I look around me and everything is dark. I don't remember how long I've been here. Tied to a chair again, but I know that this time when I finally get to see someone it won't be Tom. A door opens and light comes through, ok it's day time. A body walks in and the light is turned on. I squint my eyes with the light.
"Go tell the boss she's awake." One of the men tells another man who was barely walking in.
"Who are you?" I ask and the man ignores me. Not long after another man walks in, this one though, I do recognize.
"Paulo?"
"Welcome home." He says.
"Home? Where am I?"
"Libson."
"Portugal? What am I doing here?"
"I already told you honey, this is your new home." He says. I don't know if it's because I'm nervous, or maybe I really meant it but I start to laugh. Paulo looks at me confused.
"What's so funny?" He asks as I continue to laugh.
"My home? This isn't my home." I say. Paulo gets upset and grabs me from my cheeks making me stop.
"This is your home now dear Hope, so stop laughing." He says and lets me go.
"What is it that you want?" I ask.
"What do i want?" He says to himself. "For starters, i want you to stop laughing."he says grabbing me by the hair. "Because you don't believe me, but once we are married, i will accomplish everything I wanted."
"Im already married."
"Oh that's an easy fix. You can divorce, or i don't know be a widow." He says and i get goosebumps all over my body. The idea of something happening to Tom scares me. I don't have time to say anything when I feel Paulo push my chair to the side and I fall hitting my face on the floor making a scratch on my left cheekbone and I just my forehead open. Two of the other man standing in the room rush to help me and I feel the blood scrolling down my face.
"You and your dad's empire will be mine." He last days before walking away.
"Do we get a doctor here boss?" One of them ask.
"No, she will be fine." He says and exits the room. The other men follow Paulo but the one who asked about the doctor looks back at me with an apologetic look. I feel my eyes full of tears. I don't know if they're because my head and face hurt or because my heart hurts, or maybe it's a little bit of everything.
***
Tom's POV:
We are driving down the street in Libson, not one word being mentioned. I think we all are making ideas in our heads of how things are going to go down.
"How long until we get to Paulo's house?" I finally ask.
"We are not going there." Diego says.
"What? Where are we going?"
"To a house Rafael owns here."
"No, we can't waste time we need to go find them already." I yell.
"We need guns and people Tom. Or you want only the 6 of us to get there and walk straight to our deaths? This is not a nobody, this is the man who controls this entire city. We need more people." He argues back and I stay silent because he is right. Going there just ourselves would be like asking to be killed, and I can't die yet, not at least until I know my girl is somewhere safe. We arrive at the residence and there's only a couple of people who I believe work here taking care of the house.
"Where are the men?" I ask and Diego keeps walking. "Where are the men Diego? The guns, where?"
"They should be here soon."
