Chaper 2-Part 2
1390 Words
The room seemed to shrink the moment Marcus Valente stepped inside.
Not physically.
But the atmosphere changed in a way Alessia felt instantly.
Some people carried authority like a title.
Others carried it like gravity.
Marcus Valente was the second kind.
He moved further into the room with slow, deliberate steps, his polished shoes barely making a sound against the stone floor. His presence was calm, composed, and utterly certain of itself.
Alessia stayed seated at the desk, refusing to stand.
If this man expected submission, he was going to be disappointed.
Marcus noticed.
Of course he did.
His lips curved faintly.
“Good,” he said softly.
Alessia narrowed her eyes.
“Good what?”
“You’re not trembling.”
He stopped a few feet away from her chair, studying her like someone examining a rare object.
“Fear makes conversations tedious.”
Alessia leaned back slightly.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Marcus chuckled.
“Everyone is afraid of something.”
His gaze flicked briefly toward Adrian, who still stood near the wall behind them, silent and motionless.
“Some people are simply better at hiding it.”
Alessia ignored the comment.
Instead she focused on Marcus.
Because if Adrian was the weapon…
Marcus was clearly the one holding it.
“So,” she said coolly, “you kidnapped me.”
Marcus lifted a brow.
“Such a harsh word.”
“You broke into my apartment.”
“Yes.”
“You abducted me.”
“Yes.”
“You’re holding me against my will.”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“When you list it that way, it does sound unpleasant.”
Alessia’s patience thinned.
“Then explain why I shouldn’t consider this a declaration of war.”
Marcus’s eyes gleamed slightly.
“Because your father already declared that.”
Her stomach tightened.
“By prosecuting criminals?”
“By dismantling my organization piece by piece.”
His tone remained conversational.
As if they were discussing business negotiations rather than organized crime.
Marcus clasped his hands loosely behind his back.
“Your father is a very determined man, Alessia.”
“You don’t get to use my first name.”
“I think I do.”
The quiet confidence in his voice made her skin prickle.
“You’re a guest in my home.”
“I’m a hostage.”
Marcus tilted his head.
“Semantics.”
Alessia scoffed.
“Kidnapping isn’t semantics.”
“No,” Marcus agreed. “But leverage is.”
The word again.
She hated that word.
Marcus began walking slowly around the room, examining things casually.
The desk.
The bed.
The window.
Like this conversation was something he had done many times before.
“Your father believes justice is absolute,” Marcus continued.
“He believes the law should apply to everyone equally.”
“That’s called integrity.”
Marcus smiled slightly.
“That’s called idealism.”
He stopped beside the window, looking out toward the forest.
“Men like your father forget something important.”
“And what’s that?”
“That the world is not governed by laws.”
Marcus turned back toward her.
“It is governed by power.”
Silence settled over the room.
Alessia met his gaze evenly.
“And kidnapping me is supposed to prove that?”
“No.”
Marcus gestured lightly toward Adrian.
“That was simply the method.”
Her eyes flicked briefly to Adrian.
He hadn’t moved.
Hadn’t spoken.
He simply watched.
Marcus followed her gaze.
“Adrian is very good at what he does.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
Marcus laughed softly.
“Right and wrong are luxuries of people who don’t run empires.”
Her voice hardened.
“My father will never negotiate with you.”
Marcus’s smile widened slightly.
“Oh, he will.”
“No.”
“You underestimate the power of fear.”
“I know my father.”
Marcus stepped closer to the desk.
“And I know fathers.”
His voice dropped slightly.
“Every man has a breaking point when it comes to his children.”
Alessia felt anger flare hot in her chest.
“You’re wrong.”
“Perhaps.”
Marcus leaned forward slightly, studying her expression.
“But we’re about to find out.”
The implication was clear.
He intended to use her as leverage until Thomas Vale bent.
Or broke.
Alessia forced herself to remain calm.
“You realize this makes things worse for you.”
Marcus raised a brow.
“How?”
“My father will come after you harder than ever.”
Marcus smiled slowly.
“Yes.”
“And when he finds this place—”
“He won’t.”
The certainty in Marcus’s voice sent a chill through her again.
“You’re very confident for a criminal hiding in the woods.”
Marcus’s eyes gleamed.
“I’m not hiding.”
He straightened again.
“I’m waiting.”
“For what?”
“For your father to understand something.”
“And what’s that?”
Marcus looked at her calmly.
“That he cannot win this war.”
Alessia stood suddenly.
The chair scraped softly against the floor.
“You think kidnapping me will scare him?”
“No.”
Marcus’s smile faded slightly.
“I think it will make him choose.”
“Choose what?”
“His principles…”
Marcus’s gaze hardened.
“…or you.”
The words hit like a punch to the chest.
For a moment Alessia couldn’t speak.
Marcus watched her reaction carefully.
Then he stepped back.
“That will be all for today.”
He turned toward the door.
But before leaving, he paused beside Adrian.
“Keep an eye on her.”
Adrian gave a slight nod.
Marcus glanced once more toward Alessia.
“I look forward to our next conversation.”
Then he left.
The door closed softly behind him.
The silence that followed felt heavier than before.
Alessia exhaled slowly.
Her heart was still racing.
Not from fear.
From fury.
She turned toward Adrian.
“You work for a psychopath.”
Adrian didn’t respond.
“He’s insane if he thinks my father will cave.”
Still silence.
“You realize this ends badly for all of you.”
Adrian finally spoke.
“Yes.”
Alessia frowned.
“You say that like you’ve accepted it.”
“Possibly.”
Something about that answer unsettled her.
She studied him more carefully now.
“You don’t seem like someone who believes in Marcus’s ideology.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why are you here?”
Adrian met her gaze.
“Because I made a choice.”
“What choice?”
“To survive.”
The quiet honesty in his voice caught her off guard.
Alessia crossed her arms.
“You call this surviving?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a criminal.”
“Yes.”
“You kidnapped an innocent person.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Adrian considered the question for a moment.
“No.”
That answer stopped her.
“Then why do it?”
He looked at her calmly.
“Because not doing it would be worse.”
Alessia searched his expression.
Trying to understand what kind of man said things like that so calmly.
“You’re not afraid of Marcus.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“That means you’re afraid of something else.”
Silence.
Then Adrian walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he paused.
“You should rest.”
“I’m not tired.”
“You will be.”
“And if I try to escape?”
Adrian looked back at her.
“You’ll fail.”
“You seem very sure.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
Adrian opened the door.
Then he said something that made her stomach twist slightly.
“Because you’re still trying to understand the rules.”
“And?”
He stepped into the hallway.
“We haven’t told you them yet.”
The door closed.
Leaving Alessia alone again in the silent room.
But now her mind was racing.
Because she had learned three very important things.
Marcus Valente believed he controlled everything.
Adrian Cross did not trust Marcus.
And somewhere in this place…
There were rules.
Which meant there were also weaknesses.
And Alessia Vale had no intention of remaining anyone’s hostage.
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