Lethal Combination

CHAPTER 5

Two days after Aizen learned that their plan had been successfully executed by his sister and his cousin Sage, he finally took his task at hand more seriously. He cannot allow Euphrosyne to be seen by anyone who knew of her because, as of last Monday morning, Ainsdale had already taken her place.

Though only a few know about it, Ainsdale isn't actually his real blood sister. They found her floating down a river one particular night, unconscious and bloodied, when he was twelve years old. When she woke up in the hospital a few weeks later, they learned from her attending physician that she lost all of her memories prior to the accident she was involved in. No one came up to look for the lost child and the Castiglione' weren't able to find her whereabouts, as if everything regarding what happened to her had been erased, so his parents decided to adopt her into their family as his younger sister.

Ainsdale wasn't able to recover the memories she lost, so she was forced to create new ones with the identity they gave her. If only he hadn't seen the photo on Alessio's laptop that night he met him in club Arcana, if only Alessio's missing fiancée didn't exactly look like his sister, he would never have any idea that she was somehow related to him and that he held the memories she completely lost.

What he knew so far was that Euphrosyne Amherstia had been the sole granddaughter recognized by the late patriarch of the Simonetti family, Julian Simonetti. Aizen tried to dig out information about the Simonettis and most of the records he found state that she was the only heiress of the family. He almost gave up digging when all he found out was the family's ties and history, until he came to learn about a small detail which everybody seemed to have ignored and completely forgotten.

Right now he just had to find out all the answers from the woman within his sight. He had been following her for days and when she went to dine at a restaurant with Carlos Brovino's sisters, he decided to abduct her that night.

When Aizen saw that Euphrosyne stood up to go to the powder room, he followed immediately and when he got the chance, he hit the back of her head and not a minute later she fell down on the ground with a thud.

Euphrosyne woke up with a throbbing headache and when she regained her consciousness completely, she became aware that she was tied to a chair.

"I didn't think I hit you that hard for you to wake up just now."

It was only then that she became aware that she was not alone in the room. "Who are you?"

Ah, right. She didn't know he worked for Alessio. "Do you look like you are in the position to ask?"

Euphrosyne tried to move but she couldn't and she could only glare at Aizen. Aizen made sure to tie both her hands on the arm rests and both her feet on the chair's front feet. "I damn well ask who you are! You don't have any right to be doing this to me! Didn't you know who I am? Let me go!"

"Rude," he thought, as he completely ignored her statement.

"I am Alessandro Arcane's fiancée! He will kill you once he comes to know what you are doing to me right now!"

Aizen pulled out a blade from the table before he stood up and walked towards her, whose eyes grew wide as she stared at the blade in his hand. "Hmm, then why are you living your life without a problem with the Brovinos these past few days?"

"I…"

Aizen ignored her as he continued what he was saying. "Do you think your fiancé will have your back after what you did? You didn't know him at all if that is what you are thinking. For Alessio, the family comes first. E hai quasi causato danni alla famiglia attraverso i dati che hai rubato da lui con l'aiuto di una talpa dalla famiglia. (And you almost caused the family harm through the data you have stolen from him with the help of a mole from the family.)"

"Did he send you after me?"

"Yes. And I have his permission to make you bleed."

Euphrosyne's heart almost stopped beating with the threat that was Aizen at the moment. She knew he had killed and she knew he would torture her without a care to get what he needs from her.

Aizen's eyes glinted dangerously, which made Euphrosyne fear him. She shook her head as tears started to form in her eyes. "No, please. I didn't have a choice. Carlos threatened me into doing that!"

"Threatened you with what?"

"I can't tell you that."

Euphrosyne's scream echoed inside the room when Aizen made a trail of blood on her thigh when he drew a line using the blade he was holding. "Let me ask you again. Threatened you with what?"

"He said he was g-going to expose my f-family's secrets if I didn't do h-his bidding. Please let me go."

Aizen ignored her pleas. "So you followed his commands and willingly betrayed the Arcana?"

Euphrosyne remained speechless but her cry still echoed around the room as her blood trickled down the floor. Aizen isn't even fazed by the sight.

