and matted in the back and he looks like he needs a shower.

“Talk, and enjoy captivity with one another.” Vincent slams and locks the door behind him.

Dad walks to the other side of the room and sits on the mattress in the corner. “It really is good to see you again, Alex. You grew into a very beautiful woman. I hear you are pretty successful, too.”

I lean back against the wall, not in the mood for friendly small talk.

“I had no choice but to work my ass off. I was lucky to find the job I did, especially without a college degree.”

“You could have found another job. You didn’t have to go straight to the mafia boss in town and beg for a job.”

I sigh. Clearly he’s not going to shut up, but maybe if I don’t engage too much, he will stop talking. “I didn’t beg.”

There might have been some desperate pleading, but I didn’t really beg for the job. We were both equally desperate at the time. He needed someone to keep him organized and on time for his meetings, and I needed a job to get a place of my own and a car.

His voice is as soft as a whisper. It’s the opposite of what I’ve known. “Alex, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that there are less risky jobs out there. You didn’t have to go straight to Arturo Marino and the life of crime.”

I mentally roll my eyes. He’s one to talk. Most of the money he used for gambling was acquired illegally.

“For the most part, I sit at a desk and answer phone calls and reply to emails. My life was never at risk until you came to town and painted a target on my back.”

That is technically not true, but I was a whole hell of a lot safer with Joseph and the guys watching out for me. I never would have had to lie and pretend to be working for Rossi if Dad was still in the hellhole he calls home.

He clears his throat and speaks louder. “You could have graduated high school, gone to college, got your degree, and found a great job back home.”

My dry laugh echoes throughout the room.

Is he fucking for real?

“With lots of help and advice from Arturo, I got my GED and driver’s license. I don’t need a degree to get a great job because I already have a great job. The pay is amazing, the benefits are better than anywhere else, and I’m always surrounded by great people that always take my thoughts and opinions into consideration.”

“I don’t understand why you felt the need to run away and change your name. You were always so dramatic as a child. I’m surprised you didn’t get a job in acting or theater.”

I scoff as he tries to pretend my childhood wasn’t that bad, like I made it all up on my own.

“The only smiling picture I have from my childhood is from my eighth birthday. I wanted a cake so bad, but you and Mom never celebrated my birthday. Mrs. Edith found me crying on the front porch and snuck me a tiny cupcake. After I ate it, she took my picture.”

“So because we didn’t want you addicted to sugar, we were terrible parents?” I can see him rolling his eyes from here.

I ball my hands into fist and fight the urge to punch the wall beside me. “No, not because you didn’t want me addicted to sugar. Have you really forgotten what happened that day? What event made me grow up instantly and leave my childhood behind?”

He doesn’t speak. He is either ignoring my questions, or because of the decades of drug and alcohol abuse, he really doesn’t remember what happened all those years ago.

So, I share the events with him.

“Two hours after I ate the cupcake, my life turned into a living nightmare. Mom overdosed and fell through the glass coffee table. The police dropped off an eviction notice because you gambled all our money away and didn’t pay rent. You came home drunk and saw Mom unconscious and blamed me for not being a better daughter.”

I wish I could forget the events that day, erase them from my memory, and replace them with happier ones.

“That’s not true.” Dad’s voice is full of disbelief, as if I read that scenario in a horror story and claimed it was my life.

No longer able to sit here calmly, I stand up and take a few steps in his direction.

“We lost everything that day! The house, our clothes, my toys, and all our belongings. Hell, I even lost my friends because you kept borrowing money from their parents to feed your addiction. Gambling and getting high was your only priority.”

“You make me sound like a monster, like I’m the villain and you are the princess.”

I sit back down on my mattress and shrug. I wouldn’t have used the words villain and princess, but that sums up my childhood.

“If the shoe fits. You didn’t just hit me that day, you unleashed your anger on me and lost control. I was an innocent little girl, and you beat me until I was an inch from death. You threatened to kill me if I told anyone the truth, so I had to lie to the police just to get medical attention.”

He gives a half-suppressed laugh. “There you go, exaggerating again. I’ve never almost killed you. If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you a long time ago. It would have saved me a lot of money.”

I inhale deeply and clench my teeth together. I can’t lose my temper right now. At least not while I’m a hostage in Giuseppe Rossi’s house.

