CHAPTER 2-I DIDN'T GET RESCUED
1159 Words
I didn't pack a bag.
Not at first.
I stood in the middle of my bedroom with my arms folded, staring at the suitcase Ricardo's men had brought upstairs like it had personally offended me.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
One of the men standing outside my door didn't even blink.
“Mr. De Acosta said you have ten minutes.”
I looked at him.
“Tell Mr. De Acosta he can come and pack my things himself.”
The man stared at me for a second.
Then, surprisingly, he almost smiled.
Almost.
“He won't.”
“Then we're both going to be disappointed.”
He said nothing.
I slammed my bedroom door.
I was angry.
No.
I was furious.
My entire life had just been turned upside down in less than an hour, and somehow this Ricardo person thought I was going to calmly fold my clothes and follow him like a good little girl.
Absolutely not.
I grabbed my phone.
The first person I thought of was my best friend, Mia.
I called.
Straight to voicemail.
Of course.
I tried again.
Nothing.
“Perfect,” I muttered.
I threw my phone onto the bed and started pacing.
My mother was alive?
No.
Ricardo said she wasn't.
But apparently there were secrets about her that my uncle had kept from me my entire life.
And now some terrifying man was taking me somewhere because he claimed he was protecting me.
Protecting me from what?
I didn't even know.
I grabbed a few clothes and shoved them into the suitcase.
Not because I trusted Ricardo.
I didn't.
I was going because I needed answers.
And because, deep down, something told me refusing wasn't going to change anything.
Ten minutes later, I dragged the suitcase downstairs.
Ricardo was waiting by the front door.
He looked at the suitcase.
Then at me.
“You took too long.”
I stopped.
“Good evening to you too.”
His eyebrow lifted slightly.
I walked past him.
He caught my wrist.
I immediately looked down at his hand.
Then back at him.
“Let go.”
He did.
Immediately.
That surprised me.
“Stay close,” he said.
“I can walk by myself.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you say it?”
“Because people who don't know this world tend to get themselves killed.”
I stared at him.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
At least he was honest.
Outside, three black cars were waiting.
I stopped.
“Three cars?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Security.”
I looked at him.
“Are you a president?”
“No.”
“Drug dealer?”
His expression didn't change.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Serial killer?”
“No.”
“Mafia boss?”
Silence.
My eyes widened.
“Oh my God.”
He walked past me.
I followed.
“Wait. You didn't answer.”
“I didn't need to.”
“You absolutely did!”
He opened the back door of the middle car.
“Get in.”
I stared at him.
“You're seriously a mafia boss?”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
Well.
That explained a lot.
The drive was mostly silent.
I sat beside the window, watching the city disappear behind us.
Every few minutes, I'd glance at Ricardo.
He never looked at me.
He sat there scrolling through his phone, completely calm.
I couldn't understand how someone could look so normal while admitting they were a mafia boss.
“You're not going to ask me anything?”
He didn't look up.
“About what?”
“About me.”
“I know enough.”
“That is becoming really annoying.”
“I'm sure.”
I rolled my eyes.
After another twenty minutes, the car slowed down.
Then the gates appeared.
Huge black iron gates opened as we approached.
I stared.
Behind them was a massive house surrounded by perfectly trimmed gardens, tall trees and several security cameras.
Calling it a house felt insulting.
It looked like a palace.
I stepped out of the car.
My mouth fell open.
“You live here?”
Ricardo walked past me.
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
I looked around.
“With all these people?”
“They work for me.”
I stared at him.
“You're a weird man.”
He glanced at me.
“And you're very talkative.”
I smiled sweetly.
“Thank you.”
“That wasn't a compliment.”
“I accepted it as one.”
For the first time, I saw the corner of his mouth move.
It wasn't quite a smile.
But it was close.
Then a woman appeared at the entrance.
She was elegant, probably in her late twenties, wearing a fitted black dress.
Her eyes immediately went to me.
Then Ricardo.
Her expression changed.
“Who is she?”
Ricardo didn't answer.
The woman stepped closer.
“I asked who she is.”
“Tessa.”
The way he said my name made me look at him.
“This is Elena.”
My stomach dropped.
Elena.
The name from the photograph.
I stared at her.
She stared back.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Elena smiled.
But there was something strange about it.
Something cold.
“Welcome home, Tessa.”
I frowned.
“Home?”
Ricardo walked past us.
“She'll be staying here.”
Elena's smile disappeared.
“Staying?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Ricardo stopped.
“Until I say otherwise.”
Elena looked at me again.
I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt like I'd walked into the middle of something.
Something I didn't understand.
Ricardo turned to me.
“Your room is upstairs. Someone will show you.”
I nodded.
He started walking away.
“Ricardo?”
He stopped.
I hesitated.
“Why me?”
He slowly turned around.
For a second, the confident expression disappeared.
Something almost human crossed his face.
Then it was gone.
“Because your mother asked me to.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
But he was already walking away.
I looked after him.
“Ricardo!”
He didn't turn.
I turned toward Elena.
“What did he mean?”
She smiled again.
But this time, there was no warmth in it.
“You should ask him.”
Then she walked away.
I stood there alone.
Looking at the enormous house.
The armed guards.
The unfamiliar faces.
The woman who clearly didn't want me there.
And the man who had just told me my dead mot
her had asked him to protect me.
That was when it finally hit me.
I hadn't been rescued.
I had been transferred.
And somehow, I had a feeling Ricardo de Acosta was going to be the biggest problem of my life.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD