Mafia's Girl

It’s cold… dark… damp. Honestly, this whole k********g thing doesn’t scare me anymore. I’ve stopped counting how many times, but it’s a minimum of ten. It usually goes the same. I get kidn*pped, and they ask my dad for some kind of ransom. The last few times it was money and power, but it goes nowhere fast as they get outnumbered because they underestimate my father and his army. He’s the big boss and top dog, followed by my uncle Nicolas. He's considered the underboss, second in command, you name it. He’s older than my father by about 3 years. Then comes my knight in shining armor, our consigliere, Aaron Rossi. Regardless, at this point, I feel numb. I know the tracker in my boot, and they don’t realize it, amateurs. I can feel him tightening the ropes, but I can’t show any emotions. My father always says emotions are your weak point, so they can hurt you. That's exactly how they got him, by hurting his weak point. Family. I don’t like thinking about it, it makes me hurt too much. Suddenly, I felt something smack my head and I looked around at my surroundings. “Dumb b***h, I’m talking to you.” He is bent to my level, he has a mask hiding his face, but I don’t recognize his voice. I don't see anyone else in the room, he must work alone or hasn't planned anything else. All I can see are his piercing green eyes. “What is it you want?” I made my voice as cold as possible, I wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of thinking I was scared. “Daddy’s money. I asked for 2 million for your safe return.” I began giggling in his face. “What’s with the laughing? You're the one tied down.” “Please, he pays his men less money to come to my rescue. He won't pay up, but he will kill you.” I looked him dead in the eye and ensured I never broke contact first. He stands up and looks down at me as if he's belittling me. There are two things I can't stand, being belittled or.. “You really are a spoiled brat, with your head in the clouds.” He’s laughing in my face. I don’t take kindly to being called a spoiled brat. He begins walking away towards a laptop on top of a barrel. I look around, it's pretty musty and dark. I see a few other barrels next to the one he's standing at. The only windows are towards the roof, about 15 ft up. It looks like a small warehouse. There's another gun and some knives on the barrel. It's pretty empty besides the giant door and a vent towards the bottom of the left wall. I can hear the sound of gunfire outside. The man looks up and grins. “Sounds like daddy came.” He turns his attention towards the door and keeps his back to me. I need to find a way out of here, but the ropes are too tight. He’s got my chest and arms tied down to the chair, my legs are free, but the chair is too heavy to try walking. I notice my cell phone and pocket knife on the ground with him, so I lost that option. The rope feels like its cutting into my arms. I slowly move my hand towards my pants pocket while keeping my eye on the man. He seemed completely focused on the gunshots outside. I can feel a pack of gum, mints, hair ties, and a lighter. I might be able to burn the ropes, but I risk burning myself. At this point, it's a risk I need to take. If someone walks in while I'm tied down, they’re at this man's mercy and could hurt me in a blink of an eye. I’m trying to get a proper grip on the lighter and I flick it, it makes a noise but no flame. The man turns, and I slip my hand back under the rope. He walks over and glares me down, he’s pretty stocky, but he’s acting too confident. “What was that?” He came back down to my level. “What was what?” I asked back, keeping my voice cold. “That noise, what are you planning?” “It's cold here, my legs are moving to keep warm.” I cough in his face and he gets back up and looks down at me once again. “I don’t care if it's below fifty, don’t move.” He turns his back again and steps back to his computer. He seems very interested in whatever he's looking at. I move my hand and flick the lighter again. This time a flame came out, and I put it on the rope. It starts slowly burning up. The flames are reaching my skin and I need to hold in any groans or screams of pain, I need to get out. I can smell the smoke coming from the fire and the man turns around rapidly. “What are you doing!” He has a knife in his hand and runs towards me. A part of the rope has fallen over my legs as it's burning up towards me. The man comes closer, and I flick the piece of rope towards him with my leg. He backs up and pulls out his gun, he aims it at my head. “I will shoot.” His voice seems shaky, he’s never killed anyone. He was more stern earlier, but