"You know, the more you avoid my questions, the more you'll end up with graffiti of wounds on your body," Aizen said in a calm voice before he added another line of wound on Euphrosyne, this time on her other thigh, which made her scream in pain again. "Do you think you'll still be safe with them after they found out that the data you have tried so hard to steal from the Arcana have been completely deleted? The women you are dining with in the restaurant were with you to make sure you wouldn't run, they are keeping you under radar until Carlos Brovino calls for you because of what happened with the data."

"W-what?"

"Oh, you didn't know? Alessio was able to get a hold of someone who was capable enough to do that. Congratulations! Your effort was completely in vain. And the mole who helped you obtain that data is going to die in your place. Do you really think Alessio won't find out everything that has taken place? Especially inside the Arcane's estate?"

Half an hour later, blood had already pooled around Euphrosyne, whose gasping for air, whose voice had turned raspy because of her constant screaming and whose body was trembling due to fear. She knew Aizen wasn't going to kill her. He is obviously having fun seeing her bleed. Her thigh and arms are now marred with bleeding wounds because every question she avoided nor cannot answer amounted to a cut out of her own flesh.

"Ready for round two?"

"Please, let me go."

"Oh, but I haven't even started yet."

"W-what?"

"If it was only because of the Arcana, you'd be dead already. When you come to know about the family's underground life, you have been warned. Stealing amounts to your blood spilling and betrayal equals death itself. Instead of trusting your life with the family, you have chosen to side with another. From that moment on, you have damned your life. But I have a few other things I wanted to know from you. That is why you are still alive."

Euphrosyne braced herself for the incoming questions he was about to throw in her face, but she did not expect what came out of his mouth next.

"Who are you?"

She frowned. Why is he asking her? "I'm Euphrosyne."

"Right. But… which one?" Aizen asked with a threatening tone.

She almost forgot how to breathe because of those two words. No, it can't be. No one is supposed to know about that secret aside from Carlos Brovino. So how come one of Alessio's men is asking her about her identity? She could tell he knew more than enough that could ruin her and her family and that he was only asking for confirmation.

How on earth is she going to get out of this situation?

***

Ainsdale has already regained consciousness but she is having a hard time opening her eyes. Her head is throbbing like something just hammered it well and her shoulder where the drug was injected is burning. She cursed. She did not forget that she was not supposed to over exert herself. Her rationality just went down the drain when a gun was pointed in her face.

When she was able to open her eyes, she saw that she was in an unfamiliar room. The area is spotlessly clean and every cubicle is divided by thick white curtains. She could tell she was not in a hospital though, considering how silent the place was. She groaned in distaste when she noticed her hand was cuffed on the bed, her phone and watch were nowhere in sight.

"f*****g hell…" she whispered as she pulled on the cuff angrily to no avail as she remembered the face of the man she faced in the underground parking area of ISR.

Did that guy just cuff her into a bed? She wanted to scream her frustration. She had never been cuffed. It was her who cuffed and chained her targets to death and now she is in their place because she could not function well due to some f*****g drug injected in her.

It was then that she heard voices from a distance which were coming from the far side of the room she was in. They were speaking in Italian and no one sounded familiar to her.

"Where's your twin?"

"Fuori con la testa della famiglia. Ha detto che hanno alcune cose per stabilirsi con la famiglia Santoros. (Out with the head of the family. Said they have some things to settle with the Santoros family.)"

"Ah, so that explains as to why you're the one keeping an eye on her. But did you have to cuff her on the bed? It's not like she can go anywhere else."

"That is Lucien's doing, not mine. He said something like she's a little bit dangerous. Like hell I know what it means. Cosa c'è di sbagliato con lei? (What's wrong with her?) She's been in a coma for a week. And what's that on her shoulder?"

Ainsdale processed what she heard. So the first time she lost consciousness, it took her a week to wake up from it. She really is in a serious situation and Lewis is surely going to give her another set of lectures once he learns of what happened to her.

"She has flagrare injected in her system, Luca."

She looked towards the direction where the voices were coming from. They knew about the drug?

"They already started to produce it then? Did the Brovinos use her as a lab rat after she betrayed the Arcana because there's a high possibility that she'll do the same to them?"

Instead of further listening to their conversation, Ainsdale focused her attention on something else entirely. She propped herself up and looked around, hoping to find something she could use to free herself from the handcuffs, but to no avail. She sighed as she pulled the IV drips away from her arm without a choice. She pulled the needle and twisted it, then used it as a key to tweak the cuffs, but the second she released herself was the moment the curtains on her cubicle opened and in there stood the man she thought to be the reason why she was there.

