by G. D. Madsen
Greg hands me the guard's gun and disappears into the night with Lea in his arms, Mauro leading the way.
Time to face the firing squad!
I roll over the kitchen isle and prepare my weapons, shooting as soon as the door swings open.
The hail of marble and wood chippings rains on me, as enemy bullets hit the counter tops and the cabinets above.
I return the fire without seeing what I am aiming at, and somebody growls. Before I can check, more bullets come my way. I have no idea how many I’m up against, but I need to keep them busy long enough for Greg and Lea to escape.
"Enough!" An all too familiar deep voice ends the hailstorm with one simple command. Fuck, he's back... "Take her to the living room!"
Kahina!
"I suggest you come out with your arms above your head, and guns pointing downwards. Hand them to my men, and then join me and the treacherous little whore in the living room for a little party."
The echo of Beltrani's shoes grows distant, and I reluctantly leave my cover. Two men – as bald as the one Greg knocked out, dressed in black military trousers and navy blue T-shirts – point their weapons at me. One of them has blood trailing down his forearm.
"Guns on the floor and kick them aside," he speaks with an accent I cannot distinguish.
I do as I'm told.
"Now walk over to this side and turn around."
I would never turn my back on my enemy, but Kahina is in the other room, and fighting is not an option.
The second guy handcuffs my wrists behind my back while the bleeder brings his gun to my head. "I'd like to give you a proper welcome, but boss hates to wait." He punches me in the stomach so hard I begin to gasp for air like a damn fish.
"Hey! Boss wants him conscious, idiot." Goon number two pushes me out the door and into the dark living room, and shoves me into the armchair, illuminated by a sole lamp on a side table.
"Might as well keep you comfortable so you can focus solely on the action," the psycho speaks. The switch flips, and light from an oversized chandelier floods the room, blinding me for a moment.
Beltrani stands by the tray with drinks, holding a glass in his hand, a devilish sneer twisting his lips. That sneer evaporates when the bleeder steps into the room. "Where's the Asian guy?"
"Boss, there was nobody else."
"Then check the basement, you idiot!"
Kahina is sitting on the couch to the left from me. She blinks fast, not looking at me.
"I will get us out of here." I deliver my promise, even though I have no clue how to execute it. "Listen to me! He's not going to touch you."
She winces when fake laughter erupts from Beltrani’s throat.
"Oh, but I am going to touch her." He steps closer to her. "I am going to do so much more than touch her." He runs his fingers through her hair. "And you, lover boy, are going to watch."
Kahina turns her face away from Beltrani's touch. Her eyes, still avoiding mine, glisten with tears. The blood on her cheek is enough to propel me off the chair, but somebody presses me down.
Shit, one of the men stayed behind me.
"Now, let's agree on something here," Beltrani says, picking something from the table. The chandelier lights flicker on the familiar blade and Kahina's face, wet with tears.
"Yes, her little masterplan backfired." Silvio presses the dagger to the cut on her cheekbone, and her silent whimper shatters my heart. "Unless you want her pretty face cut and bleeding, I suggest you sit tight where you are. One wrong move, and..." He slides the tip of the blade down her cheek, scraping the skin, leaving a thin red streak behind.
I jolt in my seat, but the fucker presses me down again.
Beltrani steps away from Kahina. "Shall we begin?" He takes another sip of whatever he is drinking and waves the dagger. "On your feet, Lavinia."
She rises up, keeping her eyes on the floor.
"Look at me," I plead as calmly as I can, and her eyes meet mine at last. There is so much agony inside those hazel eyes. "I love you! Nothing and no one will ever change this!"
"I'm sorry," she says, her voice breaking. "I should have known... I lured you and Greg into a trap."
"Listen to me!" I shake my head. "None of this is your fault."
"Enough!" Beltrani picks up the carafe from the tray to refill his glass. "We didn't meet here to chat! Strip, Lavinia!"
"Boss!" The other guy reappears, breathing heavily. "The basement is empty. Florin and Mihai are dead."