“I don’t know what fantasyland you’re living in, but you need to snap back to reality. I had to get over twenty stitches. Two of my ribs were cracked. My ankle and wrist were broken. Bruises covered my body, and my right eye was swollen shut.”

I squeeze my eyes tightly together to keep the tears from falling. I won’t let him win. I’m not the helpless girl I was once. I’ve grown up and made a life for myself. Besides, Giuseppe Rossi and Vincent don’t need any more dirt on my family.

But even that thought doesn’t keep me from continuing my tirade.

“I snuck out of every seedy hotel we stayed in because I didn’t feel safe being that close to you. I stayed late at school just so I wouldn’t have to be around you. How Mom was able to stay sober is a mystery because you left your drugs lying around like you wanted her to kill herself.”

“That would have been a better ending to our story.”

Against my better judgment, I lower my voice and calmly ask, “What happened to Mom?”

“She divorced me for some rich banker the year after you left. As far as I know, they moved to California and started their own family.”

My heart constricts with pain. Mom started another family without trying to look for me? I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. She wasn’t the best mother I could have asked for, but she was nowhere near as bad as Dad.

“Good for her.” I reply dryly.

“Don’t be jealous, Alex. I heard the guys you work with are professional hockey players. Talk about unlimited income. You should get knocked up by one of them. You will be set for life.”

I want to say too late, but I keep my baby and the father a secret. If anyone would blackmail Joseph for millions of dollars, it’s my dad.

I scoot closer to the corner and close my eyes. Concentrating on my breathing will help me relax and focus on my true problem- getting out of here. If the light wasn’t on, I’d probably be able to sleep some.

Dad huffs and mumbles from the other side of the room, but I ignore him. I never should have gotten that upset about my childhood. It’s not healthy for the baby, and it happened a long time ago. Dad is dead to me. His opinions and excuses don’t matter anymore.

I let my thoughts wander to Joseph, Francesca, and Arturo.

Do they know I’m locked up here?

Did Giuseppe send them the pictures he took of me?

Do they even care?

Will Joseph feel guilty for everything he’s done when he learns the truth about me working for Giuseppe?

Will anyone try to come save me?

Will my dad get to go free while I stay a prisoner? I gave Rossi a lot of money for Dad’s freedom.

I’m so deep in thought that I barely register the lock on the door being unlocked. Giuseppe Rossi comes into the room.

He claps his hands together. “Well, now we wait.”

“Wait for what?” I ask, with no enthusiasm in my tone.

“Wait for Arturo to meet me at the fort tonight. It’s going to be an eventful evening. I’ll make amends for my wrongdoings, and then I’ll kill him like I’ve killed many unsuspecting men before him. It will be over before he even knows what’s happening.”

“Do you really think Arturo is going to come unarmed? He’s not going to be that stupid.”

“I’m not planning on shooting him. I have a very expensive bottle of wine that just happens to be mixed with thallium.”

“Thallium?”

“It’s the best ingredient to poison someone. Many murderers used it because it is tasteless and odorless. I will start by telling him I want to make amends and then I’ll offer him a glass of wine. Within minutes, his vision will blur, and depending on how much he drinks, he will be dead.”

My heart races as I picture Arturo drinking the poisoned wine.

Changing the subject, I say, “Why isn’t my father free? I paid his debt.”

Giuseppe rubs his chin. “You did pay for his freedom, and I was going to release him, but he will just rack up more debt. There really isn’t anything we can do to help addicts. Trust me, I know.”

I scoff. “So I gave you half of a million dollars for nothing?”

He cocks his head to the side. “It was to prove my point.”

“What point?”

Why is he speaking in riddles?

“That your father isn’t really dead to you. You care about him, even though you pretend to hate him.”

“He is dead to me. You could kill him now and I wouldn’t shed a tear for him.”

Dad flinches on the other side of the room.

A smirk forms on Giuseppe’s face. “Is that so? Then why did you get the money? You could have left town with it, never to be seen again.”

I shrug. “It was either work for you to pay for his debt or you kill me. I was fired so I couldn’t keep up with my end of the deal, so I gave you the money instead.”

