THREATS AND NEGOTIATIONS
716 Words
She didn’t sleep.
The room had no windows. No clock. Just silk, steel, and the hum of air she couldn’t control.
Luca brought food at what felt like morning. Bread. Water. A doctor who didn’t speak, just checked her wrist and left ointment.
No Alessandro.
No key.
So Eliana made one.
“Luca.”
He opened the door a crack. “What.”
“I want to call Alessandro.”
Luca frowned. “Boss doesn’t take calls from—”
“Then tell him I’m going to walk out of here tonight.” She sat up straighter. The cuff pulled. She didn’t wince. “And if he doesn’t pick up, he’ll be explaining to his €4 million how his asset got loose.”
Luca stared at her like she’d grown teeth.
Then he shut the door.
Twenty minutes later, the room phone rang. Old. Wall-mounted. Black.
Eliana didn’t hesitate. She picked up.
“Signor De Luca,” she said.
A pause. Then his voice. Low. Amused. “You’ve been here eighteen hours and you already think you can run the building.”
“I can run,” she said. “Your security is tight. It’s not perfect.”
He laughed. Once. No humor. “This penthouse has biometric locks, armed men on every floor, and a tracker on your ankle you haven’t found yet. Try me.”
“I will,” she said. “Tonight. I’ll find a way you can't be ultimately perfect, I can make it pass this room.”
Silence.
“ Then,you won’t make it past the hallway.”
“Maybe not,” she said. “But I’ll make enough noise that your enemies know you can’t hold a girl you claim isn’t payment. Reputation is expensive, Alessandro.”
The line went quiet.
When he spoke again, his voice had dropped. “You’re threatening me.”
“I’m negotiating.”
“You’re in my room, in my cuff, with my €4 million on your head.” A beat. “I could make you disappear, Eliana. No police. No Vincenzo. No body.”
She should’ve flinched. She didn’t.
“Then do it,” she said. “Because if I’m just payment, kill me now and write off the loss. But if I’m something else, you don’t get to scare me into being quiet.”
Another silence. Longer.
She heard him breathe. Not angry. Calculating.
“You’re not scared of me,” he said. Finally.
“No.”
“Why.”
“Because scared people beg,” she said. “And you already told me not to be payment. So I’m not going to act like one.”
The line crackled.
When he spoke, the amusement was gone. “The tracker is under the skin of your left ankle. It’s new. Military grade. You cut it out, you bleed out before you reach the elevator.”
Her stomach dropped. She hadn’t felt it.
“Good to know,” she said. Her voice didn’t shake. “Now I won’t waste time looking.”
He laughed again. This time it was real. Small. Surprised.
“You’re insane.”
“No,” she said. “I’m cornered. There’s a difference.”
More silence.
“Food at noon,” he said. “Doctor at three. You don’t call me again unless you have the €4 million, or a better threat.”
“Click.”
He hung up.
Eliana put the phone down slowly. Her hands were steady. Her heart wasn’t.
The door opened. Luca came in. No food. Just a look.
“Boss said you’re not to be cuffed to the bed anymore,” he said. “Chair only. For now.”
He unbolted the chain. The cuff stayed on her wrist, but now it was long enough to reach the desk.
Luca paused at the door. “He’s been doing this twenty years. No one talks to him like that.”
“Maybe they should’ve,” she said.
Luca left.
Eliana sat in the chair. Rubbed her wrist. Stared at the phone.
She’d threatened a mafia Don with exposure and he’d laughed.
He’d threatened her life and she’d called his bluff.
And for the first time since Vincenzo sold her, someone in that room looked at her like she wasn’t collateral.
Like she was dangerous.
- Writer
