He sighs. “I think you already know who did.”
“Draco?” I whisper, and he immediately pulls his gaze away. He turns his back to me and walks to the recliners behind him. With wide eyes, I slouch back in my chair, staring down at my lap. My heart is galloping in my chest, my palms sweaty. Sweat has even beaded up on my forehead and above my upper lip.
Despite it all, I stand up, focusing on Emilio. “Take me back to him. Now!”
His lips smash together. “You know I can’t do that.” He looks me over. “Please sit, Patrona. There is something he wants me to give to you.”
I look at him sideways, eyes shifting over to the windows. Surrounded by clouds. Up in the sky. Something tells me it’s too late to do anything.
With a hard sigh, I finally sit, and Emilio takes the seat across from me and leans forward. He extends his arm, holding out something in his hand. A cellphone. I glare down at it warily, taking notice of the folder in his other hand.
“Jefe wants me to make sure you listen to this before you land,” he says softly.
“What is it?” I ask, voice dry, thick.
He sighs, making the screen light up and unlocking it. He scrolls through and then stops, handing it to me with the screen up.
It’s showing the voice recordings. With a tilted brow, I take it, eyeing him briefly before looking down at it.
There are four recordings on here.
Emilio stands, handing me the manila folder. I blink up at him, taking it and placing it on my lap. “I’ll let you have your privacy,” he says softly.
I swallow hard, but my throat is still dry, desperate for moisture. I’m too anxious to hold off on listening to these. I press play on the first recording, and Draco’s voice fills the small space around me.
“Gianna Natalia Nicotera.” He sighs, long and hard. “You are confused. Angry. Probably downright pissed. I don’t expect you not to be. You’re wondering what happened, and why I did it. Well, I’ll tell you what I did. I dropped a small dosage of rohypnol in the champagne, enough to keep you barely conscious. You probably don’t remember what happened after you drank it. I really wish you wouldn’t remember any of the events that happened before this.” His voice breaks a little, just barely. But I can hear it. I can hear the agony in his voice, how much this is hurting him, and my throat thickens, chest heavier now.
“I am not a good man, Gianna. I am a fucked-up man. I sell drugs and kill for a living, and I consider that the norm. I’ve punished women and never gave it a second thought—not until you.” When he says that, my heart beats faster. The recording ends so I go to the next.
“There is one thing I wish, and that is me wishing I had never ordered my men to take you that day. I think having you killed would have been better, because even as I record this message, I am fucking torn. I am torn between doing the right thing—which is sending you away from danger—and keeping you here with me and risking everything I have worked so hard for. If I had kept you around, it would have cost me. They know who my heart beats for now. She knows the great lengths to which I will go to keep you safe…and because of that, I couldn’t let you stay. You are a liability to me, Gianna. Yes, you broke my heart, and yes, I trusted you, and you betrayed me, but despite all of it, I love you so much, and I don’t think that will ever change.”
A tear escapes me, but I swipe at it quickly, holding the phone tighter, clicking the next recording.
“You’re wondering where you will go. Don’t worry. You’ll be with family—family that I know you trust, not the motherfuckers that will try to marry you off to a worthless family to rebuild the Nicotera name.” He pauses. “Open the folder Emilio gave to you.” I place the phone on the arm of the recliner, opening the folder.
I frown a little as I flip through them realizing all of the images are of me. They each have time stamps on them, some going way back to when I was first taken. Some are in color and some are in black and white. There is one with me on the beach. One of me at the pool. One of me eating breakfast with Mrs. Molina and laughing.
There is even one of me sleeping in Draco’s bed in only my panties, no bra, the sheets halfway across the backs of my thighs. I question if he took these images or if someone else did. But he would never let anyone get that close while I was naked and vulnerable this way. It had to be him.