The heat singed the hairs on his face and arms. The sensation of skin melting caused his heart rate to surge in sudden panic. The fiery inferno was too much to take. He had no other choice. She was screaming for him to help her and he had to get there before it was too late. What kind of coward would he be if he allowed her to perish in the fire? No, there was no other way. He was going to have to find a way into the blaze to rescue her. “Please stop! Heelllppp!”
Tony ran to the window to get a glimpse of her whereabouts. The heat from the fire caused the window to burst, sending splinters of glass everywhere. He was unable to cover his face in time. Tiny little daggers lodged themselves under his skin. He scratched and clawed at his face, trying to get the stinging to stop. She cried out his name and he refocused. The window…flames were reaching out in search of the oxygen that would only ignite it further.
He ran to the door and grabbed the handle. He screamed out as blisters instantly formed on his palm. There was no time to spare. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand as he attempted the doorknob again. The force from the flames and the heat threw him back, landing about ten feet away. “Tony, help!” The intensity of the explosion forced him to search for cover. She was gone.
“Tony!”
“You think he’s going to save you? That poor excuse for a man is nothing but a corpse in that chair. You better come up with a Plan B.”
He opened his eyes and saw Matteo standing over Kate with his fist in the air, ready to use her face as his personal punching bag. She was almost unrecognizable. Her face, her eyes, and lips were so swollen. Purple-and-blue bruising covered most of her face, and her hair was matted with dried blood. It was one thing for Matteo to do this to him, but to strike an innocent woman was incomprehensible. Anger bubbled throughout his body like lava building in a volcano waiting for its release.
Tony assessed his surroundings; he was tied to a chair and tugged on the ropes, but with each tug, a dagger of pain stabbed him in the chest. His ribs—they hurt like a bitch. How many were broken? He pulled on the ropes once more to no avail. They were too tight, and the pain with every tug begged for him to scream out in agony.
“It doesn’t look like dear old Daddy is going to live up to his side of the bargain. I should’ve had the money by now. It looks like he doesn’t give a shit about his precious little daughter after all. But that’s okay. Word has it he’s on a plane to Rome as we speak. Maybe a little interception is called for. That way, Daddy can be next to his dead daughter. I wonder how much your mother would cough up? Certainly more than the five million I asked of your father. This might just work out after all.”
“You’ll never get to him! You’ll never get away with this!” She turned her head just as the fist came down on her face. The force of the impact threw her back in the chair and then toppling to the ground.
The thud of her head hitting the cold hard cement made Tony wince. How many times had he done this to her? How much more could she endure before he really did kill her?
“Stupid bitch!”
He closed his eyes just as Matteo turned and walked in his direction. The heels of his fine Italian loafers clicked against the cement. The sound grew louder until he could feel the heat from Matteo’s presence standing over him.
“I’m glad you made it out of the fire. You’ve given me great pleasure. It’s more rewarding to beat you to a bloody fucking pulp. And the girl? Well, she’s just an added bonus. God, I wish this could last longer; I haven’t had this much fun since I watched your family burn in that blaze. That ended much too quickly for my liking. This…this memory will last me a lifetime. I’ll definitely think fondly of this moment when I’m sitting on my private beach. I’ll always remember the exact minute I took everything from Massimo Bertalucci.” Matteo chuckled as he walked up the stairs.
Fucking hell! What the fuck happened to him? When did he become so sinister? I’ve got to get her out of here. Please, God. If I don’t make it through this, at least let me get Kate out of this mess.
He glanced over at her and saw she still wasn’t moving. He sat still and held his breath hoping to see the rise and fall of her chest. He let out a huge sigh of relief when she finally took a breath; it was shallow but she was breathing.
How much time did she have? Even if he could free himself from the ropes, would he be able to wake her up? Would she be able to stand or run for freedom? He whittled at the ropes; his only hope was he could untie them and get to her before it was too late.