It had been a week since I last saw my father or Damien. Giovanni usually went on trips that lasted up to a month, so it wasn't surprising. No one had said anything yet, and I assumed that everything was okay.

It had to be.

But Damien? That was strange. A week had given me time to think about my stupid decisions in my moments of vulnerability. Damien was not for me. He shouldn't make me feel this way and the last thing I wanted was to get caught with him.

Hence, the gun that was permanently under my pillow, I had stolen it from one of the guards a day after he left, and I would use the handgun if it was absolutely necessary.

A harsh knock drew me away from my thoughts; "Who's that?'

The person on the other side obviously thought it was a cue to come in because my door creaked open slowly. My whole body stiffened as I reached under my pillow,

"Walk with me," he said, pausing at my door,

"Good morning, uncle," I pursed my lips lightly as I took in the massive frame of Enzo. I should have known, nobody else did this except he and Giovanni.

"I won't repeat myself, Annie."

And with that, he left my room, I sniffed lightly before begrudgingly getting to my feet. My vision blurred for a moment and I held the bedframe for support. I wondered what he wanted with me so early in the morning.

I found him waiting at the entrance of my door. He nodded his head towards the right and started walking, I followed after him meekly, counting the number of tiles since he had not said anything yet.

He led us towards the garden and I forced myself to rein in sigh. This garden gave me PTSD.

"Something wrong, Roxanne?" he said,

Oh, so he had noticed, I had thought I did my best at keeping my emotions at bay. And he called me by my full name for the first time in years, that had to mean something.

"Nothing." I croaked out,

"You were saying?" he pretended like he hadn't heard me.

"Nothing's wrong." I said with a clearer tone,

"Do you know why we are here, Roxanne?" His fingers brushed the leaves of the bush nearby before he turned to face me.

I halted in my tracks, saliva gathering at the back of my throat. I was nervous for no reason. Throughout this week, I had tried my possible best to keep my head low, Giovanni seemed to be out of the villa so it was easier, I had done nothing that would warrant a confrontation.

Yet, I was getting one.

"No, I don't." I responded,

"You hesitated." He pointed out,

"I had to think." I hastily said,

"Good. You rarely do that. Think, that is."

His words would have been a direct hit to my already fragile ego, but I was used to it. There was nothing Giovanni or Enzo would say to make me feel worse about myself and that was the honest truth.

"If you noticed, your father has been absent lately."

It was at the tip of my tongue to correct him, to tell him that Giovanni was not my father, but my mind drew back to the conversation we had weeks ago, and I decided that it wouldn't be the best path for me to take, so I nodded again.

"Any ideas where he might be?" he posed the question.

I blinked twice. It was frankly absurd that Enzo would think my father tells me anything about his escapades.

"With all due respect, uncle, Gio- father, doesn't tell me anything," he raised a brow at my words.

"I didn't ask if he talks to you about things, I specifically asked if you know his current whereabouts," he was getting pissed,

"I do not." I said curtly,

"How strange."

"It's really not, he tries to keep me away from the family business." I muttered, hoping this question and answer session would end soon.

Enzo made me incredibly nervous

"It is unusual, since I received a letter this morning," he replied thoughtfully.

Alarm bells rang in my ears, he had been sent a letter, and somehow, I already knew it had to do with me. Apart from pawning me off, they rarely involved me in their business, so I had expected this part, but it didn't make it any less horrifying.

"And...what was this letter about?" my mouth was drier than the Sahara,

"Speak up, Roxanne," he ordered, and even though I wanted to yell that he heard me quite well, I couldn't.

"What was the letter about?" I said again,

"You."

I knew it. Somehow, my gut instincts were something that never failed me, and right now, it was telling me that I was in deep shit.

"Me, how?" I feigned ignorance, although, it wasn't really hard to fake since I was indeed unaware of what was in the letter

He brought out a piece of pink paper from his pocket and handed it over to me, I reluctantly stretched my hand and collected it, my heart thudding mercilessly in my chest as my eyes settled on the black ink.

I scanned the letter once, twice, and even thrice. I still couldn't believe what I had read.

"How long does it take to read two sentences?" Enzo growled,

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I shuffled with disorientation as I pressed the letter back to his hand, watching steadily as he replaced it back in his pocket,

I tried not to panic as I met his eyes,

"What are we going to do now?" I asked,

"The obvious thing. Van is the head of the Italian Mafia, he is not going down because of some puny brat who doesn't recognize his elders."

Oh, how wrong he was. I honestly wished Damien was what it described, it would have been easier to take him down.

"You can't-"

"Shut up, little girl," he commanded, "Your father is in danger, and you're going to do everything possible to bring him back."

Tears welled up in my eyes, I knew exactly what they were going to do. I would be used as bait, because the letter had stated it that way.

I have him in my custody. I want the girl in exchange.

Sovetsky.

A/N: Heyyyy guysss. It's been months! How's everyone?