Broken By Him, Now He's On His Knees

Chapter 4: Betrayed By Love

Luciana's POV

A brutal pang of headache slammed into me, forcing a guttural groan from my throat. I strained, willing my limbs to move, but my body felt like dead weight, paralyzed. Slowly, my eyelids fluttered open, revealing a world of oppressive dimness. I lay in a room bathed in shadows, a single, stark light spilling onto the space where I was, leaving the rest of the area swallowed by total darkness. My gaze snapped down to my body. My heart seized, a cold fist squeezing the air from my lungs. I was tied to a chair.

What's going on? The question hung in the thick, heavy air, its silence amplifying the frantic drumbeat of my heart against my ribs. What am I doing here? Confusion clouded my mind, a swirling fog. I was in a plane back to Italy, what possible could have happened? Where's Romano? I queried, but no answer came, only the suffocating quiet. I tried to shout for help, but the rough cloth tied across my mouth muffled the sound, suppressing me from making any noise.

A cold sweat slicked my skin, and my lips began to tremble as an unknown fear washed over me, chilling me to the bone. Had I been kidnapped? Were they going to kill me? Wild thoughts raced through my mind, each one amplifying my terror.

Then, the sharp click of a door being opened shattered the silence, followed by heavy footsteps echoing through the room, growing closer. A familiar cologne, sharp and distinct, hit my nostrils, causing my brows to crease in a fleeting moment of recognition. Before the conclusion could fully form, a familiar figure stepped into the lit space, and a wave of pure relief surged through my lungs.

"Hmm?" A muffled cry of excitement escaped me upon seeing Romano.

"So you are awake?" The unfamiliar, chilling coldness in his voice made my whole body stiffen, my eyes widening in bewilderment.

"Uhmm hmmm," I tried to force the words out, but the cloth in my mouth wouldn't allow it.

"What? You have something to say?" he asked, his voice devoid of any emotion, deepening my confusion.

He moved closer and lowered the cloth to my neck. A heavy exhale left my mouth, my lungs desperate to adjust to the sudden freedom. "What... what's going... on... Romano?" Every word came out as a ragged whisper. "Why am I here, like this?"

"That's because you are just a leverage for getting what's mine back from your father."

"What?" I gasped, the words struggling to register in my mind.

"Your father, a ruthless Mafia Don in the Mafia world once made a deal with my father long time ago, but he betrayed him and got everything that belonged to him and made him go bankrupted. The thought of him losing everything that was his made him committed a suicide, and after his death his wife and children suffered, and that suffering also led to wife to her death as well." He paused, his gaze finding mine, unwavering. "As a young and novice boy I was back then, I couldn't do anything when my sister and I was sold to a Mafia Don. My sister was raped, and the thought of it made her killed herself. I underwent a torture from the Mafia Don and his family, but I couldn't break down. Instead, I made a vow to myself, and that's to take revenge over the man that turned over our family happiness over night, and the man was your father."

His revelation blew the air out of my lungs. My mouth sagged open, but no sound escaped.

"Then why, why did you show me... love? Why did you tell me that you love me when all you wanted was a revenge?" I demanded, my voice rising with indignation, a tremor running through it.

"Love?" He scoffed, a dark chuckle ripping through his lips, transforming into sarcastic laughter. "Really? You called that love?" he asked, and my breath seized in my lungs. If it wasn't love, then what was it?

"It was all a pretend, Luciana. It wasn't love, but a lie. What I showed you was only an illusion that didn't exist in the first place. You shouldn't call that love."

"What?" I gasped, his words hitting me hard, like a physical punch to the gut.

"All these years, I've been looking for a way to get back to your father when the thought of using you came to my mind. Ever since the death of your mother three years ago, and you moving to Paris because you wanted to break free from your father and the man he chose for you to marry, I had had my eyes on you. I watched as you started your relationship with Michael, and I am aware of how he broke your heart, using that opportunity to approach. And now here we are." He concluded, spreading his arms wide, a chilling gesture of triumph.

"If revenge was all you want, you shouldn't have included me. You should have just gone straight into taking it rather than just hurting me," I said, the pain of his lie and betrayal cutting through my heart like a razor.

