☝🏻

"Xena," she whispered, "You could've saved me."

"No, love, I tried. I tri-tried," I stuttered, clutching my chest as an indescribable pain shot up my body.

"I trusted you...I trusted you!"

"I'm sorry-sorry," my voice cracked at the end. My head hung low.

"You could've saved me," she whispered, before darkness swallowed her whole.

"NO! A!" I shrieked, trying to grab her, "AOIFE!"

I yelled and jolted upright, beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

I groaned.

9 years...and nothing's changed. The same nightmare. Every night.

Calming my accelerating heart, I managed to cry myself back to self.

"XENA!"

I yelped in surprise and my eyes instantly opened. Gianna and Ysaline were standing in front of my bed with a desperate look.

"What?" I asked, yawning and rubbing my eyes.

"Enzo and Dante!" Gianna yelled and my eyes widened.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

They were still locked inside the bathroom!

"We forgot to unlock them!" I exclaimed and literally hopped out of the bed and ran to Enzo's room, where we had locked them up in the bathroom.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly unlocked the bathroom door and opened it. I peered into the bathtub and almost let a giggle slip at the sight.

Both the men were inside the tub, sleeping. Dante was on top, his arms wrapped around Enzo's waist like he was a teddy bear. Enzo was below Dante and was drooling all over his shirt.

I heard a camera click and saw Gianna click a picture of them. I chuckled and both the girls joined along. I guess we laughed too loudly as the boys groaned. We froze.

Shit.

Slowly, Enzo's eyes peeled open and Dante yawned. Enzo scanned the bathroom in confusion until realization hit him badly. I gulped and tried hiding behind Gianna.

Enzo's gazed stopped at me and his eyes turned dark.

Without thinking twice, I dashed out of the bathroom, out of the room and down the stairs.

To run, or not to run, that is the question.

And the answer was pretty obvious.

"XENA KING!" Enzo yelled and I figured he was not far behind.

I could hear his loud footsteps chasing me and I quickened my pace.

Ouch.

My stitches still hurt.

"Come back here!" He continued yelling.

I ignored him and ran faster. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the main gate.

It's that easy? I could escape?

I smiled and was about to step out but I got pushed down on the floor. I yelped and whimpered after my elbow slammed against the marble floor. Enzo straddled me, pinning my hands above my head.

"You're gonna regret doing that," he whispered dangerously and I glared at him, masking my face with a brave one.

"No, I don't think I will," I said casually.

He narrowed his eyes at me and then chuckled deeply. Within a fleeting second, I found myself dangling over his sharp shoulder. I whimpered and punched his back hardly making him groan, but he continued walking up the stairs and into his room. He dropped me on the bed and locked the door making me gulp.

He then turned around and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So, let's start shall we?" he began, walking towards me.

Start what?

"You vandalized my walls, you made me search for you like a bloody maniac," he continued, taking a step further with each sentence, "you locked Dante and me in the bathroom for a whole night and you tried to escape."

He stood right in front of me with his dark gaze but I stood my ground. My dad taught me to never show your fear. People may take advantage of it.

'Remember, Xe. In life, never be scared of anyone. Never. You have power, use it. And even if you face fear, it's alright, but don't let that fear control you. There are 2 meanings of fear- Forget everything and run, OR, face everything and rise. It's up to you to decide which one you'll follow. You are my strong daughter, Xena; The most confident and bold person I know. Remember, I will always be by your side, alright? Be strong, be brave, be kind, be badass, be a rebel.'

Dad's words echoed in my ears which diminished all the fear in me.

When Enzo saw that I wasn't scared of him, he furrowed his brows in surprise and confusion. This, my lovely readers, is called tricking and emotionally manipulating a person.

"Why're you blaming me only? Ysaline and Gianna were in it, too!" I snapped with a scowl.

He smiled, revealing his 2 cute dimples.

"Dante will take care of Ysaline and as for Gianna, she's gonna be training as her punishment."

"Wait, what? Giana will be training?" I asked in confusion.

He nodded. "Training as in learning to defend herself and fighting," he explained and I nodded in understanding.

