My breathing is heavy as I pant. I have been running for what feels like hours. I have no phone to call anyone for backup, and I only have one gun.

My feet are in pain since I stepped on god knows what during my jaunt through the woods running for my life.

I try and slow down my breathing so no one can hear where I am hiding. I lean my body weight against a tree that I took refuge behind to try to calm down my erratic breathing and my palpitating heartbeat.

"Flowe,r come out dear Lilac," Eva calls in a singsong voice that makes the hairs on my arms rise.

Their footsteps that I did not hear before come closer, but I decide not to hang around and make sprint through the trees making sure for them to not see me.

***

I land on the ground with a thump and pain radiates from my knees to my ankle that is trapped in vines like ivy-hopefully, not poison ivy.

I look around at my surroundings and listen for any crunching of leaves from someone's footfalls. I reach for my feet and unwind the ivy from around both of my ankles. It is red and rashy, but I rub the pain away as quickly as I can.

Once I throw away the vines into the forest I listen to the sounds of a river or creek nearby. My throat aches with the need for water. I make a rash decision to listen to what my body needs, and I follow the sounds of water.

My ears lead me to a winding river that is going down an incline. I stare at the water before stumbling my way to the river and cup my hands to form a bowl. I drink the water in my hands before going back for more.

I drink as much of the water as I can until my parched throat is no more. I lean against a large boulder and watch the fish swim living their best lives in the nice cool water.

My thoughts turn towards the one man who could bring me comfort in this long cat and mouse game I am playing with these assassins. To which I am the mouse being chased by the cat Declan Diaz and his gang of followers.

I get startled out of my thoughts as gunshots go off somewhere from somewhere I came from. I stumble to my feet and listen to see if I can see or hear any other unusual sounds.

The forest is completely silent with only the sound of wildlife to be heard. Just to be cautious I walk quickly in the opposite direction to make sure I do not walk straight into the gun-wielding hunters or soldiers from Mason's or my father's men.

I keep my ears open to any noises as I get farther and farther away from the river, but deeper and deeper into the forest. I may be getting farther and farther away from my rescue, or closer to the monster of my nightmares, but I have to be getting close to something.

As I get farther away from the river I start seeing splotches of burn marks on trees like someone had a lighter and burnt the tree bark off of the trees. I stop and touch the burned section of a tree. I take my finger off and look at the ash on my finger. I lift my ash-coated finger up to my nose and sniff. It smells like a bud of a cigarette. I take in my surroundings see a Cemetary in 25 feet in front of me.

Cautiously I go closer and make sure that no person that could kill me is around before stepping into the Cemetary. The Cemetary is the size of a basketball court with gravestones of different sizes. There are three 7 foot statures of angels with engraved names on plaques scattered throughout the Cemetary.

In the center of the cemetery, there is a large mausoleum that looks like it has seen thousands of grieving families flow through here to bury their loved ones throughout history.

I walk in between the gravestones so I do not step on the ones resting in peace. As I pass through the cemetery I look at the names some I can read but there are many names that I can not read because they have mold covering them that shows that no one has been to see these resting souls since their loved ones have visited them centuries ago.

My curiosity gets the better of me and I take my time to read the names that are still readable on the gravestones.

I read all the names that I walk past and take in the first, last, and dates of the dead lying feet below my shoeless toes. There are thousands of more names on plaques that I want to read out of curiosity, but I only have so long until the hunters hunting me down catch up to me.

I quickly make my way to the mausoleum. A plaque with the name Morelli in capital letters is on the large metal door. I open it with a large screech and step inside the darkroom.

Chills run up my spine at the cold concrete ground underneath my feet. I grab ahold of the wall and look for something to light the room. My hand collides with a groove in the stone wall. I press my hand into it and the lights around the room turn on.

I let my eyes adjust from the darkened room to the lightly glowing room. There are plaques with several names of family members that are important to the family members lying beyond this building.

Against the wall is a large marble coffin. I move closer to the elegant coffin looking at the gold plaque above the coffin a name in calligraphy is embroidered in gold letters. I read the name and my mind turns to memories of Mason telling me about his grandfather.

I put two and two together and realize this is a cemetery is for the Morelli family. With that realization, I don't realize that my hand pressed the plaque into the wall that made a secret door opens to the right of me.

I look into the dark passageway with spiraling stairs before looking back at Ottone's coffin. I hesitantly step onto the first step of the passageway and make my way down the stairs. The stairs seem endless but after 5 minutes I take the last step. I look around the circular room and see several coffins with their lids slightly open. A wall across from me has me inching my way towards that way. I reach the wall and realize there is another flight of stairs behind the wall.