Beltrani downs his drink in one sip and smashes the glass against the wall. "Losers! Find them! Now! Out! Both of you! And don't you fucking return empty-handed!"
His men storm out, and I catch her unspoken question.
"Yes, love, you saved her. Lea is free." I smile, watching the sparks resurface in her eyes.
A sigh of relief.
And a faint smile.
"I love you, David... More than life itself."
"How lovely," Beltrani sneers. "They won't go far. You should know. After all, you tried escaping too, my little Lavinia. Now... I told you to strip, and I hope you haven't forgotten how much I hate repeating myself."
She turns to him, facing him tall and proud. "I am not your little Lavinia. My name is Judith!"
A momentary hint of shock shadows Beltrani's grin. "Somebody did their homework... Well, Judith, if you like, the request still remains. Do it, or I will strip you naked myself!"
"No."
Beltrani clutches the dagger and lunges at her faster than I can rise from that bloody armchair, with my hands cuffed. The bastard pulls her in front and presses the blade to her neck.
"I advised you to remain seated. It is time for you to learn that every action has its consequences, little man!" He steps aside from Kahina and turns her by the arm to face him. He draws the dress off her chest and slices the garment. Kahina doesn't move, not even when Beltrani pulls the torn fabrics off her shoulders, exposing her bare breasts. Millions of different scenarios run through my mind, but unfortunately, none of those end up with her remaining unharmed in the process. Not when the dagger is inches from her heart.
"I will let you choose this time. What should I begin with? Her left breast?" He trails the tip of the dagger across Kahina's breast, and she shuts her eyes.
"Don't you fucking dare!" I growl.
"No? The right one, perhaps?" The blade slides across her chest to her right breast, and I can see Kahina is barely breathing. "Maybe, I should carve my name on her beautiful belly... Or lower?" Silvio runs the dagger down to her stomach.
"I'll kill you," I hiss. "I will rip your balls one by one!"
Beltrani looks at me, cocking his head to the side. "You still believe you are going to get out of this alive?" A sneer. "Sit the fuck down and shut up, before I relocate this whole party to my favorite place in the house."
Kahina forces her eyes open and meets mine. A slight shake of her head is her silent plea for me not to challenge the bastard further.
If he drags her to the basement, he will have countless resources to put her through another hell. I sit back down.
"Now, let me explain to you how this is going to end. You will die, and it is only up to Lavinia, or Judith, or whatever she prefers, to choose just how much you are going to suffer before. I originally planned for her to put a bullet in your brain, but now that both of you proved to be less cooperative than I had wished for, I will take my time with you. This could take a couple of hours, or if this ungrateful slut continues defying my orders, I might decide to keep you conscious enough for days."
"No!" She turns to Beltrani. "I'm sorry. I'll do whatever you desire, just don't hurt him."
He grins. "Will you now? Let's test how cooperative you can be, and maybe by the end of this night, I will grant you the honor of slitting your lover's throat with this very dagger, Lavinia." He spins the dagger in between his fingers, but it drops to the floor, and while bending to pick it up, Beltrani loses his grounding.
"What the fuck?" He stumbles
a few steps backward, staring at Kahina, his black eyes wide. "What did you do, you little bitch?"
She tilts her head to the side and smiles, pulling the torn dress up. "Oh, father... As you assumed at the restaurant, I never believed you would let Lea go. Yes, I do know you. Better than you could have ever anticipated. This is how I knew that once we returned to this damn prison, you would drink your whiskey.
"It didn't matter whether you were getting ready to punish me or fulfill any other sadistic fantasy – you always downed that drink first!"
Silvio tries to stand still but stumbles again. "You little whore!" Despite his wobbly appearance, Beltrani launches at her, but I propel off the chair, glide over the low table, and intercept his attack by tackling Silvio.
"Run!" I manage to shout before we hit the floor. I have seconds before Silvio takes me down, I need her to use those seconds.
