by Fariah Zaidi
“If there’s something I’ve learnt from all my years in the Mafia, it’s that you choose your battles carefully, smartly.” he went on, “Yesterday, there was one of me and seven of them. Had it been a hand-to-hand combat, I could’ve taken them on. But not only was I outnumbered, I was also outgunned. So, I screamed and cried but never once did I beg.”
Later, on our way home, I sat quietly beside Stefan, absent in my own thoughts. Each time the car hit bumps or take sudden brakes, I would feel Stefan’s hand tighten on my thigh. And I would squeeze it right back in assurance.
Our driver today was Freddie with Cedric riding shotgun. They were two of Stefan’s soldiers that I’d gotten familiar with. They were funny, goofy and at times reminded me of Joey and Chandler. Even now I could hear them through the screen, animatedly talking over something. But above all, they were loyal and had massive respect for their Boss, and here, I’d learnt, that’s what mattered the most.
“When did Mama and Ria say they’d return?” I asked Stefan, breaking the silence between us.
“They’re gonna come back with Rafael.” he answered, “Dr. Khan said he’d be released by the end of the day. Mama wanted to stay back and fret over him some more.”
I smiled, remembering the woman’s affectionate threats.
“You could’ve stayed with him, you know.” I told him, gently rubbing the pad of my thumb over his knuckles, “I know you wanted to.”
“As much as I would’ve liked that, I still have an empire to run and war to prepare for.” he explained, “I can sit with my best friend and reminisce this over a bottle of Scotch when all this is over.”
I nodded, watching him raise my hand to his lips and press a hard kiss on my knuckles. He then leaned forward and rapped loudly on the screen separating us from his soldiers.
“Yes, Boss?” Cedric answered.
“Tell the Family to assemble in the hall. I need to have a meeting right away.”
“Alright, anything else?” he asked, tapping on his phone.
“That’s it for now.”
Stefan leaned back in his seat, his hand instinctively back on my thigh. Cedric pulled up the screen again, but not before shooting me a smile.
“He smiles too much at you.” Stefan muttered, shooting a glare towards the front where Cedric was sitting.
I would’ve laughed at his unnecessary anger.
I would’ve replied with sarcasm and wit.
I would’ve mocked his jealousy and enjoyed a lot.
And then I would’ve kissed him and told him that his smiles were much more precious for me.
But I couldn’t.
The collision was sudden.
All I could see was a huge mass of blue and hear the screeching of the tires against the road before it hit us from Stefan’s side and our car was thrown in the air.
My eyes squinted shut on their own accord. I could hear Freddie screaming in the background. I could hear the windows shattering. I could feel the glass shards raining down on me from the sides, cutting through my skin.
My head it the windowpane with such force that I blacked out for a second. There were spots in my vision when I finally opened my eyes.
The car was upside down. And I was lying on its roof, the broken glass digging painfully in my body. There was blood on the seats. I didn’t know whether it was mine of Stefan’s.
Stefan!
My body lurched and I raised my head through the throbbing pain, blindly reaching out for him. I waited a moment and closed my eyes, waiting for my vision to clear.
My ears were ringing. I could hear Freddie shouting something again, but I didn’t hear the one voice I was longing to hear. I opened my eyes again, relieved that I could see much clearer now, the pain was there, but at least I could see.
“Stefan!” I screamed hoarsely, my voice only worsening my pain, “Stefan!”
And then I saw him. Lying still by the back of the car. How he’d reached there, I had no clue. What scared me was the amount of blood he had on his face.
I crawled forward, crying against the pain in my head and the wounds on my body.
“Stefan? Stefan!” I tried again, “Can you hear me?”
“Zara!”
I turned around to see Freddie peering in through the broken window, his gun in his hand. He reached his hand out, “Get out of there, now!”
“I can’t just leave him here!” I cried, “He got hit in his head. He’ll bleed out!”
“Zara, I’ll get him out, I promise,” he begged, “just please-”
He paused abruptly and turned away.
And that’s when I heard it.
Gunshots.
Lots of them.
Every inch of my body froze and became numb with fear.
Through the front window, I watched the scene unfold.
As men in green striped masks started emerging from the woods, I knew it was a lost battle. We were outnumbered. By a large scale.
I could count eight of our soldiers as they cocked their guns, taking positions behind their cars. Freddie urgently called out my name.
“Zara, listen to me very carefully.”
Fourteen:
Taken
Zara
I listened carefully to the plan that Freddie hurriedly barked in my direction.
“We can hold them off long enough for you to reach that SUV!”
“What about Stefan?”
“My orders are clear Zara!” he shouted, glancing back as the bullets started whizzing, “You before everyone else! Even him! Now crawl out from the back window and run straight for the car, turn around and drive home! Do you understand me?”
“They’ll kill him, Freddie!” I screamed back, “And they’ll kill you too!”
“They won’t kill him, they just want you! And I have strict orders not to let that happen. I know what I signed up for, Zara! Now get your ass out the car and run!”
And then he was gone. I watched him slide next to the others and start shooting.
