Dominic's POV

It's been three days–three fucking days since I last had a wink of sleep.

It's been three fucking days since my father snatched away my only reason for living.

It's been three fucking days since I saw the woman I gave away my everything to.

It's been three fucking days since I saw anything but the colour red in my eyes.

"Boss, you're not thinking straight. You need rest!" Lenny says.

"Rest? You want me to fucking rest when I don't know if my wife is dead or alive?"

"Lenny's got a point, Boss. How will you save anyone if you're not alive to do the saving?" Benny's voice is calm.

He's right. My stamina is at its lowest. I can barely stand on my own feet, let alone be able to fight anyone like this.

"Three hours." I say. "I'll rest for three hours and we're gone again."

Lenny and Benny nod.

"That's better than nothing." Lenny says.

I walk to the master suite in the hotel we're staying at in Spain.

My father sent me on a fucking chase. I know this has to be phoney. I know neither Inaya or Nicholas are here but I can't figure it out. I'm taking any and every hint I can get.

I've already travelled to 5 countries in the past three days: Italy, France, Switzerland, Slovakia and now Spain.

I'm being fucked over but I don't know where the fuck to look anymore.

That phone call three days ago shattered every will in my body, replacing it with nothing but anger. My father's voice saying he has what's most precious to me, saying he'll destroy it. I knew, I knew right away it was Inaya. I was at my house within minutes with no sign of her. Then, he told me she's safe for now somewhere in Europe. But that's all, I didn't hear from him again.

I toss and turn in the large king size bed, arm resting on the side my beautiful wife should be laying on. I've never felt so fucking alone in my life. Holding her while I slept has become such a habit that without her, I feel restless and hollow.

Flashes of her beautiful smile fills my mind, the look of innocence she had when she laughed, tilting back her head as she let the giggles escape. The gentle touch of her skin, the soft feeling of her lips, the way she held my hand so delicately or the way she slowly traced her fingers along my bare chest.

My heart pulls at the thought of how she told me she wanted to see Italy and Spain with me one day. I should've taken her right away. Why the fuck did I say no? I could've worked later, I could've taken her with me.

Fuck.

This is what I probably deserve for all the things I've done in my life. But she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to whatever my father is doing to her. She never signed up for any of this.

After an hour of endless thoughts of what if's, exhaustion finally takes over and I close my eyes to drift off.

• • •

"Boss..." Benny calls out.

My ears perk up but I'm not quite fully awake. It felt like I only closed my eyes for a minute.

"Maybe we let him sleep for another hour." Lenny recommends.

"He'll kill us if he finds out we didn't tell him right away." Benny snaps.

"Boss..." Lenny calls out this time. "We think we found the princess."

My body jolts awake and I'm up on my feet within seconds.

"What did you find?"

Lenny hands me my phone with a picture on it. "From this, it looks like your father took her back to your home, to your interrogation room."

"Try not to... try to keep calm while looking it." Benny warns me.

I grab the phone and I couldn't believe my fucking eyes, it's a picture of Inaya beaten to a pulp. Her delicate skin covered in bruises and cuts. Her lips swollen and her left her slightly bruised. Her body is limp against the chair she's on.

I couldn't even tell if she was dead or alive.

Every bone in my body begins shaking from the infuriating anger that's running through my veins. My teeth are clenched so hard that I thought my jaw would break from the pressure. I'm clutching the phone in my hand so hard that the screen begins to crack until Benny takes it away from me.

"Where the fuck did you find this?" My voice is so loud that it's booming through the room.

"One of our men snuck in when they heard that your own home may have been the location. He sent us a picture 30 minutes ago." Benny answers.

"30-fucking-minutes all and you're telling me now? How long have I been out of it?" I ask out of frustration.

"Eight hours..." Lenny answers.

"Eight hours—what the fuck?"

"Sorry, Boss. We passed out for a while too. But there's a jet ready to take us back right now. Car's waiting downstairs to take us to the airport." Benny nods.

I snatch my phone away from him and run out.

I've never asked God for anything in my life. Hell, didn't even believe in Him. But all I could do now is beg him to keep Inaya alive because that's all I can do.

• • •

Inaya's POV

"If you don't stop that right-fucking-now, I'll kill everyone in this room right now."

My head jolts up and I couldn't believe my eyes. There's no way I'm not dreaming right now. If it's a dream, then I don't want to wake up.

It's Dominic.

"Well, well, well, took you long enough, didn't it?" His father says gripping the knife closer to my throat.

One wrong move, and it's over me but I couldn't care less. Just being able to see Dominic made everything disappear.