But why was training a punishment? I loved training- fighting, exploring the different types of guns and knives.

Dad had trained Ysaline and me and because of our expert coach, we became the best fighter in the American mafia. Well, excluding my dad, of course. He fought the best. I was the future mafia queen so I had to prepare for it. Many people tried convincing dad to try for a son but he denied. He thought girls were stronger and fiercer and would be able to control the mafia well.

"Well, this was a lovely conversation but I really must get going now," I said and quickly ran to the door but a strong hand slammed it back shut.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not that fast," he said and lifted me up in the air with his iron arms making me yelp. He threw me on the soft bed and I bounced back with a groan.

He walked forward, taking threatening steps towards me, but suddenly halted. He clenched his jaw, as if controlling himself from doing something.

"Go take a bath," he spoke up.

I furrowed my brows. He says this? After all I've done...he tells me to talk a bath? Not wanting to push it further, I ran into the bathroom.

After staring at myself in the mirror, I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower.

The bathroom looked flamboyant- the polished black tiles, dark chocolate brown walls with a shiny layer over it.

I took a quick, refreshing shower and then wrapped a towel around my body. Thank god that the walk-in closet was conjoined with the bathroom.

Surprisingly, I found female clothes in there too. Probably Gianna's. I chose a white plain shirt and blue cotton shorts. Tying my hair in a bun, I walked out of the closet and into the room.

Enzo was sitting on the sofa, his right leg over his left knee, looking in deep thought. I cleared my throat and his attention was diverted to me.

"I'm still hurt, you know," he spoke up, his voice- soft.

"Hurt?" I repeated in confusion.

"You pretended to die and I felt as if my world shattered. Imagine if someone takes your reason to live," he whispered, his voice cracking at the end.

"I did that to escape you," I tried reasoning.

"I understand. It's quite normal for a person to plan their escape when they get kidnapped, but you went to such high extents, Xena. It broke me completely," he said, shaking his head.

Now that I notice it, Enzo did change over the 3 years. He had a light stubble growing on his chin and his hair was a bit longer and messy. His piercing green eyes turned cold and emotionless, only softening when he talked to me. His muscles were more defined, if even possible. He looked intimidating.

"Now that I've got you, I don't want to let you leave. You're like my oxygen, amore. I can't live without you," he continued, the Italian accent of his becoming more prominent, "but I cannot make the same mistake twice. No matter how badly it pains me to do let you go, I need to..."

He slowly got up from the sofa and walked towards me. I took a step back but lost my balance and fell down on the bed with a yelp.

He leaned closer to me and gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"No matter what, I'll always love you," he whispered softly.

My heart...

"Okay," Enzo cleared his throat, "I'm going out for some work. In case you need anything, just call Aria. Do. Not. Get. Up. From. The. Bed. Your stitches will reopen, okay?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Xena, I'm serious," he said sternly.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He sighed. "I have no choice," he muttered, walking to the dresser in the room. He took out something and walked back to me.

In a second, Enzo slammed my left wrist against the headboard of the bed.

Handcuffed.

Again.

"Why?" I whined, pouting.

He just raised his brow. "I'm sure you're gonna escape when I'm gone. I'm only letting you go after you recover, not before."

I sighed but nodded.

He smiled and gave a soft peck on my cheeks. Straightening his suit, he gave me a wink before walking out of the room.

Ugh.

This little action made me grin like a love struck teenager.

●・○・●・○・●

I just laid on the bed for like 3 hours.

And it was driving me nuts.

Enzo had gone out for some meeting, so he said. Aria did come and fed me fettuccine alfredo along with Moscow mule, which is a spicy, exquisite cocktail and I loved it.

"So, Xena darling. What do you think of Enzo?" Aria asked, sitting on the bed beside me.

"An ex-kidnapper and current savior."

She chuckled. "You're not wrong there."

"Aria, when Enzo kidnapped me the first time, did you scold him?" I asked curiously.

She shook her head making my jaw drop.

