"What the fuck are you doing here?" I whisper before Dante yanks on my arm, pulling me into the elevator, not allowing me the chance to object.

He presses one of the buttons instantly, though I'm unable to see which one as he blocks the way, and we both wait anxiously in silence until the door finally shuts. "Are you Katerina's spy?" I question.

I would never have thought Dante would go against Matteo, not in a million years. His loyalty appeared to be unbreakable... So why is he working against him, and with Matteo's sister of all people?

"Yes." Dante replies curtly as the elevator begins its descent.

"Why?" I query.

"It doesn't matter." He responds gruffly.

Something does not seem right. Surely Dante did not betray Matteo, I just can't wrap my head around it.

"Yes it does... If you betrayed Matteo, how am I supposed to trust you?"

Dante clenches his jaw and begins to crack his knuckles. "I didn't betray Matteo. My loyalty still lies with him."

"It doesn't appear that way." I laugh, turning towards him, trying to read to see if what he's saying is the truth.

"I never agreed with Matteo; taking you from your life. It was never my intention for him to bring you into our world. I'm the reason that you two were introduced in the first place, therefore I feel responsible for you, and what Matteo has done to you."

I bite the inside of my mouth. It had never occurred to me that Dante was also the reason that I was here. I had just assumed that Matteo was the reason that Dante had offered me the job interview in the first place. I hadn't actually thought that much into it at all.

"So that's why you're helping me escape? Because you feel guilty?"

"Yes." Dante confirms. "After I found out he had put you down in the cellar, I realised that I couldn't turn a blind eye. I... I am a bad person, I can't deny that, but I just couldn't stand by while you were wasting away upstairs."

I don't know what to say, or what to feel. Am I supposed to be grateful that he is helping me? Because I'm not. Not if he was part of the reason I am here in the first place.

Though, I'm relieved that he realises that what Matteo is doing is wrong. Does this mean that Matteo is maybe not as ad as he seems? Could he feel remorse towards the things he has done to me? Is that why he asked for my forgiveness?

Is that why I didn't hesitate to kiss him back?

Because a part of me believes that he is good? That he can be good?

Matteo asked for my forgiveness, and while I didn't explicitly give it to him... I never said I didn't forgive, only that I would never forget.

Do I forgive him? Will I ever? He tortured and kidnapped me, and yet... I kissed him. I kissed him, and as much as it is supposed to be wrong, as much as I should be repulsed. I am not. I don't feel anything. It was just a kiss... A kiss is a kiss, it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't have to mean anything.

And I shouldn't feel any guiltier about drugging him because we kissed. He was the one who kissed me in the first place, what did he expect?

I can only imagine how he will react in the morning when he discovers that I'm gone.

"So now what?" I ask. "You're going to take me to Katerina's, and then leave? Go back to Matteo, console him, help him look for me?"

Dante nods his head. "I'll do everything I can to help Matteo. He is my closest friend."

"But you won't, will you?" I feel the elevator begin to slow down as we reach the ground floor. "Actually help him find me?" I clarify.

"No."

I breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Keep your head down, don't speak and follow me." Dante orders as the elevator finally comes to a halt and the doors open.

The first thing I notice as we exit, is that we are not in fact on the familiar ground floor, but rather level three. We stand in what looks like to be a lobby, with a small empty reception desk and many different hallways heading to different apartments and rooms.

Dante wastes no time before heading down one of them before promptly stopping in front of a large white door. Opening it, we enter a stairwell, illuminated by bright harsh lights. The air inside is cold and musty, and makes me hug my sweat shirt tighter.

Once again we begin our descent down three flights of stairs until we reach the bottom where I suppose is the ground floor.

Why did we get out of the elevator, only to get to the ground floor through a flight of stairs?

Opening the door, we step outside into an alleyway.

Well that's a quick change of scene.

It's pitch black, beside the street lights at either end which do little to provide any light. Trash lines the sides of the two buildings that surround us, and the sounds of voices carry through from neighbouring streets.

"Why-" I begin, but Dante quickly cuts me off.

"Matteo has his men patrolling this complex 24/7, we would've been caught instantly if we went through the main entrance. Even here, we are still not safe, which is why-"

Dante doesn't get to finish his sentence as I hear a whistling sound followed by the damp thud of something being hit.

I take a step back, towards the door we had come through.