"Dominic..." I whimper as his name slips out.

My lips tremble and suddenly, I couldn't hold myself together, I couldn't be the strong person I was seconds ago.

"You're going to pay for this. You're to going to pay this with your blood." Dominic grits his teeth.

"Oh? Just me? Not your brother as well?" His father raises a brow.

"Do I look like a dumb bitch?" Dominic yells.

"So, you figured it out? I'm sure you would." His father chuckles.

What are they talking about?

"Yes, it's true. Nicholas was the inner informant but the poor child thought he was doing it for your good. What a fool." He slightly glances at Nick.

I look at Nick, who's face I can see a lot more clearly now, looking away in shame.

"You've become a weak soldier once you met her, Dominic. She's no good for you. She won't allow you to do your job correctly." His father scolds Dominic.

"And who the fuck are you to tell me that?" Dominic raises his voice.

"Your father. The man who raised you to be who you are today."

Dominic scoffs. "Father? Barely. If anything, you raised me to be a monster."

"Oh, no, son. You had that within you since the beginning. I never asked you to kill anyone—ever, you did that by yourself." He looks at me with amusement. "Let me tell your wife a nice story. On if my favourites, actually."

Dominic's face twists into disgust, as if he knows exactly which story his father is about to tell.

"Remember your first kill at the age of 11? I never asked for you to torture and kill that man. I only wanted you to bring him to me. But you did the most, I was proud. However, I never even taught you any of the techniques at that time, you did that by yourself."

My eyes trail to Dominic, he's looking back at me with the most regretful look in his eyes. He's looking at me, begging me not to look at him with revulsion; not to look at him as if he's a monster.

And I don't. I would have–I would have looked at him with utter disgust if this was before I fell in love but I can't anymore. I love him too much to look at him any differently. This may be absolutely horrifying but I really can't.

"Why do you think your mother left? She couldn't bear to raise a child as monstrous as you. She couldn't even believe that she birthed you." His words cut through Dominic ever so swiftly. "I'm sure after that story, your sweet, little wife will think the same."

"Dominic... don't listen to him. That's not true. That's not why mother left." Nick tries to reassure him but Dominic looks as if he believed every word that his father said.

His grip on his gun only tightened. His knuckles turning paper white because of the pressure.

"Don't listen to him, please." I beg. "I love you and nothing can ever change that." Tears desperately spilling down my face.

"Awe, at least she lies to you to keep you happy or does she lie to survive?" His father quirks a brow.

I shake my head, it's not true, Dominic, please don't listen to him. But the words don't come out of my trembling mouth.

"What do you want?" Dominic asks.

"For you to go back to who were. You're becoming a laughing stock in the Cosa Nostra. Your title as a capomandamento needs to be held high." He pulls on my hair harshly. "And she is a distraction."

"Let Dominic and Inaya go. Take me instead of them. I can take his place." Nick begs his father but with no success.

"Only Dominic can fulfill the position. He was trained for this his whole life, he is the eldest. There's no other choice." Their father says harshly.

"I'll go back to being the capo I was before. Let her go and I'll whatever the fuck you want me to do." Dominic yells.

His father only chuckles. "Let her go? Son, she's seen too much."

That makes me laugh abruptly. "That sounds familiar." I say out loud. I'm literally going mental.

It sounds like what everyone was saying in the beginning when I was first brought to Dominic's; that I'd seen too much. It all comes back in a circle. I was never going to escape the whole 'she's seen too much' situation.

Dominic moves his gun up.

"Uh, Uh, Uh!" His fathers says. "Or I use your favourite toy to kill your other favourite toy." Then, he drops the knife and pulls out a gun from his belt side. "You know what? I'll make this pleasant for everyone. I'll make sure she dies without feeling anymore pain. One gunshot to her head and she's out like a lightbulb."

He holds the gun harshly against the side of my head, digging the end of the gun against my skull.

I look directly at Dominic who's helplessly staring back at me, knowing that one wrong move could blow my brains out instantly.

I mouth 'I love you' one last time before squeezing my eyes.

Then, boom! A gun goes off, making me jump in my chair but when I open my eyes, I'm still in the room, my head still intact.

If not me, then... Who did the bullet hit?

- - -

A/N: I intentionally end each chapter at a cliffhanger at this point, I swear! It just randomly turns into one. ☹️

Also! There's probably only 2-ish (maybe more; maybe less) chapters left that I have to write and then, this is over! 😢🥳

I'm already developing a new story but I'll probably take a break for a bit before starting to release it.

Next Update: Friday, January 31, 2020.