CHAPTER 3

Melina snaps out of her reverie when the lights come on. She covers her eyes to fight the brightness. While adjusting to the light, she feels someone grab her left arm. She turns toward them, wondering who’s holding her and why.

“Get up,” the strange, scary-looking, and bulky man says. He pulls her up and begins to drag her out of the room.

“Where am I? Where are you taking me? Where’s Thomas?”

The man ignores all her questions and drags her into an open area. The place is poorly lit, so Melina can't see much other than the chair the man throws her on. She quickly stands up to run but gets pushed back. He glares at her, warning her to stay seated. Fearing his gaze, she melts into the chair. She looks around, trying to figure out where she is and what he plans to do to her.

“Ouch!” Melina looks down at her right hand. Her eyes widen as she realizes he’s using cable ties to strap her hands to the chair. He does the same to her legs.

“Why are you tying me down?” she asks, trying to pull her hands out of the cable ties. She stops when her skin begins to tear.

The man takes a step away from her as the room brightens up. Her eyes become saucers when she sees what’s in front of her. Different types of knives lay on the table a few feet away from her—knives she’s never seen before. Pliers, a sponge, and scissors are also on the table with what looks like a car battery.

Melina looks between the man and the table. The thought of them using any of those things on her has her close to peeing in her pants. To distract herself from the horrible thoughts swimming in her head, she looks around the room again. They are in a windowless place, likely underground. A staircase leads up, and a few chairs are scattered throughout the room. Her brows pull together as she realizes they’re arranged to face her. Breath fans her neck making her jump in her seat.

“Hello Melina, it's been a while since we last saw each other,” Kimberly whispers. She drags her long nails on Melina's shoulder as she walks to stand in front of her. Her red-painted lips are pulled into a smirk as her blue eyes shine with happiness.

“Hello Kimberly, it's nice to see you again,” she says with a forced smile.

Kimberly, who is like a sister to Thomas, has hated Melina ever since the two dated. She picks up a dagger and brings it closer to Melina’s neck, causing her to scream and thrash in the chair.

“Shut the fuck up,” Kimberly growls at her. Melina immediately closes her mouth and stares at the knife as it rests an inch away from her neck. Her heart races and tears fill her eyes as she watches Kimberly and the knife.

“Where is the fucking money?”

“I…I don't know, I don't have it,” Melina rasps out as she trembles on the chair. Kimberly moves the blade away from her neck and steps behind her. Melina’s shoulders sag as she releases a breath of relief. She is surprised Kimberly believes her, but she is happy she does.

Kimberly grabs a handful of hair and pulls her head backward. “Do I look like I’m fucking playing here?” she yells.

Melina screams as she feels a burn in the back of her neck.

“Please stop! You're hurting me!” Twisting, she tries to pull her hand out from the cable ties to get Kimberly's hold off. More cuts form on her wrist as she tries to force it free. Realizing she’s only hurting herself more, she shakes her head; but instead, this causes Kimberly to pull harder.

“Where’s the money?”

“I already told you. James has it.”

“If James has it, where is James?”

“I don't know; I haven't talked to him in months.”

“I find that hard to believe since he’s your husband. We’ll do things a little differently now.” She releases Melina's head, throwing it forward. Tears roll down Melina's face as she looks at her bloody hand and longs to massage her aching neck. “I’m going to ask you again, and if you don't tell me the truth, you’ll face the consequences.”

“I swear to you, I’m not lying.” Melina lifts her head and stares at Kimberly.

“We’ll see about that once I’m done with you.” Kimberly moves to the table and puts on gloves. She picks up a cable, which is connected to a car battery, with pliers attached to its ends and grins while wiggling it in Melina's face. After attaching a sponge to the pliers, she dips the sponge into a bucket of water under the table. Kimberly moves toward Melina with the wet sponge in her hands and grins wide as Melina pushes back into the chair, trying to get away from her.

“I swear I don't know. Please don't!”

“Really? You don't know?” Kimberly asks, holding the sponge a breath away from Melina's stomach. Melina's heart hammers as sweat drips down her forehead. Her hair sticks to her face, and her sight blurs with fresh tears.

“No, I don't.” Melina’s eyes plead with her.

Her pupils widen as a piercing scream rips out of her. Her ribs fry, and her body thrashes hard against the chair as electricity flows through her body. Kimberly continues to press the wet sponge to her stomach, screaming along with her like a maniac. Melina's hands and feet pull at the cable ties cutting her skin as her body shakes. Blood begins dripping from the cuts from the cable ties. Kimberly runs her fingers through the blood that decorates the chair and licks it.

“I can taste your fear,” she whispers, taking the sponge away. Melina's head drops forward as her body goes limp in the chair. She breathes hard, trying to slow her racing heart down. Kimberly grabs her hair and lifts her head. “You either tell me now, or I make you feel worse.”

“I swear to you, I don't know.” Her words come out in a pained whisper.

“Alright, suit yourself.” She’s about to shock her again when a voice stops her.

“That's enough for today.” Melina recognizes the voice immediately.

Melina looks toward Thomas. She can't see clearly with tears blurring her eyes. She blinks to clear them and finally catches him. His arms are folded across his broad chest, and his sleeves are rolled up, showing off his tattoos. His nose flares up, and frown lines appear on his forehead as she stares at him. He must be furious that she isn't saying where James or the money is. If she knew where they were, she’d give them to him in a heartbeat.

Her sight of Thomas is blocked by the man from earlier cutting the cable ties. She lets out a relieved cry as she looks at her bloody wrists. She moves her finger to touch it but stops when the action causes a sharp jolt of pain. Looking down at her legs, she cries out when she sees blood there too. She bites her lips to swallow the pain, but it barely helps. The man pulls her out of the chair and drags her back to the room she’d been held in earlier.

A cry leaves her lips as he throws her on the cold floor. Melina tries to stand up but immediately regrets it. More blood seeps from her wrists and it stings. She gives up and lies down on her back. She wants to wrap her arms around herself, but her wrists hurt too much. Silent tears flow down her face as she stares at the ceiling, unable to believe what she just experienced. She knew he’d come for her when she discovered his real identity, but she had hoped he’d never find her.

Laying on the cold cement floor in the dark, Melina remembers the day she found out Thomas’ true identity.

Six Months ago

She wakes up the day after James stole Thomas’ money, to discover that he’s run away with all the money, leaving her signed divorce papers. She’s happy he divorced her, but she wonders why.

She picks up her phone to call James, wanting a real explanation, when she notices he sent her an email. It’s a video. Playing the video, Melina is horrified by what she sees. It’s the most gruesome thing she’s ever seen in her life. It’s Thomas standing in a bar beating someone. Thomas takes the man’s head, banging it against a table over and over again. Melina cringes as she hears the bone in the man’s nose break and his blood splashes all over Thomas’ face and shirt. He grabs a bottle and breaks it on the man’s head. Glass fills his hair and some gets stuck in his face. Thomas smirks before slamming his head into the table again. The glass slices his face and blood is everywhere.

Melina covers her mouth, shaking her head. Thomas must not feel like he’s tortured the man enough because he grabs his hands and pulls them behind him, twisting them. Melina hears bones crack as his hands dislocate. Thomas throws the man to the ground and kicks him over and over again.

She shakes her head, whispering, “That’s not Thomas! This video is fake.” She throws her phone across the room and wraps her arms around her body. She wipes her tears away. She can’t believe her eyes.

As the room is silent, Melina hears the video continue to play. She gets up from the kitchen stool and walks to grab her phone. She bends to pick up her phone but freezes when she hears Thomas’ voice.

“No one messes with me. I’m second in command to the Costanzo mafia. No one crosses me and lives to see tomorrow,” Thomas says, followed by a loud bang.

“Oh my God!” Melina shrieks.

He shot him.

She quickly picks up her phone to confirm what she heard. The color drains from her face as she sees Thomas standing with a gun above the man who now lies still on the ground.

Her legs become weak, and she falls to the ground. She stares blankly in front of her as she tries to comprehend what she just saw.

“What the fuck just happened?”

Melina covers her mouth with her hand as things she noticed while they dated start to make sense. Thomas and his bodyguards had the same tattoos. She found it a little odd that a boss and his bodyguards would have the same tattoos but never put two and two together. The tattoos must be the mafia family’s symbol, she realizes. He also had a gun, though that never bothered her because a lot of people have guns for protection. But as she thinks about it, she realizes he had a lot of guns.

“Oh my God! How did I not see this?” she asks herself.

She starts to understand why James divorced her and left. James must know he’s dead if Thomas finds him. She wonders what he'll do to her. Her body goes cold thinking about it.

Melina gets up from the floor and runs to her room to start packing. She needs to get out of there before Thomas arrives. He’ll be coming for her soon. She doesn’t want what happened to that man to happen to her.