Chapter 193
Aria’s POV
The sound of Dominic’s voice through the tablet speaker made my heart clench. Even distorted by the warehouse’s echo, I could hear the rage building in his tone. He was here. He’d actually come.
But he was walking into a trap, and I was the bait.
“Turn the camera off,” I whispered to the man behind me–Rodriguez, I’d heard Nico call him. He was younger than the others, maybe mid–twenties, with nervous energy that made him fidget constantly. “Please.”
“Shut up,” he hissed, but his voice lacked conviction. He’d been the one assigned to watch me while Nico played his sick games with Dominic, and I could tell he was uncomfortable with the whole situation.
Through the tablet, I could hear Nico taunting Dominic, could hear the dangerous edge creeping into Dominic’s responses. My chest tightened with every word. Dominic was losing control, which was exactly what Nico wanted.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said quietly, testing Rodriguez’s resolve. “Whatever he’s paying you, it’s not worth it.”
“I said shut up.” But he moved closer, and I could see his hands shaking slightly. Good. Nervous men made mistakes.
“You have a sister, don’t you?” I’d noticed the small tattoo on his wrist earlier–a girl’s name in delicate script. “Maria?”
His head snapped up. “How do you—”
“Lucky guess.” I kept my voice soft, non–threatening. “She’s younger than you. Probably still in school.”
“Stop talking.”
“What would she think if she knew what you were doing? If she knew you were helping torture an innocent woman?”
“You’re not innocent.” But the words came out weak, rehearsed. Like he was trying to convince himself.
I could hear Dominic’s voice getting more dangerous through the tablet. Nico was pushing him too hard, too fast. Soon, Dominic would snap completely, and then Nico would have won.
“Rodriguez,” I said, using his name deliberately. “Look at me.”
He did, reluctantly.
“I’m dying,” I told him simply. “I have cancer. Stage two, spreading fast. In a few months, maybe less, I’ll be dead anyway. Is this really how you want to spend your last moments as a decent human being?”
Something flickered in his eyes. Doubt, maybe. Or guilt.
“Nico didn’t tell you that part, did he?” I pressed. “He just told you I was some mob princess who needed to be taught a lesson.”
Rodriguez’s grip on his weapon loosened slightly. “You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie about dying?” I let some of the exhaustion I’d been hiding creep into my voice. “I’m twenty–four years old. I should be planning a wedding, starting a family. Instead, I’m sitting here, tied up, waiting for the man I love to get himself killed trying to save me.”
Through the tablet, I heard Nico’s voice: “She’s trying to tell you she’s okay. Sweet girl. Always thinking of others, even when she’s about to-
“Turn it off,” Rodriguez said suddenly.
I blinked, surprised. “What?”
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Chapter 193
“The tablet. Turn it off.” He was looking at the screen with disgust. “I can’t… I don’t want to watch this anymore.”
“I can’t reach it with my hands tied.”
Rodriguez hesitated, then moved around to where I could see him fully. He was even younger than I’d thought, with the kind of face that belonged in a college classroom, not a warehouse torture chamber.
“If I turn it off,” he said quietly, “you have to promise me something.”
“What?”
“Promise me you’ll tell your boyfriend not to kill me. When this is over, I mean. I’ve got a family to think about.”
A spark of hope ignited in my chest. “You’re going to help me?”
“I’m going to stop helping him.” Rodriguez moved toward the tablet, his finger hovering over the power button. “There’s a difference.”
“Wait.” An idea was forming, desperate and probably stupid, but it was all I had. “Before you turn it off, can you move the camera? Just a little?”
“Why?”
“I need Dominic to see something. Something that might help him.”
Rodriguez looked suspicious. “See what?”
I nodded toward the wall behind me. “The vent. See how it’s been damaged? That’s not from age. Someone forced it open recently. There’s another way
out of this room.”
Understanding dawned on Rodriguez’s face. “You want to tell him about the escape route.”
“I want to give him a fighting chance.” I met his eyes. “Please. If you have any decency left, help me do this one thing.”
For a long moment, Rodriguez just stared at me. Then, slowly, he adjusted the tablet’s angle so the damaged vent was visible in the background.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He powered off the tablet just as Nico’s voice came through the speaker: “But here’s the thing about knights-”
The sudden silence was deafening.
“What the hell?” Rodriguez spun around, and I realized with growing horror that someone else had entered the room.
Nico stood in the doorway, his face a mask of cold fury. “Having a nice chat, are we?”
“Boss, I-” Rodriguez started, but Nico cut him off with a gesture.
“Rodriguez, you’re relieved of duty. Permanently.”
The gunshot was deafeningly loud in the small space. Rodriguez crumpled to the floor, his eyes wide with surprise and pain. Blood spread across the concrete beneath him.
I couldn’t hold back the scream that tore from
throat.
Nico stepped over Rodriguez’s body like it was nothing more than debris. “You think you’re clever, don’t you?” he said conversationally. “Manipulating my men, playing the dying victim card.”
“I didn’t-”
“The camera angle was perfect before. Now it’s showing half the damn wall.” He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. “What were you trying to
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Chapter 193
show him?”
“Nothing. I just-”
$96%
The backhand caught me across the cheek so hard my vision exploded into stars. The taste of blood filled my mouth, but I refused to cry out again.
“Wrong answer.” Nico circled behind me, and I felt his hands on the ropes at my wrists. But instead of loosening them, he pulled them tighter. Much tighter.
The pain was immediate and excruciating. The rope cut into my skin, and I could feel blood starting to trickle down my hands.
“Let’s try again,” Nico said, his voice pleasant. “What were you trying to show Dominic?”
“Go to hell.”
This time, the blow came from behind, connecting with the base of my skull. My vision went white, then black, then swam back into focus. The room tilted dangerously, and I fought not to vomit.
“You know what I think?” Nico moved back around to face me, pulling out a knife. “I think you were trying to help him. I think you spotted the maintenance access and thought you could give him a tactical advantage.”
He pressed the blade against my throat, just hard enough to break the skin. A thin line of blood trickled down my neck.
“The problem is,” he continued, “I can’t have you undermining my carefully laid plans. So I’m going to make sure you don’t get another chance.”
The knife moved away from my throat, and for a moment, I thought he was going to untie me. Instead, he grabbed my left hand, the one already torn from the rope, and positioned the blade against my pinky finger.
“Every time you try something clever,” he said softly, “you lose a piece of yourself. Starting small, working up to the important bits.”
“No, please-”
The pain was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. White–hot and absoluté, it shot up my arm and exploded behind my eyes. I screamed, I couldn’t help it, the sound tearing from my throat like something animal.
“There we go,” Nico said, wiping the blood from his knife on my shirt. “Much more honest.”
My vision was swimming, darkness creeping in from the edges. I could taste copper, could smell the metallic scent of blood–Rodriguez’s and mine. The room felt like it was spinning, and I had to fight to stay conscious.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Nico crouched down so we were eye level. “And that’s just the beginning. Every minute your boyfriend takes to get here, I take another piece. By the time he finds you, there won’t be enough left to save.”
Through the haze of pain and shock, I managed to lift my head and look at him. Blood dripped from my mouth as I spoke, but I made sure every was clear.
“Dominic will come for me.”