"You!" Ainsdale pointed at the man as anger etched its way into her eyes.

"Me?" Luca asked, bewildered.

What had gotten her so angry when it was the first time they were seeing each other?

His brother described Euphrosyne to be around five feet five but he was sure as hell this woman in front of him was a few inches taller. And aren't her eyes supposed to be a dull brown? That is what Lucien told him before. But right now, this fuming, mahogany red-haired woman has clear ashen blue eyes which seemed to be turning black by the second because of her emotions.

Did his twin somehow abduct the wrong woman?

"Did you have to manhandle me when you kidnapped me in broad daylight?"

Luca smirked when he came to realize her anger was directed towards the wrong person. "I was not the one who took you," he explained, but the woman didn't seem to care about explanations.

"And did you have to cuff me on the bed for a week while I was unconscious like some freaking criminal?"

"That would be my twin, Lucien. I'm Luca. Have you forgotten we have the same face?"

"I did not," she answered sarcastically before she continued. "I just don't know you at all. That's different."

Luca smiled. "Fiery," he thought to himself. "It's protocol, luce del sole (sunshine). We can't have you roaming around the manor."

Luca then glanced at the handcuffs only to frown at what he saw. It was open, with a bloody needle stuck in the keyhole. "But then how did you get yourself free from it?"

"Like you have any right to be questioning me."

He ignored her. "What things are you still keeping from us, Euphrosyne? Is it the Brovino's idea to have you use the agreement made by the old patriarchs of the Simonettis and the Arcanes to be able to get near Alessio? Did Carlos push you to stand beside Alessio and bring down the family from there?"

Ainsdale glared at the man in front of her which, unknown to her, had brought satisfaction to Luca. He is having fun gauging out reactions from her because they both know she couldn't do anything else now that they had caught her but to plead to Alessio to spare her life. He may have been acting as the easy-going type but she could tell the danger he possessed on the inside.

"Stop calling me that."

"Why, isn't that your name?" Luca asked, just to ruffle her feathers. He wanted to laugh but tried so hard not to.

She was about to answer when the door in the room opened, and there walking towards their direction was Luca's twin, Lucien, who smiled at her but that too speaks of danger. "Ah, you're awake. E ti vedo liberarti dal bracciale come mi aspettavo. (And I see you freed yourself from the cuff like I expected.)"

With the arrogance etched on his face, Ainsdale realized that the person who just arrived, who looked exactly like the person interrogating her just a moment ago, was the one who abducted her from ISR's underground parking lot. He cuffed her only to prove a point?

She wanted to run. Away from these men. She never once felt threatened. She's an assassin for Pete's sake. But with them surrounding her like predators would their prey make her feel like her life could be gone any minute. She's sure as hell these men have killed. Luca looked serious and his twin Lucien was probably wondering what she was about to do next.

Ainsdale looked for a way out until she noticed Luca drawing out his gun. The playfulness in his eyes before was gone.

"Don't even think about it, sole (sunshine). That is if you don't want your life to be taken away. We still have to interrogate you about what happened here a few weeks ago, you know?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"And it's not the sun that is shining now but the moon," Lucien retorted.

She frowned. "What?"

"Luca, portala nella stanza dell'interrogatorio. (Luca, take her to the interrogation room.)"

"Scusa, sole. (Sorry, sunshine.)" Luca said before grabbing her arm a little too tight for her liking before he dragged her out the room with him to god knows where, with Lucien walking in front of them. "Just answer every damn question they throw at you and you'll be fine."

"What? No! Let go of me!" She tried to pry her hand away but to no avail.

She was too busy having a tug of war with Luca as they were on their way to the interrogation room Lucien mentioned for her to notice she was in a manor with a very beautiful interior design. The place itself is silent, as if no one aside from them is there at that very same time.

When they reached their destination, Luca passed her to two men who were waiting on standby. One held her while the other tied her hand on her back.

"Lucien you bastard, why are you doing this to me?!"

Lucien was taken aback when she glared at him directly with fury in her eyes as they dragged her towards the metal table. Most of the time, Alessio was the only one who could differentiate him from his twin whenever they were together in the same room wearing the same clothes. Euphrosyne has never been correct, so today must have been different.

"Which of the men are you working with under the Brovinos' orders?"

"What?"

"Which one, Euphrosyne? Do you really think we'd stay ignorant about the mole inside the Arcana? You are endangering this family with the help of the Brovinos and we are only retaliating. And I'm telling you now, we are going to kill the ones threatening this family."

"I don't know what you are talking about. Let me go!"

Ainsdale cursed in her mind.

"Drench her," Lucien ordered, and she knew what was coming next.

She tried to move away but they held her still on the table before they put a towel on her face. Next thing she knew, ice-cold water was being poured down on her face and they didn't stop until Lucien told them to. Questions after question were thrown at her but not one was answered.

"Would you rather us go after your family, Euphrosyne? Because we can abduct them in broad daylight like we did to you and the authorities will never give a damn. Or maybe you'll only speak if they are being threatened right in front of you."

"I've killed innocent people, Lucien. Ciò che ti fa pensare che avrei dannata sulle persone che non ho mai nemmeno incontrato? (What makes you think I'd give a damn about people I've never even met?)" She mocked.

"Hmm, and you think I'd buy that?" He then glanced at the man holding her feet together. "Kian, bring some men with you and give Mr. and Mrs. Simonetti a visit."

Lucien expected her to shout, to curse him to no end because what he had just ordered meant danger to her parents, but the woman stayed silent. In fact, she stood lying still on the steel table without a care as she was breathing in and out deeply. She's more concerned about herself at the moment than about her parents whom he just threatened.

What is wrong with her?

The splash of water on the floor echoed in the room as Ainsdale tried to hold her breath with a towel placed above her face in which the iced water was pouring down from a bucket. One man held her still even though her hands were still tied behind her to keep her from moving. The other one named Kian had been gone for a while after Lucien ordered him to give Mr. and Mrs. Simonetti a visit - as if she didn't know what that meant. She lost counting down the minutes they were torturing answers out of her. It must have been half an hour already or maybe almost an hour. She didn't know. All she knew was that she was already at her wits' end. Another round of torture and she'll surely pass out.

These men mean business and they don't care whether she's a woman or not. They wanted answers and they would get them by whatever means necessary. If she survives today, she is sure there is going to be another round of torture the next day. She understands that it was their family that was put in danger and she's sure they will never rest until they get all the information they needed. But having her as a hostage just because of her face will bring them nothing but a dead end. She doesn't know who Euphrosyne was and she doesn't have any idea why they have the same face either. That is why she is here in the first place. She, too, is looking for answers.

When the towel was removed from her face, she threw the water out of her mouth with a cough before she gasped for air like her life depended on it. After a few minutes, they helped her up on the table and made her sit on the aluminum chair in the middle of the room.

In the corner of her peripheral vision, even with blurry eyesight, she could see Luca with a worried frown while his twin brother, who had been in charge of the interrogation process, gave out a problematic sigh. If they're expecting they could get something out of torturing her, well they are most definitely wrong.

"Euphrosyne - "

"Do not call m-me that," she whispered with a shaking voice.

She could feel her teeth almost chattering. The coldness of the iced water which was poured down on her a while ago is already registering on her mind and body along with the cool air from the air conditioner of the room they are currently in.

"Why?"

"That is not my name."

"Did the drug they injected into you somehow affect your memory?"

She gave out a bitter laugh which made the men stare at her, but she stayed silent when she came to accept that she needed to act like Euphrosyne completely. She is, after all, in this situation because she had stolen her identity to get the answers she needs.

"Ok. Then care to tell me what your name is then?"

The men inside the room then glanced at Lucien with questioning eyes, at which the latter only shrugged in return. Being a trained agent, Ainsdale could notice everything they were doing no matter how subtle it was and she knew Lucien was just going on with the flow of the conversation but didn't actually care about what she was saying. He wanted answers and that was all that mattered at the moment for him.

When she didn't utter a word, Lucien looked at her like all his patience went out in the drain. Gone was the man who was talking to her with a smile back in the room she woke up in and now standing in front of her is a man who belongs to the mafia. Someone who is ready to kill if he has to.

"Do not make me repeat myself. I'm asking you."

"I heard you clearly the first time," she answered with irritation laced in her voice which ruffled a few of Lucien's feathers while his twin almost laughed at his brother's reaction to her words.