"No, I didn't, but I do disagree with his actions. Enzo is a stubborn man, Xena. He gets what he wants. Always. Whether be it a thing, or a person. Mafia men...," she paused and sighed, "they don't give a damn about morals and principles and get anything, or anyone, they want. Whether it's done forcefully. Even your dad-"

She stopped abruptly.

My dad?

"What about my dad?" I asked, wanting to know about this. This reminded me of the conversation I had with dad few years back...

"He said he wanted...me," I muttered softly.

Silence.

"Pops?" I asked to check whether he was still there.

"He kidnapped you because he wanted you?" Dad spoke up with a trace of an unknown emotion. "Yeah, he said that he 'loved' me and 'wanted' me...," I trailed off.

"Karma's a bitch," I heard him say.

"Karma's a bitch?" I repeated in confusion.

"Mhm. Reminds me of your mom's and my incident," Dad said with a chuckle.

"Why? What ha-"

"Nevermind about that," Dad cut me off, "Now, where are you girls currently?"

"Your mom had a similar situation your facing right now. That's all you need to know," Aria said vaguely.

"Similar situation? How?" I asked in confusion.

"I'm not the right person to tell you that," She said with a sigh.

"Alright, but how do you know about my parent's situation?" I asked further.

"News spreads fast," Was all she said before walking out of the room.

What the...

Shaking my head, I thought about getting out of these cuffs.

I could get out of ropes, but these were metal cuffs. The only way to get out of them is to break and dislocate your wrists. Not kidding. Seriously.

I did it before and almost broke down due to the unbearable, excruciating agony.

I was training with dad and he taught me how to free myself from the restraints. He tied my wrists behind my back with a rope and taught me how to free myself. I remember how fun those times were. We used to joke about him being my captor while he was tying me up.

Firstly, if you're bounded my a cuff, you need to try to pull the cuff over your hand. For that, you need to fold your hand together vertically. And, in every case, the thumb joint required a bit of pulling to pass. If the cuff doesn't fit over your hand, you need to dislocate your wrist.

If you're tied with a rope, expand your wrists as much as possible while the person's tying you and then wriggle out of it.

If you're bounded by a ziptie, break out of it by pulling as hardly as possible.

After a lot of thinking, I just decided to wait for Enzo to return.

"Where are we going?" Dante asked as I roared the car to life. I grinned.

"To have a chit-chat with my father-in-law," I replied, taking a sharp turn to the right.

Dante's face drained of all its color. "Lucifer-lucifer King?" he stuttered and I nodded to confirm.

"Are you mad!?" he shrieked making me flinch.

"He is a powerful mafia king! Imagine how over protective he would be over Xena! She is his only daughter! Leave daughter, she is his only child! And you're gonna meet him right now!? Wait-He's in Italy?!"

I glared at him and getting the hint, Dante zipped his mouth.

"Yes, Lucifer's in Italy. He landed today morning and is residing in a hotel currently," I said calmly, "I don't care if he's a powerful mafia king."

Dante looked at me wide-eyed and huffed. "Well, I do care!"

I sighed. "We're gonna have a nice talk to clear all the disputes between us," I said with a smirk and parked the car in the VIP parking of the hotel. I got out of the car and motioned Dante to follow me. Grumbling under his breath, he nodded and got out too.

I strode into the hotel, the cool blast of the AC hitting me with force. I walked to the receptionist who happened to be talking on her phone. She saw me and her face paled. Quickly putting down the phone, she turned to me with a tight smile.

"Mr. Ro-Romano," she stuttered.

I smirked. I loved the power I had over people.

"Which room is Lucifer Kings staying in?" I asked coldly.

Her eyes doubled. "Mr. King? Uh, he's not in this hotel, I'm afraid," she muttered.

I'm sure Lucifer must have bribed them.

"I asked, which room is Lucifer King in?" I asked sternly.

She flinched and shook her head. I rolled my eyes and slightly shifted my jacket to the left, exposing the gun which was tucked into my holster. She gulped. With sweaty hands, she typed something on the laptop and then turned to me.

"He's on the 60th floor, 6004 room sir," she stuttered. I smirked and nodded before walking into the private elevator with Dante tagging behind.

I pressed the button for the 60th floor and waited.

Ah, it's gonna be fun.