"What was that?" I hiss towards Dante, only barely being able to see his face in the darkness.

He doesn't speak, let alone move, as he stands frozen in place, as if he's in shock or something.

"Dante?"

Dante's head slowly turns towards me, and despite still not being able to see his facial expression, I can still tell that something is terribly wrong.

"Dante?"

His hands rise and reach out towards me. I look at him puzzled, before he begins to fall towards me, and I only narrowly catch him before he hits the ground.

Using all my strength, I gently place him on the floor before quickly rolling him onto his back. "What's wrong?" I question frantically, and I pat down his chest ever so gently, as if I'll find something that'll help me discover what has happened.

"Please tell me what's wrong?" I ask, as my hands finally grazes against something warm and wet on his chest.

Shallow breaths escape Dante's mouth, and that's when it finally dawns on me.

Dante's been shot.

I choke on my breath and look all around the alleyway, my eyes becoming foggy with tears.

Oh god, Dante's been shot. Someone shot him, and he's... Is he dying?

"Oh god, don't worry, don't worry... I'll... I'll get you help. You're going to be fine." I say, attempting to console both him as well as myself.

"No." Dante whispers faintly.

What?

I lean further towards his face, trying to hear what he's saying better. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"Take my gun." He chokes. "It's on the inside of my jacket pocket."

I shake my head. "No, I'm not taking your gun... I'm-"

"Take it." He presses, as he continues with his laboured breathing.

I bite my lip as I hesitantly reach into his jacket, peeling it from his blood-stained shirt, taking a hold of the heavy metal object. It's familiar in my grasp, after all I have been trained in how to use it, though it doesn't make it any easier, knowing the fact that I will have to use it.

I'm the daughter of the former Italian mafia don, yet firing a gun at anybody seems like the last thing I would ever do.

I shove it into the back of my track pants and cover it with my shirt.

"You need to go." Dante whispers. "Run, get away from Matteo and find your father."

"I'm not leaving you behind." I say shaking my head.

"You have to."

Fuck. Why does this have to be happening? Everything was going so smoothly.

I can't leave Dante behind, I just can't. He may be a bad person, but no one deserves to bleed out alone in a dark alleyway far from home.

"No." I repeat firmer.

"They are trying to kill you, Mia." He takes in a deep breath which is followed by a sharp groan. "You need to leave."

"I can't-"

"Go, I'll be fine."

I look down the alleyway from any sign of life.

No one.

The chances of Dante being found are highly unlikely. If I leave, I'll be leaving him to die.

Taking off my sweatshirt, I press it to his wound, applying pressure.

I pick up his hand and place it onto where the sweater is. "Keep applying pressure." I say. "I'm going to find you help."

Dante doesn't reply, slipping in and out of consciousness.

I abruptly stand and begin running down the alleyway, as fast as I can. I don't know how severe the wound is, I have no idea how long before Dante-

If he dies...

I reach the end of the alleyway and look down the street both left and right, for any sign of life. I almost scream out in joy when I see a couple walking down the street together. I run towards them, probably looking like a crazy person with blood covering my hands.

"Help." I whisper-yell as I get closer to them, and thank god one of them turns around. They slow down before coming to a stop and turning around to me.

I lose all confidence when I realise that they are locals.

I can speak many languages, but Japanese is not one of them.

Of course I know the basics, so I can only hope that they will understand what I'm saying.

"Denwa to kyūkyūsha." (Phone an ambulance.) I breathe. "Otoko wa utareta." (The man was shot.)

The man looks at me, and then down at my hands, his eyes slowly widening. "Denwa to kyūkyūsha." (Phone an ambulance.) The man repeats my words to the girl beside him.

She nods her head frantically before diving into her handbag for her phone.

"Doko?" (Where?) The man asks.

I point to the alleyway and they begin heading over, while I hear the girl speaking into her phone. I begin to follow them, but quickly stop myself. I can't go back, otherwise they'll find me. I have to leave Dante.

I begin taking steps back before heading in the opposite direction to the apartments. I need to get as far away from here as I can.

So I sprint down the street. Passing strands of shops and markets stalls that have long since closed. Everything is silent and empty. It's as if no one lives in the city. And it takes me a second to realise that I'm free.

I'm free.

I'm no longer locked away, and for the first time in so long, I can feel the cool night breeze brush up against my face and pass through my hair.

It feels magnificent.

I can only hope it doesn't end.

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