"Thank you Jason. I don't know how I'll ever repay you." I muttered softly under my breath as I stopped the juice.

"It's okay. I didn't do you any favour. We are friends, remember?" He smiled while keeping his eyes on the road.

It wasn't that simple. He had helped me run away from the Miller mansion and Sean would never take it easily. Jason had put himself in danger to help me and I would forever be indebted to him.

Last night, after I heard Sean talk about me like that with Hailey, it broke my heart. I didn't know he thought that low of me and he wanted me gone. My self respect didn't allow me to stay there any longer so I asked for Jason's help, who agreed instantly. He hid me in the back of his car before leaving for his house and fooled the gatekeeper by distracting him.

"You owe me a dinner. Remember?" He winked at me and I smiled.

"I do." I said as the breeze flew by my face.

Jason was taking me to a nearby town where we would be staying in a hotel until the search for us was over. I know I took a rash step but I was done. I couldn't be a burden anymore.

"What's that?" I saw Jason angle his neck and something was peaking out from under his shirt.

"Oh that?" He slid his shirt and showed me the tattoo. "That's a bleeding rose."

Something flickered in my memory and my eyes widened in recognition. I had seen the same tattoo before on the men of Machiavelli's and Sean had told me what it meant.

I slumped in my seat and stared at Jason in disbelief. It couldn't be a coincidence. He was one of Machiavelli's men. But how? How was that possible?

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing." I managed to fake a smile while my body had gone cold. "Can you stop at a gas station? I need to pee."

"Sure." He nodded.

My mind filled with thousands of possibilities as I cursed myself for running away with him. How easily he had manipulated me into thinking he liked me and was doing all this to save me? God, what have I done and how am I going to get myself out of this?

After the longest, most torturous twenty minutes of my life passed, he finally stopped at a gas station. While he filled the tank, I went towards the bathroom but instead of going inside, I turned towards the mart.

"I need to use the telephone." I said to the man and gave him some money from my pocket. Thankfully, I had kept some with me before I left in case things didn't go according to my plan.

He walked away after handing me the phone and I dialed Sean's number, which was the only number I knew by heart. "Please pick up." I mumbled under my breath as adrenaline rushed through my body. "Come on."

After few minutes, I heard some shuffling from other side.

"Sean. It's me. Penny. I'm going to Egerton Town. Jason... Jason isn't... Sean?" I was speaking nonstop in panic when I realized the line had been dropped. I looked at the phone and realized someone had unplugged the reciever.

I angled my neck and found Jason standing beside me, looking down at me with a terrifying look on his face. Gone had the innocent boyish persona and was replaced by a sardonic frown.

"Help! Somebody help!" I attempted to run away but Jason clamped his hands on my mouth, blocking my voice. He picked me up roughly and I struggled in his hold as he took me outside the store and towards the car.

"Everything was going fine but you just had to mess up." He said as he threw me in the backseat after stuffing my mouth with his handkerchief and then tied his tie around my mouth. Afterwards, he went to the drivers seat and came back with a rope to tie my limbs.

Once he was satisfied that I was unable to move, he sat on the driver's seat and revved the engine. I tried to scream in frustration but I was unable to do that. I was cursing the minute I decided to leave with him. I have done many stupid things in life but this one took the prize.

"It's good that you figured it out yourself. I didn't want to explain everything from the start." He said and I let out a muffled heave. He looked at me through the mirror and smirked, "You want to know who I am?"

I nodded.

"You have met my brothers. Didn't you notice the resemblance? It isn't your fault though. Everyone says I'm much more handsome." He said and I looked at him in disbelief.

Brother? Wait... Oh my God! He was one of the Machiavelli bothers.

"You see, I'd thought I'd grow old at the Millers. But you, you are the most stupid person in the whole world. I didn't even have to do anything. You ran away with me all by yourself." He laughed then, a pure evil laugh and I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and bury myself in it.

As he saw me struggle, he clicked his tongue. "Want me to open you up? Aww, poor baby."

Fuck you. I thought in my mind but couldn't say it out loud. I was trying to free myself but instead, the rope dug even more into me.

"What? Wanna hit me?" He smirked again and I wanted nothing more than to punch him hard.

"Don't worry. Just bear with me for few more minutes. You'll soon start to feel dizzy." He said and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I spiked your juice earlier. Didn't want to listen to your annoying voice the whole way." He said.

As the minutes passed, I realized he was right. I had started to feel sleepy and it was becoming difficult to keep my eyes open. After trying for a long time, I finally gave up and succumbed to sleep.

•••••

I don't know where I was or how long I had slept. When I woke up, I found myself in a dark room with only a window to let some light in. The window wasn't much help as I was on what looked like fourth or fifth floor so if I tried to escape from here, I would end up with a broken leg or worse, dead.

With my hands still tied behind my back and my mouth shut with tape, I dragged myself to the window and looked outside. It looked like we were in the woods and as far as I could see, there was a dense jungle. I could see an abandoned church at some distance on my left but other than that, we were in the middle of nowhere.

I slumped on the cold floor and shrunk to a corner while tears screamed down my cheeks. There was only a 50-50 chance that I was going to come out of here alive. My stupidity had brinked me closer to my death.

I don't want to die.

My thoughts went to Sean and a muscle in my chest tightened. If only I had kept myself with him at the expense of my ego, I would be safe right now. He would have kept me protected at all cost and I betrayed him. That was my punishment for always taking a rash decision.

Never have I wanted to see someone so bad. My mind thought of various scenarios where he would appear any minute now and save me from these fuckers. He would hold me in his arms and scold me coldly for my actions but there would be warmth in his voice.

I was lost in these thoughts when the door opened and the lights in the room were suddenly turned on. The flashing light almost blinded me and I shut my eyes close. I then heard different footsteps entering the room, making me open my eyes to look at them.

In front of me were standing all three Machiavelli brothers but my eyes were focused on the one who had betrayed me the most. Jason had taken off his contact lenses and his eyes now resembled the rest. His hair I now realized was most probably bleached.

Jason stepped forwards and leaned in front of me. His face softened for a while and just when I began suspecting that he might have some softness for me, he ripped the tape off my mouth with a smile on his face. I held back a cry and tried to look tough.

"So stupid. And you know who is even more stupid? Your lover. I have been staying under his nose for a year and he never suspected me." He let out a chuckle and I spit at him.

My action made his face contorted in anger and he dragged my head back by gripping my hair. This time, I couldn't stop the yelp that left my mouth.

"Marco, step back. She might still be of some use." His elder brother Enzo said and he listened instantly, walking away from me.

"I don't have anything. You are wasting your time." I said, omitting mentioning that chip and whatever the IT expert would find in it.

"Either way, you are not going out of here alive." Paolo said and a shiver ran down my spine. "We are done with this game of cat and mouse."

With that, they turned off the lights and left me cold and shivering.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°