Between The Flames ⚜️Il Paradosso Book Two⚜️

Chapter four

"Calm your tits down. Nothing's going to happen," I reassured a jittery Dino as we stepped into the elevator, which instantly brought back irksome memories.

"That's easy for you to say when my entire family is on the line! One simple screw up, they're just as good as dead."

"Well, fortunately I don't have one so there's nothing at stake for me," I murmured under my breath.

It never ceased to amaze me how one man, could instill this level of fear. The people that worked for him were scared soulless, like he was some sort of higher being.

"Antonio, you dick," I uttered, pressing the button that would lower us to the garage, thankful to Giada who had granted us access to it by unlocking the penthouse code.

"Don't say that, Adriana! You know there are cameras everywhere!"

"Your boss is a big fat dick," I repeated, turning to face him.

"We're going down." His eyebrows knitted together as he noticed we weren't heading to the second floor, where the nightclub resided. "Why are we going down, Adriana?"

"Relax; we're just paying a short visit to one of his precious beauties." I smirked, knowing how much he loved his Lamborghini and hoping he kept that thing here in New York, for whatever reasons.

"Adriana..."

The elevator pinged and the door slid open to the spacious garage, packed with some of the most luxurious vehicles, that only a billionaire prick the likes of Antonio could possess.

"Ah, there she is," I said. A smile spread across my face at the sight of the black baby that was polished to perfection and shined brighter than any average man's future.

"Dio mio, he's going to saw our heads off for this and throw them to the rats! There are too many of them roaming this city! They're going to feed on our fucking bodies!"

Was it bad that I was laughing inside at Dino's desperate remarks? I couldn't help it; he could be such a pussy at times.

Taking my key out of my purse, I started creating a long unsteady line along the hood of the car and a high-pitched squeal echoed throughout the large carport.

Realizing that it was coming from Dino, I swung around, shushing him and saw the horrified look on his face.

"I can't watch this," he screeched, louder than the metal that was now carving swivels across the side of the vehicle in zigzags.

"Then leave."

By the time I was finished with my artwork, the Veneno Roadster was covered in scrape marks.

"Do you even know how much this fucking thing costs?" Dino was nearly losing his mind, gripping the sides of his face and shaking his head.

"That's another eight-million dollars I just cost your boss," I answered without hesitation, looking him dead in the eye.

Dino sunk to the floor, muttering in-distinguished words under his breath.

"Are you praying?" I exclaimed, watching him sway back and forth on his knees.

My attention perked at a red vehicle furthest to my left and a slow, sinister smile provoked my lips. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," I whispered, letting Dino's pleas fade to the back.

"Are you fucking crazy, Adriana? Have you lost your fucking mind! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"You swear too much for an IT."

I had to admit, I was a bit worried about his mental stability. I couldn't give two shits about a piece of metal. Not when I had been betrayed so many times by its owner.

"Your boss can blow me," I said, dragging him up from his kneeling position, as he continued to pray to mother Mary.

"Oh, he's going to blow you alright! Into fucking pieces when he sees this!"

I shoved him away, traversing the garage to the red Maserati.

Ten minutes later we were back on the elevator.

I pressed the first floor and released an audible breath of air as the elevator began to move upwards, my heart lowering deeper into the pit of my stomach with every second.

"Wait, we're leaving?"

Grabbing him by the arm, I led us both out of the building and directed our steps towards my car, which was parked safe and sound at the side of the road, exactly where I'd left it to make our sweet escape.

"My job is done here," I answered, lowering myself into the driver's seat.

"You weren't really coming here to see him, were you? This is what you were planning all along?"

"You win the grand prize for figuring it out," I replied to Dino's lingering question, placing the vehicle into drive, before heading out onto the semi-quiet streets of Manhattan.

My phone rang just as we were about to pull into the driveway of our apartment and Dino let out a gasp, staring at the ID in a complete state of terrified shock.

"It's Nicco!"

Picking up the device, I blocked the call, pretty certain that what the psycho was about to say, wasn't going to be suitable for a close proximity to my ear.

I would have burst out laughing, if it wasn't for Dino's silent cries messing with my emotions; instead I raised my finger to the screen, blocking the call again.

Soon after, it lit up and a text message appeared. I could almost taste the venom that was spilled into it.

Truth be told, I was afraid to look at it.

"Open it, Dino."

"Fuck you, Adriana. It's your mess, you open it."

As if he was going to know exactly who'd read the text first. But then again, anything was possible with the skills of that man.

I slid the screen open, revealing the message in bold letters, rage dripping off of each word.

Nicco: Big mistake.

I unlocked the door to our dimly lit apartment, followed by a paled Dino and slid the two bolts in after closing it again.

"You think that's going to keep him out? You're fucking bluffing. You're about to witness a whole new side of him tonight. You better prepare to meet your maker."

Oh, please. I was kidnapped and held captive for almost a year. It would take more than a scream in my ear to break me.

But, then again, this was Niccolo. He thrived on pain and he wouldn't hesitate to burn my face off.

Dino's rambling wasn't helping my cause. I needed Antonio to come; I wasn't expecting him to send his psycho brother, knowing how dangerous he was.

I narrowed my eyes at Dino's scorning comments, kicking the high heels off of my feet before making my way to the bathroom. I didn't need his words stomping over my confidence.

I counted exactly fifteen minutes before there was a hard pounding on the door, causing me to jump off of the stool I was sitting on. I padded barefoot across the granite tiles, stopping at the end of the hallway.