"You know, if you won't cooperate, Alessio will see to it himself that you'll bleed. The things you experienced today will not be the end of it." Lucien said, his voice soft but laced with threat.

"Sole, perché non venirti appena fuori quello che sai? (Sunshine, why don't you just spill what you know?)"

She bit her lip. These men belong to the Arcana - a family which Aizen warned her before. Before she could answer, the door of the interrogation room opened and there came Kian with two fully dressed people being pushed inside the room behind him as if they were really abducted from whatever occasion they attended. With one glance at her, both of them expressed their surprise and tried to get near her but they were immediately held still.

"Must be the Simonettis," she thought, as something registered in her mind - a long forgotten memory. But she couldn't seem to grasp it, so it ended up blurry.

"Euphrosyne went missing because you had her being tortured? What did you do to my daughter?" exclaimed the woman. Worry immediately replaced the fear in her eyes but Ainsdale could see the deception in between.

"Does Alessio know that you are treating her fiancée like that? Release her at once!"

"What good actors," Ainsdale thought.

Both husband and wife were fuming but Ainsdale could tell it was not because she was there, tied and drenched. She was not able to contain the chuckle that escaped from her lips when she came to know how fake these two people were, which rendered everyone inside the room speechless, as if she'd gone nuts.

"Ah, damn it! It's hard pretending to be someone else when you can literally see what is real and what is fake. Am I somehow related to these people?" She thought to herself.

She knew Lucien was about to question her again when, for the second time, the door opened. This time, there stood regally an old man who had this commanding aura surrounding him. It was the old patriarch of the Arcana, Don Alonzo. He somehow looked familiar but Ainsdale couldn't remember where she had seen him before as a throbbing headache began to hammer her head.

"Does my headache have to start now of all time?" She thought again as she shook her head and tried to concentrate on the present.

"Cosa sta succedendo qui? (What is going on here?)"

"Are you telling me you didn't know your men were treating our daughter this way?! My father is surely groveling in his grave with the way you are treating his precious granddaughter!"

Don Alonzo glared at Eleanor, who in return cowered in fear. "Are you questioning me? This is my family's problem and you have no business getting yourself involved in it." He said, authority laced in his voice and the woman did not answer. "Kian, bring Mr. and Mrs. Simonetti to the drawing room. I'll see them when I'm done here."

"Of course, Don Alonzo."

When only Lucien, Luca, Ainsdale and Don Alonzo were left in the room, the old man faced the twins. "Why is she under interrogation?"

"Abbiamo scoperto che Euphrosyne sta lavorando con il Brovinos e che un traditore in famiglia ha aiutato a ottenere i dati che le consegnano usando un disco. (We found out Euphrosyne is working with the Brovinos and that a traitor in the family has helped her get the data she handed to them using a drive.)" Lucien explained and a glint of disappointment clouded the old man's eyes when he glanced in her direction.

"Have you confirmed the fact?"

"Yes."

"Why is she still alive then?"

Ainsdale's heart hammered in her chest. She needs to do something fast if she wants to live. Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the old man pleadingly.

"Nonno, per favore. Non avevo altra scelta. Tutta la mia famiglia è stata minacciata di essere uccisa se non avessi fatto quello che mi avevano chiesto di fare. Anche tuo nipote sarebbe finito in una trappola. Per favore credimi. (Grandpa, please. I didn't have any other choice. My whole family was threatened to be killed if I didn't do what they asked me to do. Your grandson would've been sent into a trap, too. Please, believe me.)"

"Believe you? You have chosen to betray this family instead of entrusting us with your safety."

"I was left with no other choice! Alessio has been doing his best to avoid me ever since we met, so how can I tell him everything that has been happening to me? How can I tell him that the Brovinos are holding me by my neck? Grandpa, please! I didn't mean to - "

Ainsdale hissed when she felt her head have been hammered with pain in an instant before blood trickled down her nose. She blinked and she breathed in deep. Her eyesight is starting to get all blurry. She couldn't even see the old man in front of her clearly. Her ears were ringing and everything seemed to be moving. Is she going to lose consciousness again? She knew the old man asked something but everything around her started to look blurry. The last thing she remembered, the people around her seemed to have panicked as they called her name before everything around her went black.