Chapter 86

5 hours

“Are you still okay?” Johnny checked up on me for what would’ve been like the tenth time in an hour. “Yes, I’m fine and the baby is fine.” I reassured him.

The five hours had almost passed and everyone was tensed. All I could think of was the fact that a few hours from now, Fabio would unfortunately, notice that Beau was missing.

I was nervous, scared—and Christian not telling me anything, other than telling me I did not have to worry, did not really make it all that better. All that kept me calm was the trust I had in him. “Good.”

My eyes slowly shifted to the group of men in the corner who were talking among themselves, and I looked at Luca who had a worried look on his face. Luca never had a worried look on his face.

He turned around to look at Johnny, but his eyes met mine instead—and the fake smile on his face said enough. It was bad news.

“Johnny!” He called out and gestured for him to come over. “Just try to relax for a bit more, okay?” He patted my back before he walked off.

Me being the person I was, I tried to read their facial expressions and immediately moved my hand to my belly. What was going on?

I got anxious and got up from the sofa after I saw several men making their way downstairs as well as several more joining us. Protect the gates, I could read from Johnny’s lips and watched as the security followed his instructions.

“Johnny, what’s going on?” I asked him and walked closer while my hand was still on my belly. “Serena, I need you to come with me,” Johnny spoke and grabbed my hand as he pulled me out of the room. “Johnny, what’s wrong?”

“The men in the woods, they took them out.” He spoke referring to the security. What did that even mean? “W-what, are they dead?”

“No, that’s the thing I don’t get. They are injured, not dead.” Johnny spoke and opened a hidden door in the hallway. My eyes went to the small space before I looked back at Johnny. “I need you to stay there—I’ll join you and-“ He spoke but got interrupted by the sound of his phone. “I have to take this, wait.” He excused himself.

“Christian, why aren’t you giving us any instructions!” He immediately called out. After a while he went silent and the life had almost disappeared from his eyes.

He took a few steps back so I could not hear him and looked at me every now and then. “Trust you? Do you hear yourself?” Johnny scoffed. What were they talking about?

“Yes, I get it.” He sighed before he ended the phone call and stepped closer. “What did he say?” I asked him and once again turned around to look at the small space. Would he really let me hide in there?

“Serena, I need you to stay here.” Johnny held both of my hands.

“A-alone?” I stuttered. A few minutes ago he told me he’d stay with me. “Yes, no one will find you here,” Johnny smiled, but his eyes said otherwise.

We were suddenly met with a sound of a big explosion, followed by a lot of commotion. I tightened my grip around my stomach and looked back at Johnny. He pulled out his gun and looked from me to the end of the hallway as he took a deep breath.

“Look.” He spoke and pulled me into the small room. “The door opens when you push this button, okay?” Johnny said and pointed his head to the red button on the wall. “Don’t go.” I held both of his arms but he shook his head and turned away.

“I’m sorry.” He said and took one last look at me while the door closed. So much for looking out for me. “Seems like it’s just you and me.”

I pulled myself together and tried to ignore the sounds of gunshots. All I could do was remind myself to breathe and closed my eyes while I covered my ears.

After a while, the footsteps and the sounds of gunshots got closer and I slowly began to realize that it would only be a matter of time before they would get here.

This wasn’t right. These people also had families.

“Oh, Serena!” I heard a voice call out as my heart almost stopped. This was not the voice of someone I was familiar with, but the voice of one of Fabio’s men. “Our issue is with you, step out and we’ll let everyone live—I know you’re around here!” The male voice spoke before he burst out laughing. “They’re all locked in a room, can’t get to you—you’re on your own now.”

“You know Vince, your friend Vince?” He yelled. I closed my eyes and protected my belly with my hands. All I had to do was push the red button and everyone would be safe.

“Vince told me to spare everyone—but they’ll all injured and it’ll only be a matter of time before they bleed to death!”

Bleed to death? And it would all be because of me.

“He told me that you were a good girl and that you would surrender yourself—but it looks like he was wrong, isn’t that right Vince?” He yelled.

He was here.

Vince was here.

I heard how the man opened all the doors one by one, but he wouldn’t be able to find me. Not unless I’d push the red button. “So you are not going to work along?” He asked.

“That’s fine, then I guess we’ll have to find another way. I heard you have friends nearby. Nuna, Hope...Olive.” He tried to threaten me.

He was just bluffing, he did not even know their correct names. I’m sure Christian had thought about this beforehand and had sent out people to protect them, and I was sure that he would do anything to protect me. Even if I surrendered he would still go out of his to protect me, but was I really ready to take that risk?

Would I really be alive for that much longer? Yes, of course I would. If Fabio was really in such a hurry to kill me, he would’ve done that a long time ago.

“And I have Luca, he’s injured.”

He had Luca?

Without a second thought, I moved my finger to the red button, all I had to do was push the button. “Don’t do it, Serena!” I heard Luca’s voice. “Just stay where you are, my life is not important—don’t do it!”