I did as he asked. I crawled past Stefan, kicking away the remaining glass from the pane. I saw the car standing about fifty yards from me. I could make it, easily.
But I knew I couldn’t leave Stefan here alone. There was no way I’d be able to live with myself if I left him unconscious and bleeding inside a totaled car. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
So, I dragged myself out the window, brushing down the glass bits from my clothes. I could see them embedded in my skin- over my arms and through the material of my jeans. But in those moments, over the adrenaline rushing through my veins, my body had become numb to all the pain. My entire focus was on Stefan, and that I had to get him out.
I was crying. I didn’t know I was until the hot tears started burning the cuts on my cheeks. Hurriedly peering around the car, I caught a glimpse of the fight. Two of our men were down. I knew I didn’t have much time.
“Stefan? Stefan, please wake up!” I desperately called out, hooking my arms under his shoulders. He was heavy. Of course, he was. Bit by bit, I pulled him out. With my hammering heart and the sudden nausea that overcame me, I dragged him with all my might, and even then, he was only halfway out.
My eyes fell on the wound on his head, the one that had rendered him unconscious. He was losing blood.
“Stefan? Stefan, honey?” I slapped my palm against his crimson cheek as gently as I could, “Please if you can hear me, please! Wake up!”
Just when I was about to give up hope, his eyes fluttered, and he let out this loud groan. My laugh was one of hysteria as I bent down and pressed a short kiss to his lips and started shaking him some more. He was coming to.
And that’s when I noticed.
The silence.
The hair on my nape rose in fear at the sudden silence that had fallen over the deserted road.
No yelling.
No guns.
No bullets whizzing past.
Over the spinning of my head, the only thing I could hear was footsteps. Appr
oaching me. Approaching us.
The kick came out of nowhere.
Someone’s booted foot collided with my jaw with a force that had me falling on the road. I don’t remember if I’d screamed or not, but I could remember that the pain was excruciating.
As soon as I turned around, I saw him.
He was standing over me, a sick smile on his face, hands clasped behind his back.
Valentin Romano.
“I gave you a choice. A very generous offer.” he spoke.
“Which I most disrespectfully decline.”
“But you never listen to me. You weren’t this bitch two years ago.” he went on.
“I wish I was.” I spat, “Maybe I would’ve killed you right then.”
Stefan was stirring in front of me. He was moving in and out of consciousness. I planned on keeping Valentin’s attention on myself so that he wouldn’t do something to him.
“You should know better than that.” the devil went on, “And there’s no one to save you now. Not your armies, not your soldiers and not even your boyfriend.”
“You’re a coward.” I gritted.
His smile faltered a little. And I knew I got him.
“You think this is honorable?” I went on, “Attacking ten people with an army of fifty? You never had the balls to come at us front. You know you’d never win. That’s why you always pull these tricks, use lies and deceit to get what you want. Because you’re a snake and a fucking coward. You always will be.”
The backhand came. I was expecting this one. I even smiled against it as I turned back to him. His nostrils were flaring in anger. Rage. I watched carefully as he whipped out a knife and squatted beside me.
But instead of the stab I thought I was going to get, he turned around and stabbed Stefan’s upturned palm to the road.
This time I screamed.
It was one of shock, rage and intense hate.
It was the sheer audacity in that action that enraged me. The disrespect with which Valentin treated the man that I loved. I watched Stefan writhe in pain against the blade embedded in his open palm. As terrified as I was in that moment, my ire against Valentin overpowered me.
I didn’t care if I was alone. I didn’t care if his army was standing around us. I didn’t care about their guns and knives. I just didn’t care in that moment. I had to fight back. I had to do something to fight for the man who had done so much for me.
Completely disregarding the lesson Rafael had taught me just hours ago about choosing my battles carefully, I reared my hand back, curled my fingers and rammed a punch straight to Valentin’s face.
He wasn’t expecting it.
The punch landed right near his jaw and the satisfying crack was music to my ears. His feet gave away beneath him and he land on his back, letting out a loud groan.
“You bitch!” he yelled, but I didn’t pay heed to what he was saying. I grabbed a big shard of glass from the road and leapt on him, intent on finishing this off once and for all.
But even before I could reach, someone grabbed me by my hair and pulled me off him. Whoever it was, had little to no mercy in them as they dragged me away from the devil, still pulling me by my hair. My throat had become so dry that I couldn’t even scream against the pain.
My gaze, yet again went to Stefan. This time I was alarmed to find him still. He was no longer stirring, writhing or moaning. He was absolutely still.
“Stefan?”
I would’ve shouted his name, but my voice had dropped. I was unsure whether it was because of my scratchy throat or because of the fear that started crawling in my veins at his stillness.
I watched Valentin rise from the road, one hand on his jaw. He looked at me first, and then he looked at Stefan. The crestfallen expression on my face encouraged him to smile widely as he raised his foot and rammed it to Stefan’s side.
“No!” I screamed in horror, “You fucking bastard!”
Two of his goons held me back as I watched Valentin drive his foot, again and again, to Stefan’s body. I had never felt so helpless. All I could do was watch and beg Valentin to leave him alone.
And when he finally stopped and turned to me, that’s when I faltered. It the afternoon sunlight, when I saw his demeanor changed, I froze. He moved towards me, covering the distance with a few paced steps.
It was the look in his eyes that made me shrink away a little. The same cynical look I saw the night he’d raped me. He had that maniacal smile as he wrapped his hand around my neck and squeezed tightly.
“That’s what he deserves.” he spat, his disturbed eyes rendering me speechless, “I warned him, over and over again, that all I wanted was you. He wouldn’t be here, and neither would you, if you’d just been willing to come to me.”
“You’re out of you fucking mind if you ever thought I’d come to you on my own.” I rasped, my throat begging for some relief.
“And where did that get you?” came his reply, “With your boyfriend half-dead on the side of the road and you like this?” he gestured to my wounds, cuts and bloodied clothes, “Kitten, the power lies with me.”
I faltered a little at the nickname. It was a vivid reminder of that night. No amount of words could describe how much I hated him in this moment.
“You think this is power?” I locked eyes with him head-on, “Hitting an unconscious, unarmed man, and abusing a woman held back by your goons? That’s your show of power?”
I chuckled a little at his expense. And it satisfied me to a great extent when I saw the vein in his head about to pop with rage. I had just realized something. No matter what I do or say, he won’t kill me now. He would hit me, abuse me for sure, but right now, to him, the half a billion dollars were more important. So, I went on, inserting a little more taunt in my voice.
“Here’s a reality check, asshole! It’s not. If hitting him or me right now makes you feel powerful, makes you feel like a man, honey, have I got some truth for you. You are nothing short of a weasel. Nothing short of a coward. And certainly not a man.”
I watched his features contort with fury. I watched those green eyes fill with something so disturbing, that they seemed inhuman. He backed away from me, pulling out a gun from his pocket.
Was he going to shoot me?
I didn’t even have the time to comprehend before the gun when off with a silent his and I scrunched my eyes close, waiting for the pain to come. But all I felt was a small prick.
I looked down where I’d felt it, only to see a purple dart embedded in my thigh.
And then the pain began.
It started with a little soreness, like when you do when you bang you toe against something. But then the sensation increased. It slowly started growing and growing until it was burning. It felt like someone had set my leg on fire.
My knees buckled and I cried out when my I fell on the ground, holding my leg. The pain was searing, agonizing. A dull heaviness settled over my head and my eyes started closing on their own accord, no matter how hard I tried to keep them open.
And finally, darkness took over.
Fifteen:
Plane
Zara
The next time my eyes opened, I was looking straight out the window of an airplane.
Panic rushed through my body at an alarming rate as I sat up in my seat and looked around, realizing that I, in fact, was on a plane, a small one at that. The seats around me were empty and my wrist had been firmly cuffed to my chair.
I slumped back and closed my eyes to calm my raging mind. My thoughts drifted to Stefan in an instant- the wound on his head, him lying unconscious on the side of the road. Had he been found? Was someone from the Family even aware of what had happened? What if no one reached him in time?
The questions repeated in my head, questions I didn’t have answers to, answers which I had no way of finding. I raised my free hand to wipe the pooling tears from my eyes and then massage my temple, desperate to find some relief.
I had no idea where I was, where we were going or eve
n what the time was right now. The events from before slowly started playing in my mind and at the end all I could do was pray that Stefan had somehow survived.
“Oh good, you’re awake!”
Valentin walked in from the front of the plane, rubbing his hands in an excited manner. My whole body recoiled as he approached and took the seat opposite of me. It was an instinctive reaction. Whenever I saw him, all I wanted to do was run in the opposite reaction.
“What did you do to him? What did you do to Stefan?” I asked, trying to ignore his vicious stare as it travelled over me.
“He’s alive.” he shrugged, waving his hand in a dismissive motion.
Just as my shoulders had started to sag in relief, he added, “For now. I’ve got something else planned for him.”
“You got what you wanted.” I reasoned, “Why go after him now?”
“Because that sappy bastard won’t stop coming for you. Apparently, he is so wrapped around those slim fingers of yours that he put your life before his. All his soldiers had been commanded to save you before they saved him. I have something far more interesting planned for him. You’ll see.”
He spat those words with much hate and loathing towards Stefan.
“I’ve seen all I wanted to today.” I cut him off.
My voice was calm. So, calm it even surprised me.
“I know you won’t kill me. Obviously, you still have a lot to gain. You can slap me, punch me and do all the shit you can think of. But what you did today was the last straw. You may wanna rethink all these lovely plans that you have, Valentin, because sooner or later, it’ll all be blown to hell.”
I saw his fingers clench tightly against his knee.
Before I could talk further, however, the door at the front of the cabin opened and in walked a woman. My jaw dropped as she breezed through the aisle and came to sit down on the seat right next to Valentin.
What the hell’s going on?
“Brooke?”
The way I said her name, in a voice colored with shock, it made her smile. She crossed on leg over the other and leaned back comfortably in her seat, obviously enjoying my reaction.