I walk down them and enter a room large enough to hold two football fields. There are trunks filled with gems, jewelry, gold coins, weapons, and drugs. Across from the stairs is a large throne-like couch with a statue of a man wearing a suit who I assume is an important family member that formed the Morelli family empire.

I run my hands through the jewels and find a diamond the size of my ear. I place it back and study the room with intrigue.

As I study the room it reminds me of a dragon's trove of shiny things. But why would there be a large room filled with trunks of gold and crystals? If I come out of this alive I need to ask Mason about this cemetery with a treasure trove underneath a mausoleum with powerful men and women's dead bodies.

I gulp at the thought of never seeing Mason ever again. I can not picture my life without the man that talked me out of shooting myself in my bedroom not so long ago. He is the bright light that makes sure my darkness does not overpower my light, and I help him from allowing his demon to take control of him.

I spin on my heels and go back from where I came. I walk back up the stairs to the main area inside of the mausoleum. I have my back turned as I close the secret entrance, so I do not see the three figures in the dark until a click of a Glock is heard throughout the quiet space.

"Turn around slowly and put your hands in the air where I can see them, mi Estrella."

I pace across the floor in the living room as my family watches cautiously from around the room. I am getting restless with no news from my men that went into the woods searching for any signs of Brooklyn less than half an hour ago.

I left my father's office fifteen minutes ago after I stared out the windows for an hour looking into the woods, and hoping to see Brooklyn running out of them unharmed and out of breath.

Father woke up 5 minutes ago with a concussion and 5 stitches in his forehead. Mother ordered him to stay in bed to rest, but he refused so she had to drug him and lock him in their bedroom from the outside with no key in reach for the old man. The only way he will be able to get out is by climbing down the vines outside or jumping off the roof which is a 15-foot drop from the top floor to the concrete ground.

Rose, Emery, and Riley have been worried sick for their friend. Samuel had to take Riley into the guest bedroom because she was sobbing with worry, and was getting on my nerves while she yelled at me to go find Brooklyn. Emery is making herself busy in the kitchen with Viola and my mother to keep her mind preoccupied. Rose's way to keep her worry from surfacing is by opening a 9 thousand dollar bottle of whiskey that I was saving for the day I took over as capo di capi.

William had a fit and left the room after he told her that the bottle was being saved. Rosalie just gave him her middle finger and left the room. Rose and Mia are now drinking the whole bottle while talking about something I have no interest in learning about.

"Figlio mio, siediti e rilassati. Andare avanti e indietro sul pavimento non riceverà più rapidamente notizie su Brooklyn, ma lascerà segni di battistrada sul mio tappeto," my mother voices as she gazes at me with worry and caution.

(My son, sit down and relax. Pacing across the floor will not get any news on Brooklyn quicker, but it will make tread marks in my carpet.)

I do as she says and sits down on the nearest couch. With my legs parted, I reach for the bar cart and grab a bourbon with a glass. I pour myself two fingers and nurse the glass as I try to calm my dreadful thoughts.

I stare at nothing and no one as the clicking of the grandfather clock in the hallway is heard alerting everyone to the fact that Brooklyn has been missing for a little over five hours.

I take small sips from the glass and look at Zachary across from me. He is biting on his lip while holding a teacup with jasmine tea. He looks up and meets my gaze.

"I keep thinking that the next time we hear anything about her is when Diaz calls to lets us know he has her in his clutches," he swallows as he lowers his gaze to the carpeted floor.

"I worry about getting that call too and knowing that I failed her. I do not know what will happen if we do lose this game that he is playing with us, but I do know that if we keep thinking about the worst-case scenarios we will be giving up and that is basically sending Brooke to her death. All we need to do is find her and we will go on from there," I tell him as reassuring as I can because I know what of condition Brooke will be in when we find her is not going to be the same condition as this morning.

A commotion at the front door can be heard from the living room. Zach and I give each other looks before we jump up and run out into the hallway. We run into Emery and William as they rush out of the kitchen. Together we walk to the front door and see Anna with two guards roughly holding her.

"Let go of me, you bastards. I am not here to cause anyone harm for heaven's sake I know Mason Morelli he is a friend," she cries out as the guards forcefully put her on her knees.

"What the hell is going on here?" I bellow with a commanding and deafening voice that can make a grown man fall to his knees before me.

The guards straighten and fearfully look up to my blazing eyes. "Sir this woman drove up to the property with no ID or password to get onto the property. She was dropped off in a blacked-out SUV with no license plate," one of the guards squeaks at me with uncertainty.

"Let her go," I command before turning my fiery gaze to the fear full woman who I knows for fact drives a beaten-up Toyota Civic with the license numbers Bug 67.

