I Tried To Kill Him, Now I'm His Wife

Three

Chapter Three

Lada

I said yes.

Luciano had played a brilliant game, and to outplay him, I would have to make him think that he had the upper hand.

"But what's the catch?" I asked him.

"You'll see." He said dismissively as he left the room. Two men walked in noiselessly, their suits as dark as the night. One of them undid my handcuffs while the other stood a little distance away, pointing a gun at me in case I tried anything. I quietly complied as they freed me from the table's handcuffs, and bound me by another pair around my wrists.

"Get up." The one who did my cuffs ordered, looking a little relieved that there was no incident. I let my head hang low as I stood up quietly, trying to be as cooperative as possible.

They placed a blindfold over my eyes and tied it behind my head. I wondered why they didn't use something more efficient like a bag; I had done similar in the past. One held my arm and ordered: "Walk."

Trudging slowly, I let him guide me, my head still hung low as if dangling from my neck. On the outside, I put up an image of fear and compliance, but on the inside, I was as calm as still waters; it was even hard for me not to smirk, because Luciano Dante had just made the worst mistake of his life. He let me live.

Despite the blindfold, the bright, yellow lights flooded my eyes once we stepped outside the room. I could hear the chatter of Luciano's guests get louder and louder as we drew closer and for a fleeting moment, I almost panicked. He was going to humiliate me.

One second, there was lively chatter in the part of the house we were walking through, the next, it was dead silent. My skin almost burned from the heat of their gazes on me. They started to whisper.

Luciano had not bothered to clean up the blood on my lips and neck. I walked in their midst, two of his henchmen escorting me, handcuffed, blindfolded, my dress a mess, and my face and neck stained with blood. He was showing me and everybody present that he was powerful, and he could do as he pleases.

I kept my head level, my breathing steady. My thoughts traveled at supersonic speeds. I counted steps, I took note of the different lighting as we moved, my sense organs were at there peak with the temporary loss of my vision. I had no idea where I was being led, but I was drawing up a seismic map. There was no rush, no point in looking or feeling for an exit. There was still a job to be done.

The guards thought they were in control. Dante thought he was in control, that this was over. He could not have been more wrong.

I moved my wrist slightly, unnoticeably, testing the tightness of the cuffs. Not enough to hold me. This might be easier than I thought.

"Watch the vase." One of the guards grunted while pulling me slightly to the left.

The vase. The huge flower vase caught my attention once I came into the house. It was Amaranth, my favorite flower. If it was this vase, then I knew where we were... And I knew there was a pin on the table where it sat... A tiny pin, but useful enough.

I swallowed and pushed myself to the right, tripping over my own leg and fell onto the table.

It was when I heard gasps that I realized there were people in this area too; they had been watching silently, as Luciano would have them watch.

"God damn it, I said watch the vase."

"S- sorry." I said as he picked me up.

Either it was the success of my attempt, or simply a reaction to the cold metal pressing itself into my palm, goosebumps covered my skin which was very convenient for me. The guard must have thought I was scared shitless.

I heard doors open and I understood that we were leaving the main building now, Luciano's lavish mansion, and were walking in near total darkness in the grass. The chatter from inside the house picked up from where it started as though they had not all just witnessed an anomaly.

I started to wonder whether Luciano had done all that to give me hope of life and turn around and kill me. He could easily dispose of my body on this vast land.

"Alright." One of the guards said and we halted. "Stand here. Don't move until you're told to."

I could have made a run for it... pulled the blindfold down and tried to make sense of the way.

"If you try to run,” the man said as though he read my mind, "you won’t make it to the gate."

I stood still for some minutes, then I chuckled to myself.

"So this is how you die." I thought.

Then I heard it, the hum of an engine. The lights seeped through my blindfold and as the sound drew nearer, I realized a car was racing directly towards me. I stood defiantly.

"Miss Albatross?" A polite sounding voice came when the car stopped and a door opened.

"That... would be me."

"Right this way please." He came and led me by the hand. "Mr Dante has instructed me to take you to-"

"What are you doing?" The voice of one of the guards came back. "Shut the f**k up and do your job."

The polite sounding person exhaled. "Right."

He led me gently to the back of the car and helped me get inside.

A weak link. I almost smiled.

When the car started moving, he spoke up. "Sorry about that. My name is Marvin. Wow, you're beautiful." He said, and I could tell he was looking at me through the rearview mirror. The car was barely illuminated so I figured he must have a good eye.

A weak link flirting with his boss' wife to be.

"Hi, Marvin. It would be nice to see your face too but," I shrugged, "you know..."

"Oh, sorry about that. The blindfold will come of when you meet Mr Dante. Sorry, it's not my- it's just the rules."

"We're going to meet Dante?"

"Yes."

I nodded and fell silent. I would play his game... smile when needed, stand where I was told, say the right words, and the moment he slipped, the very moment he believed he had won, I would drive steel into his throat and watch his empire crumble with him. A tiny pin to unravel the very thing that held the underworld together.