ALANA

62

ARES

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

I stand here frozen, staring at the stairs that she had long disappeared from. Her words seem to bounce off the walls, penetrating my ears again and again.

My heart lurches out of my chest when I hear a distant cry. My feet seem to carry me on their own accord towards the sound.

Standing outside of the bathroom, I clench my jaw as I listen to the sound of my wife's sobs through the bathroom door. She's trying her hardest to be quiet, and it kills me. I have no doubt I'm the source of her pain, and I don't know how to make it better.

I feel my heart pounding, as if knocking against my chest, wanting to come so it could be in charge. Tell her I did not mean what I said.

But I can't. I can't attach myself to her like that. I can't bring myself to do that again.

I clench my fists in anger, storming down the stairs and out of the house. I get into my car, driving off at the speed of light, not caring where I go.

~

It's been an hour. My phone has been buzzing for a while, but I just couldn't bring myself to talk to anyone. I am now driving back to the house, feeling drained and tired.

As I pull into the driveway, something seems off. The guards that are supposed to be standing at the gate aren't. I open the gate with the passcode myself, driving into the driveway.

Again, the absence of men posted makes a feeling of doom start to form in my stomach, as I jump out of the car, needing to see Alana and if she is okay.

I run up the few stairs that lead up to the front door, turning the nob and finding it unlocked. Fuck did I lock the door before I left?

I dial Alessandro's number so he can check on security, quickly walking towards the living room, calling her name.

"Alana?" I ask into the house and as soon as I enter the living room, my blood runs cold. Sheer anger courses through me at the sight of my small wife tied up to a chair, her hands behind her. Her mouth is not covered, but she is not saying anything.

My eyes find hers. They look tired. Her face is flushed and her nose and lips swollen like they get when she cries. Her eyes hold fear, but she does not react when she sees me.

My heart is pounding as I feel an emotion I have not felt in a long time. Quickly I put my phone on speaker, dropping it where it's out of sight.

"Took you long enough Don Moretti." I hear a voice, making me look up at the stairs.

"Castello." This bitch. I hate this motherfucker. "What the actual fuck do you think you are doing? Do you realize how easy it is for me to destroy you? Make your existence disappear from the face of this Earth?" I try to sound calm and collected, but my hands are itching to free my wife, hold her and make sure she is safe.

He laughs like a maniac.

"Not when I have your precious little wife all at my mercy." he smiles menacingly. "You know, we've been here for a long time now, Im beginning to think you couldn't care less if she dies." he says. My eyes snap to Alana who seemed to let out a sigh. Her face holds a sad smile, the look of hopeless despair in her eyes.

My heart clenches at that. She thinks so too. Oh fuck. She thinks I don't care if she lives or-. Fuck.

"Castello, you don't want to do this, let me-" I take a step toward her but the sound of a gun cocking and the sight of the barrel pressed against my wife's delicate temple makes me freeze.

I feel the chilling spike of the same fear in my spine at the thought of her not being here with me. The fear I have tried to escape. To avoid all my life. The same fear that has made my wife think I do not want her.

"Don't take another step Moretti. I am not stupid." He says. I raise a hand to him.

"Castello I swear to God if you hurt so much as a hair on her head, you will be tortured till you beg me for death." I spit, anger now dominating all emotions.

"Yes, this is what I wanted. To see you scared for something for once in your life. Your always so fucking cocky Xander. You have never let anyone have anything!" he screams like a bloody maniac. I look back at the gun then at Alana's face. She still looks completely devoid of any sense of urgency or need to get free.

What the fuck is she thinking.

"It seems theres trouble in paradise huh? The missus is angry?" he smirks. Asshole. "I'll tell you it was boring waiting around for you to care that someone had your wife held hostage. But it was the hardest not to take a little taste of this beauty." he uses his gun to twirl her hair around it. Alana closes her eyes, tears slipping out.

My fists clench into each other as I take another step forward but he forcefully shoves the gun to her temple illiciting a whimper.

"Stop!" I shout at him.

"No you fucking stop or I will blow her pretty brains out." he seethes.

"What the fuck do you want huh? Money? You greedy son of a bitch whatever it is, fucking name your price." I growl. His face flashes with fear before he laughs it off.

"Yeah yeah we'll come to that but listen to me talk for a while eh? It's entertaining to keep you, the devil of the Underworld on your toes." he smirks.

"It's good that you know who you're messing with Castello. The devil doesn't loose." I seethe watching shiver visibly.

"It was hard to get her into this chair I tell ya. She wouldn't stop fighting it. But then she saw him. Obedient little girl this one." he smirks. I look at Alana, her eyes pooled with tears, lip trembling.

"Who the fuck are you talking about?" I ask him. He laughs, then a whistling echoes through the house. I look towards the kitchen to see him.

Mattia Colombo.

My wife's father.

Great.