I looked down at my finger and thought of the consequences. No matter what, I had to push the button. Annoying or not, Luca was Christian’s family which meant he was also my family, and he was ready to give his life for me.

But the baby...

No, Christian would find us and protect us.

“Fine, if you won’t show yourself I’ll put a bullet through Luca’s head—“

“Serena!” I heard Vincenzo’s voice. It was the first time since I had heard his voice in a long time and it felt as if my world had stopped. I had never texted him back about Luis, and could only imagine how pissed he was.

“Serena, if you really care about everyone you’ll step out and face us, I know you’re not a selfish person.” He tried to convince me. He was right, I wasn’t.

“Just step out and no one else has to get hurt. I know you’re in there.” He spoke. “If you care about Luca, you will open that door.”

I had no choice, he was right.

All I had to do was to trust Christian, he would find me and protect me. He would protect me and the baby.

I took a deep breath and pushed the red button. The door opened as I came face to face with Vincenzo and another guy who had a gun pressed against Luca’s neck. “Serena, what is your problem,” Luca whispered.

“I’ll come with you, now let him go—please.” I stared into Vincenzo’s eyes as he smiled at me. He had the nerve to smile at me?

This was not Vincenzo. I could still feel the warmth in his eyes and I still trusted him. He was better than this.

“You really stepped out just to save me? Serena, what’s wrong with you.” Luca glared at me. “I was willing to give my life for you and my niece and you just...” He spoke in disbelief.

“And I’m willing to give my life for you,” I told him and looked at the man who was holding him. “So please, let him go.”

“Enrique, it’s over—let the guy go, he’s useless.” Vincenzo jumped in. The man looked from me to Luca and shook his head. “You told me to keep everyone alive, so I did—but this is going a bit too far.”

“She cares for him, so we will take him with us—the boss would like that. Now start walking!” Enrique ordered.

Vince grabbed my hand but I shrugged him off instead. “Don’t touch me, I can walk.”

As we walked through the hallways I had to face the dozen of injured men who were on the floor because of me, but in a way it reassured me. They were not dead, just injured—and it was all because of Vincenzo.

“Hey, you!” Vince called out to a man and grabbed him by his collar. “We’ll take it from here, tell the others to stay here and to keep an eye on them.”

“Get in!” Enrique growled and pushed me into the front seat while Vince took Luca to the back seat. Vince tried to give me a smile through the rearview mirror but all I could think about was how this was not him. His warm smile did not match his actions.

I had put my all into telling Christian to spare him because I thought he would eventually realize how stupid all of this was, but it turned out I was wrong.

Enrique took off and we drove through the woods. “This was kind of easy, don’t you think? Christian has not even sent backup, he does not care for this stripper one bit.” Enrique laughed.

He was right, this was too easy, but his words were wrong, Christian loved me and Christian cared for me. I’m sure Christian had a plan to save me, he would never bail on me.

“If you think that Christian is just going to sit there and let this happen, you’re wrong!” Luca agreed. This was unlike Christian.

“Then where is he?” Enrique laughed.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Boss’ face when he sees we have her.” He spoke. My eyes once again moved to the rearview mirror and I frowned as Vince moved the gun from Luca’s head to Enrique’s head. “Serena do you know how to stop a car?” Vince suddenly asked me.

It was not that hard for me to put two and two together as I began to realize what was happening. Vince was on our side and he saved Luca.

“What?” Enrique snickered. “It’s not like she’ll be here much longer to experience that.” He spoke before he gave his own little concert and sang a song.

I nodded my head at Vince and moved my hand to the steering wheel. “Stop.” He spoke and shook his head before I pulled back my hand. He was right, I was pregnant and taking a risk would be too dangerous. “You want me to stop driving?” Enrique asked.

“Yes—stop. I have to pee.” Vince saved himself from the situation. “Pee? Right now?” Enrique spoke in disbelief, but he was as stupid enough to stop the car. “If you weren’t Fabio’s son, I’d told you to wait.”

“Serena, close your eyes,” Vince ordered me. While I followed his instructions, Enrique had once again opened his mouth. “Why? Are you going to pee in this c—“

“No, I’m going to put you straight,” Vince spoke and pulled the trigger.

“Snake, dirty rat!” I heard Enrique’s say but my eyes were still closed.

“Come on.” Luca’s unlocked the car door and pulled me out before I finally found the strength to open my eyes again. “You’re okay.” He breathed and pulled me into a tight hug. “Don’t ever think about saving me ever again, you idiot.”

Luca cupped my face as he pulled away, and pressed multiple kisses on my forehead. “Turn her around, so I can deal with him,” Vince told him as he dragged Enrique’s limp body from the car.

I hid my face in Luca’s chest so I did not have to see whatever was about to happen.

“Fabio will kill you with his own two hands, and when that happens I’ll see you in hell!” Enrique spat out.

“That’s fine by me, I guess I’ll see you there,” Vince spoke before more gunshots went off.

“As you guys can see I have changed my mind, from now on I’m on your side—the winning side as Christian likes to call it.”