"No, it won't be fun that way. I want to start from you, breaking you physically and emotionally," he replied, and I swallowed hard, a desperate motion to suppress the sob that threatened to rip from my lips.

"Now, enough with all this petty talk, let's start the deal," he said, pulling a phone from his pants and dialing a number. He waited for the call to connect before he finally spoke.

"Aye, Samuel, long time no see." He paused, then his brows knitted. "What? You don't remember me? Have you forgotten already? I approached you three years ago, telling you who I am, and I warned you to be aware of my attack. I can't believe you forgot me." His voice, though sounding a little jovial, held an underlying edge of menace. "Now, the real war has just begun. Your daughter is with me, right now, and you should...." He scoffed. "You don't believe me?" An irritation crept through his voice. "Okay, I will make a confirmation for you to know."

He pressed the phone to my ear. "Speak to him," he commanded, his cold voice sending a shiver down my spine. But I didn't. I wouldn't let him have his way. I remained silent as he pressed the phone tighter to my ear. "Speak to him or..." He brought out a gun, pressing its cold muzzle against my chin.

My heart skipped a beat as I felt the gun's tip under my chin, my chest humming with an uncontrolled fear that gripped my heart tightly. "Speak now, or you die," he threatened, causing me to quickly swallow down the bile in my throat.

"Dad..." My voice broke, a desperate plea, my heart racing rapidly against my ribs.

"What? Luciana?" His voice echoed through the phone, laced with shock and fury. "That son of his b***h, how dare him..." Before he could finish his words, Romano snatched the phone from my ear.

"If you want to save her, I want you to come down here and sign the contract I will be preparing for you. I will send you the address. If you're late or try to pull any stunt, trust me, she's dead." He said and immediately cut the call.

A wave of pure, volcanic anger surged through me. "What a bastard?" I cursed, spitting directly at his face.

I watched as his face crumpled into a furious frown, his eyes reddened with rage. In that moment, I knew I had crossed my limit. Slowly, he rose, his intense and furious gaze never swaying from mine.

"How dare you?" A sudden, sharp pang of pain exploded on my cheek as he slapped me. Immediately, dizziness washed over me, the world tilting, and I lost my balance. The chair toppled over, sending me crashing to the ground, and I lost consciousness.

A faint groan escaped my mouth as I stirred awake, the bright light in the room shooting into my eyes, forcing me to immediately shut them for a moment. Then, I slowly opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the blinding brightness. I found myself in a different room, this place much brighter than the previous one, and... my gaze flew down. I was tied down on a bed. My gaze flew around the place, and I saw a man wearing a white coat in one corner of the room. He turned to me, and our gazes locked. He seemed like a doctor, and my brows raised, wondering what I was doing here.

What game is he playing now? Did he plan on taking something from my body? My body shook with a mixture of fear and fury.

Then the doctor turned and came closer to me, a syringe in his hand, ready to inject me with it. I immediately jerked my hand away.

"What do you think you are doing?" I demanded, and the doctor stopped.

"I need to give you some painkiller, to prevent you from feeling any pain."

"Why?"

"You are pregnant." He announced, and the whole world seemed to still. I lay motionless on the bed, my gaze frozen on his.

"What?"

"You are a month pregnant," he said again, and a disbelieving scoff escaped me.

Then, heavy footsteps echoed from outside the room. "I think the Don should know about this," the doctor said, making a move to leave, but I quickly stopped him.

"Please don't. Please. Don't tell him."

"What?" He gasped, his eyes wide with fear. "If he gets wind of it without me telling him, he will kill me without any second thought."

"I beg you, don't. How much do you want? Name your price. I've money... my father has money. Just name anything you want." As soon as I said that, the man's body stiffened for a fleeting moment, and a flicker of hesitation flashed across his eyes. I wouldn't want him to know anything about my pregnancy. He didn't deserve to know. He was nothing but a jerk who played with someone else's feelings.

Then, the door suddenly burst open, revealing Romano in the doorway, his presence oozing with a dangerous aura that I hadn't noticed all this while. I looked over at the doctor, secretly begging him not to say anything to him. But the look on his face said otherwise; he didn't seem ready to make any deal with me.

"Now, let's go and meet your father, Lucy," he said, drawing closer to where I was. "I'm sure he's waiting for us."