Him (A mafia story)

Chapter 5

"Destiny."

I forced my eyes open and found the person who'd spoken. Nikolai was standing above me and it took me a few seconds to realize I was no longer in the concrete room. I'd been moved to a small, light blue room with a bed. Nikolai was no longer pale and he seemed to be completely fine. I wouldn't have been able to guess that he'd been stabbed and poisoned if I hadn't been the one to do it.

"My head..." I groaned, bringing my hand up to touch my temple.

"You're going to have a headache for a few hours." He sat down in a chair by the bed.

"Where am I?" I asked cautiously.

"Somewhere temporary." Nikolai said vaguely. "You needed some medical attention for your wounds."

The mention of what Marco had done to me made me instinctively bring my hand up to my wound. I winced at the pain. It struck me, then, that Nikolai was being... almost friendly? "You got the antidote and I'm still alive."

Nikolai gave me a slight nod. "If you want to remain that way, you're going to tell me who sent you to kill me and why."

"Dante Corinthos had my sister, I didn't have a choice." I admitted. "He told me that if I killed you, he'd let my sister go."

Nikolai's jaw clenched. "You're working for Corinthos?"

"What? No, he was threatening me-"

"I should kill you."

"Wait, no, you don't understand! My sister-!"

"Is dead." Nikolai said softly, cutting me off.

What?" I asked, stunned. "No, she's not!"

"We found a body that we identified as Haley Bentley crucified at the edge of our property. Your sister is dead."

I slumped forward as I took in the news. My sister was dead. Crucified. The only person left who cared about me was gone. Everything I went through with Dante, trying to kill Nikolai, getting kidnapped and tortured was for nothing. And now I'd sealed my own fate as well.

Dante had never planned to let my sister go and he knew that Nikolai would kill me for trying to kill him. I was never supposed to succeed. My vision blurred and my surroundings started spinning. My breathing became erratic and my hands started to shake. I felt like my entire reality was caving in on me. The world was playing a cruel joke on me and, god, I couldn't breathe.

I screwed my eyes shut, trying to stop everything from spinning, but I felt dizzy and my head was still pounding. I gasped, trying desperately to breathe, but I couldn't seem to get enough oxygen to my brain. "Stop." Nikolai's voice cut through my panic attack like a knife, and I tried desperately to hold on to it to keep me stable. Slowly, I calmed down and stopped hyperventilating, but I couldn't stop the tears from forming in my eyes.

"A deal is a deal." Nikolai began quietly, cutting through the silence in the room. "I will let you live, but you will stay here and work for me."

"Why?" I whispered. I didn't have anything left, I was alone in the world.

Nikolai stayed quiet for a very long time and I was beginning to think he wasn't going to answer me. "Because I remember you." He finally said, confusing me. "If you give me any reason to mistrust you, I will kill you." With that, he left the room, leaving me alone to break down.

I let out everything I'd bottled up from the moment I'd walked in on my sister being threatened to everything that had happened after. I cried for my sister, who I'd never see again. I cried for myself because my life was as good as over. I cried because I felt like I deserved a good cry after everything I'd been through in the last week.