now that he looks to be losing, he’s nervous. The flame finally reaches up to the top of the ropes, I feel it burning against the chest. The man gets close again and pushes the whole chair over. As I hit the ground, the rope breaks from the burning and I slip out. Remembering the barrel, I run over and hid behind it. The man still had his gun at the ready. He walks closer, and I keep myself close to the ground. There's nowhere to hide, it's completely empty. My only hope is going to the vent, but I didn’t see any tools to open it. I reach up and grab my phone and pocket knife and the man fires the gun, and it misses, hitting the barrel. I crawled the opposite way and could see his legs. I reached and grabbed his leg and pulled. He fell flat on his face. I got on top of him and go to stab him. He kicks me in the chest and I fall back. He grabs his gun and starts aimlessly firing. I ducked behind the barrel quickly. I looked towards the door to see if anyone had come in. The door was still sealed, but the vent was removed. I scan my surroundings and I don't see anyone. “No more running princess.” He kicks me on the ground and aims his gun at my head. I cover my head preparing for the final shot, and suddenly I hear a gunshot. I looked back at the man, he fell down on his side, blood coming out of his head. I looked to the side where the bullet sound came from, and I saw Aaron lowering his gun. Every time I see him, I feel relief. He always makes me feel safe and protected. He runs over to my side and kneels over. “Hey, you alright Scarlet?” He puts his hand on my cheek and I smile. He’s one of my favorite people, always so caring, loving. I can see his abs, he didn’t zip up his jacket all the way, but I am not complaining. “Yea, thanks.” He helps me up and starts searching the man's body for a wallet. I walked over and took the man’s gun. “Where's my father?” “Your father is outside dealing with the thugs there, your brother isn’t even here. I was told he’s doing other things for the next trip. It makes me incredibly annoyed that he never comes to help his own sister.” I kneel down next to him, if only I could tell him why Scar never came. I didn't ask about Scar, that's more suspicious... “That's fine, I got my knight in shining armor.” I giggled. “I didn’t realize that black leather was the new shining armor. It’s made easier with the tracker I installed in your boot heel.” He smiles back and kisses my cheek. I looked back to the door to see if my father was there. “Don’t worry princess, he's staying outside. He won't see us.” It makes my gut turn to keep secrets from anyone I love. I have to keep one from my father and Aaron. “It just feels wrong to keep this from him.” I looked at Aaron, he held me close. “I know princess, but trust me. When the time is right we can talk to him, he would shoot me on sight if he knew his twenty-one-year-old daughter and his twenty-three-year-old consigliere were dating. You’ll be eighteen in a few weeks, then I can plan how to talk to him.” I always feel like a horrible daughter, but he’s right. It doesn’t matter that we grew up together, it doesn’t matter that Aaron is one of his best men. No one is ever allowed to be with the boss’s daughter. “I found a hospital bill, his information was on it. Let’s meet up with your dad, he's outside.” Aaron took my hand and we stood up. Everyone has an intention: money, usually, but sometimes power. Many mafias built their fortune through k********g heirs to rich families and demanding ransom. So far anyone who has taken me has that intention. My dad puts an end to their games, ruthlessly even. Aaron put his arm around my shoulder as we walked to the door. “Aaron, you need to move your arm before we go out.” He looked down at me. “I know, but let me enjoy this.” He holds me closer to him and I can feel myself blushing. God, I wish I could make out with him right now, but my father could walk in any minute. “Aaron.” He places his finger on my lips. “I know, but I promise one day we won’t need to keep a secret.” I love him, we grew up together, our parents were best friends. It still won't change my father's opinion. I look up at Aaron, and he moves his hands after seeing my face. “I see you're nervous, let's go.” I nod and he opens the large doors. He took my arm and we walked outside. I look around, and we are at a weird loading dock area. I saw a lot of boxes and barrels around. Aaron took me around the corner and I saw my father and his men there. “Aaron?” He asks as he walks up to us. “Yes sir?” He looks at my father, his voice completely changes to a colder version. “Why is your arm around my daughter?”