The image of Kahina disappearing into the kitchen is the last I see before a punch to my face nearly knocks me out. Only the bastard's drugged state prevents him from hitting me harder. He doesn't waste another blow on me and goes straight after her.
My first instinct is to follow them, but I am of no use with the hands tied. Grunting, as the cuffs cut deep into my flesh, I twist and wriggle my entire body until my arms are in front of me. I snatch the dagger and ram it into the metal, forcing it to gape enough for the lock to give in.
Kahina's agonizing scream from the kitchen dispels any sense of pain. Leaving handcuffs still hanging on one wrist, I grab the blade sticky with my blood and run.
Chapter 28
Kahina
Judith failed to kill Holofernes. But this doesn’t mean I am giving up. He terrifies me, yet the thought of living in fear terrifies me more. When David yelled for me to run, I stormed into the kitchen with a sole purpose.
I reach the counter and open the top drawer. It slams shut faster than I manage to pull my hand out. I cannot contain a scream as the burning sensation shoots up my entire arm still throbbing from the weight of his foot. The knife, I succeeded to grab, drops back to where it was before.
Silvio hauls me away. "You wanted to play rough, let's play rough, Lavinia!" he growls, pinning me against the sink with such force, it feels like a punch to my stomach. He may be drugged, but I stand no chance against him. Encompassing my entire back, he fists my hair with one hand to keep my head steady under the faucet, his other hand simultaneously twisting the tap.
The moment cold water hits my face, my father's voice banishes the choking panic. 'Slay the monster,' I hear him say, and I launch at Silvio with everything I have – kicking, scratching, and biting him.
He slams my head against the side of the sink and bile rises up my throat, but I do not stop. Silvio pushes me off of him and on to the floor. He staggers toward me, belt already out of the loops. He swings it over his head, only to stumble down on me, roaring like a beast, the dagger in his back.
"David!" I whirl from under Silvio's unsteady grip and rush to my savior, ready to fall into his arms and never let go.
A deafening sound shakes the whole room and David falters backward out of my reach.
Another heart-shattering pop – and the curtain falls.
I am running down the dark alley in oversized rain boots, pigeons flying above my head, my wild curls obstructing the scene of my father falling to the ground and a tall, wide shadow looming over him.
Dad yells for me to run away, but I continue toward him and the man pointing a gun to his head. He fires, and I trip, seashells and stones from my pockets drowning in the snow.
I scream.
I scream until my screams catapult me back into the kitchen, next to David's body. All I see is red. And I jump on Silvio like a raging bull. In this moment of surprise, he loses the gun. I grab it before he does, and roll on my back pointing it at him.
"You killed my father!"
I fire!
But it only scrapes Silvio's arm. He laughs like the madman he is.
"You robbed me of my life!" I shoot again, and this time, it hits his shoulder. Silvio lurches back, cursing, but remains upright.
"Why?!"
"Because I wanted you. Your dearest "Papa" may have been an excellent forger, but he was nowhere near as good as his seven-year-old kid genius. I offered him a price high enough to produce ten fucking children and support those for the rest of their lives, but the poor bastard refused to sell you. So, I took you for free!" Another mad laughter, his glassy eyes locked on me. "You are mine, and you will always belong to me!"
"Fuck you!" I press the trigger again and again, but nothing happens.
Silvio is drugged, stabbed, and shot, but he still attempts to grab me. Before I can duck away from his claws, another bullet grounds him to his knees. Crawling on all fours, he turns to the shooter, blocked from my sight by Silvio's stature.
Second pop.
He bounces backward, his face twisted with shock and disbelief.
A third shot lands him flat, and he rolls on his back, growling in pain.
At last, I see the shooter. "Mauro!"
"I am sorry, Lavi," he says. "I am sorry I failed to protect you when I gave you my word. I am sorry I hurt you when you most needed me. Now you are safe. Father is never going to touch you again."
He towers over Silvio palpitating on the floor.
"Mauro, remember who you are! Remember who I am, son..."
