Page 66 of Forsaken Promises
As the day wears on and the sun begins to set, I find myself growing more and more uneasy. Sofia still hasn’t come home.
At first, I try to convince myself that it’s fine, that she’s probably just having a wonderful time with her family. But as the hours tick by and the shadows lengthen, I can’t shake the nagging sense that something is wrong.
At dinner, my mother looks around the table with a frown, her brow furrowed in concern. “Where’s Sofia?” she asks. “Shouldn’t she be here by now?”
I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry and tight.
“She decided to have dinner with her family,” I lie, the words tasting like ashes on my tongue.
My mother looks at my father questioningly. “Sofia did tell me she was visiting her family this morning,” he says as he cuts up his meat into small, uniform slices. “I’m sure she will be home soon.”
The look he gives me tells me that she'dbetterbe home soon. Or else.
Across the table, Valentina narrows her eyes, her gaze sharp and assessing. I can tell she doesn’t believe me, can see the doubt and the suspicion flickering in her dark eyes. But she says nothing, just nods and turns her attention back to her plate.
I pick at my food, my appetite gone and my stomach twisting with a growing sense of unease. What if I made the wrong choice? What if Sofia wasn’t just looking for space but for a way out?
The thought makes me sick, makes my chest tighten with a panic that I can barely contain. But I push back past the feeling, forcing myself to take bites of food.
I can’t let my parents know that Sofia and I fought so badly that she left. My father will kill me.
Forcing myself to chew, I tell myself to call the Marinos after dinner. It’s time for me to bring Sofia home and beg for her forgiveness.
32
SOFIA
Iwake up slowly, my head pounding and my vision blurry as I try to make sense of my surroundings. The room is unfamiliar, the bed beneath me too hard and the air too stale. Panic rises in my throat as I realize that I have no idea where I am or how I got here.
And then it all comes rushing back. The fight with Dom, the awful things we said to each other. Storming out of the house, stumbling down the driveway. And then… Luca. His cold, calculating smile, the predatory gleam in his eyes as he grabbed me.
I gasp, my heart pounding as the reality of my situation sinks in. I’ve been kidnapped, taken against my will and dragged to God knows where by a man who hates my husband with a passion that borders on obsession.
I sit up, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washes over me as I scan the room frantically. There has to be a way out, a means of escape. A window, a door,somethingI can use to get away from here.
But before I can even swing my legs over the side of the bed, a voice cuts through the silence. “I wouldn’t bother if I were you.”
I whirl around, my breath catching in my throat as I see Luca lounging in a wooden chair by the door. He looks completely at ease, his long legs stretched out in front of him and a lazy smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Luca,” I whisper, my voice trembling with a mix of fear and anger. “What the fuck are you doing? Why did you bring me here?”
He shrugs, his eyes glinting with amusement. “I told you, Sofia. I warned you about the Sicuras, about the danger you were in. But you wouldn’t listen, would you? So I had to take matters into my own hands.”
I shake my head, trying to make sense of his twisted logic. “By kidnapping me? Luca, this is messed up. You have to let me go.”
He laughs, the sound cold and harsh in the stillness of the room. “And why would I do that? I have you right where I want you, Sofia. Right where I need you to be.”
To my horror, I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. “Please, Luca. I haven’t done anything to you. I’m not a part of this, whatever this is between you and Dom. You don’t want to hurt me.”
His smile widens. “You’re correct in that I don’t want to hurt you, my dear. I want to hurt Dom. And you? You’re the perfect weapon to use against him.”
I stare at him, my mind reeling with the implications of his words. “What are you talking about? Dom doesn’t love me, Luca. He doesn’t care about me the way you think he does. If you wanted to hurt him, you took the wrong person.”
Luca laughs, leaning forward in his chair, tipping my chin up with one finger. “Oh, I think we both know that’s not true, Sofia. I’ve been watching Dom for a long time, waiting for the right moment to strike. And you? You’re his weakness, his Achilles’ heel. The one thing he can’t bear to lose.”
This can’t be happening to me. “You'd better let me go,” I order. “Once my father finds out that I’ve been kidnapped, he’ll bring the full force of the Marino army to you.”
Luca shrugs. “Word on the street is that your father is sick. Maybe even dying?” He looks at me, trying to gauge my reaction, but I refuse to show even a hint of the horror I feel that he knows about my father’s illness. “He’s not going to come for you, Sofia. No, it’sDomthat I’m expecting to show up.”
