Page 13 of The Forever One
“Even if River is to blame?” His words bring with them my own rage as my body lunges toward him without my brain’s permission, but I’m stopped dead by my restraints. I ignore the pain, it means nothing compared to what we just witnessed.
“That’s what I thought.” Enzo turns back into his earlier position like our conversation is over and he’s got the answers he needs.
I’m about to tell him to focus on what we can do right now when the shifting of gravel grabs my attention.
“Focus on surviving this first, then we can count our losses.” Enzo looks over his shoulder at me, our eyes boring into each other. The pain and the incredulity are dark shadows in the depths of his eyes, but Enzo is a soldier and he knows I’m right. Wallowing will help no one and our girls are being kept prisoner somewhere.
They came for us, it’s time to go for them.
As footsteps approach, I return to my original position, kneeling with my head down, to wait for whoever it is that’s about to piss me off again.
The door creaks open then slams into the wall. I watch through my eyelashes as city shoes step over the threshold and a sniff of disdain echoes through the rat-infested space.
“How the mighty have fallen.” My head snaps up at the sound of her voice. What the fuck is she doing here? “But then, I suppose it’s sweet irony, don’t you think?” Eleanor Hunter or Reed or whatever the fuck she goes by these days, is standing in front of me, her heels trembling as they balance over the hay that’s been strewn all over the ground. She’s dressed like she’s going to church, with a large hat and white gloves up to her elbows, but the sneer on her face is anything but holy. Why haven’t I ever seen it? The devil inside her.
“What are you doing here?” I make the mistake of speaking, but it’s like I’m missing puzzle pieces and she just doesn’t fit with the rest of the image.
“Do you believe in karma, Marco?” Placing a handkerchief over her nose, she takes a step back from me as she ignores my question and just keeps on talking.
This time, I don’t answer because I’m pretty sure it makes no difference. She’s been holding on to something and she’s traveled all this way to tell me about it.
I know she invited Elizabeth into her home, so it’s safe to say she and the Ambrosios have something going on, but this? It makes no fucking sense.
Unless…
Does she know we had a role in her son’s disappearance?
“You see, I believe we are dealt the cards we deserve. My husband's death was a direct consequence of the pain he caused us when he cheated on me.” She gags a little, probably from the overwhelming stink of this place. “But my son? My sweet, thoughtful baby boy? Well, he didn’t deserve any harm yetshehurt him.”
I can respect the pain of a grieving mother, but kidnapping? Rape? No. I can’t believe this woman would be behind all of this. “It’s only fair I return the favor, don’t you agree?” I raise my eyes to look up at her,reallylook at her, and I see it.
The evil.
The hatred.
The capability to harm. To kill.
“Who isshe?” Deep inside I know who she’s talking about, but I choose to ignore it because the idea that River is gone or has mere moments to live is too much for me to handle. I need that hope because, without it, I’m only left with soul-gripping fear.
“Oh, come on, Marco. You’re a smart man, I’m sure you can figure it out.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
RIVER
The light that once came through the crack at the bottom of the door has slowly disappeared as the hours have passed. The small window in the otherwise-empty room is blacked out, leaving Lina and I in darkness.
It’s fitting, really. The darkness mirrors my emotions in this moment, and no doubt Lina’s too. She’s finally stopped shivering in my arms, and her breathing has evened out. I know she’s not asleep yet, because her grip on my arm wrapped around her, holding her close to me, is as tight as it has been since we were thrown into this barren building.
The ground is stone, with some kind of animal shit and hay strewn all over the place. With no sunlight coming in throughout the day, it’s permanently cold in here, but I can handle it a lot better than Lina can. Many nights spent sleeping outside, in tents, teepees… they’ve hardened me to low temperatures. So as soon as Lina arrived—too long after I did—in this building, room, whatever it is, with no clothes on, I immediately stripped and gave her mine.
At least I have underwear on, unlike my sister-in-law. My thin black jacket is useful too.
Lina resisted at first, tried to push my clothes back to me, refusing to take them, but it was a half-hearted effort, and thankfully my persistence won. She hasn’t spoken a word, not as I helped her get dressed, and not as I pulled her into me, where we’ve stayed in silence ever since.
The guy Aldo had tie me up didn’t do a very good job and it only took fifteen minutes to wriggle my hands and feet free of my bindings. Although, I’ve loosely re-wrapped them in case someone comes back in. I’m still trying to figure a way out of all this without getting us all killed, and kicking myself for how fucking stupid I was to think it wouldn’t turn out like this.
Anger, grief, sadness, regret… there are so many negative emotions running through my veins that it’s almost overwhelming. But for now, the only thing I can do is be here for Lina. Be her strength, her protector. I sure as shit have done a crappy job at that so far.