Unwanted Marriage with the Mafia Boss (Mob Boss’s Unexpected Twins Duet #1)

12. Chiara

CHAPTER 12

Chiara

I can’t breathe—it’s the first thought that flashes through my head as soon as I open my eyes. Panic grips my insides as I try to sit up, but my wrist is cuffed to something. My heart keeps pounding in my chest as I take in the room around me.

I’m in someone’s bedroom. The bed is big and strangely comfortable, and the sheets under me are dark green and soft. Is this Adriano’s room? But why would he take me to his room? It makes no sense, but nothing does anymore.

Someone’s definitely been using this room because the closet door is slightly ajar, and I can see some clothes in there. A jacket is draped over a chair. It looks like Adriano’s. The drawer of the nightstand is cracked open too, and there’s something colorful inside. Like wrappers?

I’m lucky my other hand is free, so I move to pull the drawer open. Condoms. Those wrappers are condoms. Oh hell. I shut the drawer and lie back down on the bed.

Oh hell, no.

I’m his wife now, but I thought that was just... I don’t know, probably a tactic to scare the hell out of me. Make me see that he can do whatever he wants. I don’t think he really wants me to be his wife. Why would he? What happened between us was so nice, but it was just sex to him.

I was stupid enough to think he was a good guy. He doesn’t care about me at all, or I wouldn’t be here right now like this. Does he plan to toy with me? Use me, as if I was actually his wife until he gets what he really wants? He wants to mess with my mind and make me terrified of him, and it’s working.

I try to take slow, deep breaths so I don’t get dizzy again. Freaking out right now isn’t going to help me get free.

I close my eyes for a moment because Filippo’s face appears in my mind. He sneers at me and laughs.

“I win,” his voice whispers.

But I can’t think about him and how I’m again someone’s prisoner. I don’t want to remember how he placed a chair under the door handle to keep me from getting out. How he screamed at me to calm the fuck down and banged on the door while telling me he loved me.

I groan, focusing on the cuff on my wrist. It’s impossible to get it off without a key, and it’s too tight to find a way to slip it off. In movies, people would just dislocate their wrists or cut off a finger or something, but I don’t think I can do any of that.

I don’t even know where I am. There’s a window, but it’s hidden by heavy drapes. This room could be anywhere, even at the top of a building. Armed men are probably right outside the door. But I can’t give up.

Adriano wants to take my home and the restaurant. It’s all he cares about. Will he really free me once he gets what he wants? Once my dad finds out about this, he’ll do anything he can to set me free.

But then what? Adriano will take everything we own, but what will he really do with us? Kill us, I guess. He’s clearly a heartless mafia boss who doesn’t give a damn about anything and anyone other than himself.

I grab the pillow from the other side of the bed in frustration. My gaze falls on something dark that has been hiding under it, and I reach out for it. A knife! I stare at it with wide eyes.

Could I somehow use it to cut through my cuff? But I hear footsteps somewhere outside. Someone’s coming, and I don’t have enough time. I place the pillow over my face and press the knife tightly to myself so that no one can see it.

If I’m lucky enough Adriano will come through that door. When he approaches to remove the pillow, I’ll stab him and hopefully... I honestly don’t know what I’m hoping for, but I hear the door open and I hold my breath. If he thinks I’m dead, I have a chance.

“Chiara!” His shout cuts through the air, and for a second, I think I hear worry.

But I must be imagining it or he’s just worried I’m actually dead and my dad won’t sign anything without me alive.

I feel the bed shift and his legs brushing mine as he gets on top of me. As he grabs the pillow and tosses it aside, I stare into his turbulent eyes. I strike straight at his head. His hand shoots out and grips my wrist so hard that I wince. The knife nicks him on the cheek, leaving a tiny trail of blood.

I fight against his hold, but if I don’t let go, he’s going to crush my wrist. He’s way too strong, and pain shoots through my arm. Adriano takes the knife out of my fingers with his other hand and lifts it.

He’s going to stab me, isn’t he? I stop breathing, my whole body shivering. He throws the knife across the room. It embeds into the closet as if he aimed right at it.

He pins my hand next to my head, his face serious, his eyes flashing with danger, but there’s also something else... As if he’s conflicted about something, but I don’t know what it is.

I can’t get my gaze off his face. He’s the same guy who made me feel so happy, and now... It’s like Filippo over again. It was all fake.

All fake. All fake.

“I should punish you for this, but you’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” He tilts his head at me.

His body is still pressed against mine, and my mind wants to take me to that time when we kissed. When his touch made me cry in pleasure.

A tingling starts low in my stomach, but I can’t. I can’t do this right now. He’s not the man who I thought he was. He’s evil. My eyes fill with tears.

Adriano lets go of me and gets to his feet. “It’s my fault for leaving that, not yours anyway. I’ll forgive you this time.”

“I... um, I need to go to the bathroom,” I say, my voice shaky.

If I keep lying here, tied up like this, after what’s just happened, I’m going to lose it and burst into tears. And I don’t want Adriano to have the pleasure of seeing me fall apart. This was probably my best and only attempt at freedom that I was going to get, and I failed. My body still reacting to him... It’s too much.

“Want to try to kill me again so soon?” The corners of his mouth lift up.

“No... I... I really need to go.” It’s not even a lie.

Now that I think of it, I really feel like I have to pee.

“Okay, but no stupid moves, or I’ll just throw you in the basement and my men will watch over you. And I assure you, you don’t want that. Actually, killing me is a terrible idea because I’m the only one keeping you safe. Others, who are just outside, wouldn’t be this good to you, and I’m only this nice to you because you and I had a really great time at Amore Bruciante.”

I hate him. I hate him for reminding me of that again. He’s not nice. There’s nothing nice about him. He’s messed up in the head if he thinks he’s being nice, but I bite my tongue. I don’t want to antagonize him now, no matter how much I’d like to. Filippo taught me arguing with crazy is always a bad idea.

“Close your eyes,” he says. “If you open them before I tell you to, you’re not going anywhere.”

I do it. He moves so quietly that the chain attached to my cuff barely clinks. I just feel the pressure around my wrist disappearing. Trying something now would be pointless. I don’t have a weapon anymore, the element of surprise is gone, and Adriano is stronger than me and probably armed. I’ll have to come up with a different plan later. For now, I’m grateful that I’m still alive and breathing.

“Open your eyes.” Adriano lounges against the wall, his hand hovering over his gun. “The bathroom is right through that door across from you. Run for the wrong one, and you’ll regret it.”

I make my way to the bathroom, keeping an eye on him. As I shut the door behind me, I let out a sound that’s a mix of a cry and a sigh. I slump down to the floor, my back against the door.

The bathroom is so damn nice and modern, but I can’t stay in here forever. There aren’t any windows either, just a small vent. If I take too long, Adriano might come looking for me, and I don’t want that. I give myself a moment to let the tears run down my face, and then I get to my feet.

This isn’t over. I’ll find a way to get free. I have to. Despair has never helped anyone, and it won’t help me either. I’ve been through something like this before, except this is a whole new level of crazy. All I have to do is find my inner strength and let it guide me.