Mauro smirks. "I do, Father. I know who you are and what I am. Have you forgotten? I am the product of your creation. You turned me into a heartless killing machine. You forced me to murder children. You made me torture and rape my best friend and blame her for every spiteful stare you gave me. Fuck, if there is one thing I am grateful for, Daddy, it's your order to stand in between Lavi and any possible threat to her. Tonight, I am stepping in between her and the only true threat there ever was."
Mauro squats beside Silvio and presses the barrel to his temple. "Goodbye, Father." Blood stains Mauro's face as he delivers the final shot.
The shot that allows me to breathe again.
Invisible chains fall off my body.
The cage opens.
The beast is gone!
I crawl to Mauro and cling to him, laughing and crying at the same time.
"You are free," he whispers into my hair, hugging me back.
"No, Mauro…" I push him away and press my palms to his blood-stained cheeks. "We are free!"
We hug again, tears streaming down our faces, when I hear David grunting.
Mauro releases me, and I rush back to the man I love. "David, it's over; it's finally over! We won!" I lay his head on my knees and caress his pale cheek. "Stay with me… Please, don't leave me alone… I don't want to live without you… I love you!"
David’s face twists with pain, eyes shut, his breathing heavy. Blood soaks his shirt.
"Please, God, whoever you may be, don't let Silvio win this war. I refuse to accept it!"
"Mauro, we need to..." I turn to where he knelt, but there is only Silvio's lifeless body lying on the floor.
I can hear somebody coming, but I feel just as lonely as Judy did when she sat inside her new prison cell, clutching the only seashell she managed to hide inside her boot – the last reminder of her family.
Chapter 29
David
The brightness blinds me as soon as I tear my eyes open. Am I dead?
I raise my arm to block out some of the light, but burning pain radiates down my body. No, I don't think I am supposed to feel like a bullet went through my chest if I were dead.
Wait… That is precisely what happened – a bullet went through my chest. Two of those, actually.
Bloody hell, I failed her. I left her alone with the monster!
The sight of Beltrani's crazed face as he was going after the woman I love has me jolting in my bed, but somebody presses me back down.
"Easy there." I somehow distinguish Greg's face above me as the brightness recedes.
I'm not dead, which is
a good sign. Beltrani would have never allowed it. But what the hell happened? And why is Greg here?
"Kahina?" a hoarse voice delivers my question. I clear my throat, trying to push the dread aside.
"She's fine, David. Shaken, but she will be glad to see you fully conscious."
"How long have I been here?" I look around the room, not much different from the one Kahina was in two weeks ago. The light still hurts my eyes, so I squint when focusing on an empty armchair by the window, and a soft blanket from the lake house hanging on it.
Now I recall flashes of my queen sleeping in that chair, the warmth of her hands caressing my cheek, her lips on mine.
"Two nights and nearly two days now," Greg replies, leaning back against the windowsill. "Most of those sedated, because you couldn't lay still. You are one lucky bastard. The bullet got stuck in your rib, mere inches from your heart. Another one, however, hit your abdomen, so you lost a lot of blood, but every part of you seems to function just fine, lover boy. Including that one," he points at my groin.
I glare at his smug smirk, but it only expands.
"You made a nurse blush this morning," my bastard of a friend adds, but his remark forces a smile out of me. However, there is only one woman I want to see blushing.
"And her?" I gesture toward the empty chair.
"Bruised, but mostly exhausted from never leaving this room," he points to the corner. "Thank goodness Judy’s mother came, and she eventually agreed to go outside with her."
"Her mother?" I try to sit up, but give up midway. "She's here?"
"Yes. When the fingerprints came back a match, the detective who worked on her case was notified. Because of this situation, they failed to get in touch with you. Detective Steve Gordon from NYPD and Judy’s mother, who is now married to him by the way, arrived at the station this morning, and I brought them here. She recognized her mother, man!" Greg smiles. "They went for lunch after I swore I would not leave your side."
"That's amazing! Even if this means I am stuck here with you. So, why don't you make yourself useful and help me up?" I return his earlier smirk.