He seems amused by my answer, like he wasn’t expecting me to be this honest or trustworthy. To his credit, it is hard to find honest men in this industry. Giuseppe lifts his arm, points his gun straight at Dad, and pulls the trigger.

I can’t stop the scream that comes out of my mouth.

Blood splatters everywhere. It stains the mattress, floor, walls, and even my clothes.

Giuseppe pulls the trigger three more times before holstering his gun and saying, “There. Problem solved. No more addict wasting our time and energy.”

I keep my gaze off Dad, but I can hear his body slump over and fall to the ground. He might not have been the best father growing up, but he didn’t deserve this to be his last moment.

It’s kind of my fault, too, for challenging Giuseppe Rossi like I did, but I never expected him to kill Dad.

The saying is true, be careful what you wish for because it may come true, and rarely do wishes come true exactly as you have imagined.

The metallic smell of blood wafts over to me, causing my stomach to turn.

I can’t throw up right now. Not here, and not in front of them. Besides, I don’t have anything on my stomach and would prefer to keep the embarrassment of dry heaving to myself.

“Why am I still here? You have my money, my father is no longer a problem, and you are about to kill Arturo. What purpose do I serve? Just let me go so I can move on with my life and raise my baby away from this lifestyle.”

He glances toward Dad’s lifeless body. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with you yet. I don’t like the idea of a baby Marino running around and growing up full of revenge just to cause me problems in twenty years, but I don’t see the harm in letting you raise your child away from here.”

I don’t speak as I watch his expression change several times. It would be poetic justice for my child to come back and kill him for everything he’s put me through, but I don’t want my child growing up and resorting to a life of crime.

“Hmm, decisions, decisions.” He rubs his chin. “For now, just sit still and wait for my return. I’ll have Emily bring you some food.”

He leaves the room without another word.

When I am alone, I glance at Dad’s body and choke down a sob. He lost his life because of me.

The door opens, and Emily walks in carrying a tray of food.

“Don’t feel guilty.” She starts to say before walking over to me. “Mr. Rossi was never going to allow your father to walk out the front door. He was too much of a liability.”

Is that supposed to make me feel better? I risked my lifetime and time again for Giuseppe Rossi. I paid my father’s debt when I could have moved away and started my life over again.

“If that was the plan all along, then why am I still here? The Marinos will not talk to me or come save me, so if that’s Giuseppe’s plan, he shouldn’t get his hopes up.”

Emily places the tray of food on the mattress in front of me.

I shake my head. “I can’t eat right now.”

“You need to eat. Your baby needs you to eat so he or she can grow.”

“How am I supposed to eat with my father’s dead body ten feet away?”

She glances to the other side of the room and nods. “Alright. Follow me and carry your tray, but if you try to escape, I won’t hesitate to shoot you.”

She shows me the gun at her hip for good measure.

“I understand, and I won’t try to escape.” I’d be lying if the thought didn’t cross my mind, though, but being this weak won’t get me far. Plus, they have my car.

I follow her down the hallway, past the interrogation room and into the room I was in the first time Giuseppe kidnapped me.

“This room is clean.” Emily gestures for me to head inside.

The room is different from the last time I was here. There is a newish mattress in the corner and a solid metal table and chair against the other wall.

“You can eat on the mattress or at the table. I’ll bring a cover for you. Try to get some sleep while Mr. Rossi is gone because you never know what kind of mood he’s going to be in when he returns.”

It sounds like a warning, and one that I should take seriously.

“Thank you for the food and blanket.”

I head over to the table and stare at the food. Is it poisoned? If he will poison the wine for Arturo, there’s no chance that he will spare my life.

My stomach growls at the smell of the warm food.

Am I stupid for wanting to eat the food? There’s no telling how long I will be locked up, so I can turn food away when it does come.

With my mind made up, I scarf down the chicken parmigiana, spaghetti, and garlic bread. I don’t even hear Emily return, but when my stomach is full, I head to the mattress where a nice comforter is laying on top.

Opting to get some rest, I turn the overhead light off and slowly make my way back to the mattress.

I’ll feel better when I’m not sleep deprived. I just hope Giuseppe Rossi doesn’t return in a foul mood because my life remains in his hands.

But if he were to return in a good mood, then that would mean he was successful in killing Arturo, and that’s not something my pregnant heart can handle.