"See, I told you," she says glaring at the two guards. I keep my gaze on my girlfriend's close friend. She turns her head and takes a startled breath to find my angry eyes still on her. She gulps in fear as she drops her gaze to the tiled floor.

"Zach, bring her to the office I need to speak with her," I order and Zach's eyes go cold as he grabs a struggling Anna and does as I wish.

Emery stands in my way as I move towards the direction of the office. "What are you going to do?" she questions worried I will harm her friend.

"I am going to question her about her whereabouts today. I am going to find out what she is keeping secret and then double my efforts in looking for your cousin," I tell her keeping my gaze locked on hers

"Don't hurt her," she whispers before turning and going back to the kitchen. I watch her go before walking to the office where Brian, Zach, and Will are waiting with a nervous shaking Adrianna.

I close the office door and come in front of her. I lean against the desk and stare at her waiting for her to crack underneath the gazes of the most dangerous men in this house.

She shifts her weight on the chair and fiddles with her fingers as she stares at her brown heeled boots. She glances up once and a while and blushes at my heated stare. After 10 minutes she finally cracks blurting words out in a frantic state.

"Last night I was walking home from Riley's house when an SUV pulled up and three men grabbed me and put a cloth over my nose. The next thing I knew I blacked out and woke up in a storage room with a man who had a thick Spanish accent asking what Brooklyn's plans were for today," she says gasping for breath as tears stream down her cheeks.

"I had to tell him what he wanted to know because he threaten to kill my and Riley's parents. He had surveillance posted at my house and Riley's. He said if I did not tell him what he wanted to know he would tell his assassins to shoot and kill them."

"I told him everything. I told him that we were supposed to meet today at your house and the best way to get Brooke was when she was driving here since there's is two miles that are just secluded woods, and the only reason to drive up the hill is to come to your house," she whimpers at the look in my eyes recognizing I am on the verge of strangling her to death.

My grip on the desk tightens to refrain myself from grabbing a knife and stabbing this puttana to death. "So you throw your friend out to the wolves. To the one man that terrifies her to death?" I spit angrily at her.

She flinches back and shakes her head. "I never wanted to break Brooke's trust, but I had to protect my family and my best friend. You have to understand my reasonings," she pleads with desperation.

I grab a glass from the desk and I throw it as hard as I can trying to get my rage under control before I do something I regret. It shatters into a million pieces against the wall behind Anna. She screams at the sound and jumps up startled clutching at her heart.

I grab her jaw and I have to physically keep myself from snapping her neck. "I would never sell out my friend to their monster in their nightmares especially a friend that has done nothing, but be kind and generous to me," I growl at her.

I watch as her anger rises and she spits back at me. "She took everything from me. The one person who I thought liked me back chooses her over me. The one person I had to stay away from because of the stories I have been told from people all over this stupid island. The person who I have loved since I was 14 chose the girl who has tragedy falling in her wake and is as beautiful as Athena the goddess of war. Imagine me a girl who has never gotten anything she wanted to lose the one person she thought she was finally going to get," she yells at me.

I smirk at this breakable girl who has finally put all of the puzzle pieces together in my mind. "How long have you been working for Declan Diaz?" I question leaning against the desk and watching as the girl loses the battle against all her lies and manipulation.

She wails in defeat and crumbles to the ground. She sobs into her palms as the facts come together that the mole is someone from the inner friend group.

I pull my pants up a little and squat down to her level. "Adrianna, how long have you been working for Declan Diaz?" I probe.

She looks up at me with swollen red eyes with defeat plastered on her face. "Since the first day Brooklyn became an interest to you," she answers before sobbing into her hands again.

I stand and stare at the pathetic jealous girl who I have never had any feelings toward. I look at Zach, Brian, and Will who are staring at Anna with pity, but Zach is glaring at the wall behind her while fisting his fists in anger.

"Brian take her to the cells downstairs and stay with her until she calms down, and question her about the whereabouts of Diaz's home-base and if she knows where Brooke is," I order.

He nods his head and grabs Anna by her wrist pulling her up to standing. She stumbles at his attempts to pull her out of the room. Brian sighs before picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder. He walks out with a sobbing girl over his shoulder.

Zach watches them leave before turning his angry eyes to mine. "I can not believe she sold out Brooke like that," he spits out.

I nod my head before walking around the desk and taking a seat. "Zach get a group of assassins ready to go to their base of operations and burn the place to the ground. You may lead the group and kill as many of those bastards as you can, understood?" I demand. Zach grins wickedly before sauntering out of the office to get ready for the mission.

William sits in front of me. "Are you okay?" he asks reaching for a glass and pouring 3 fingers of whiskey for himself.