My Beautiful Boy ✔️

36

I have a bruise on my eye, I think. I have no way of seeing what state I'm in, so I've stuck to assuming what I look like. There's a cut on my lip and everytime I lick my lips, I can taste the blood dripping from it. I can slightly straighten my elbow, so I doubt it's broken, but it still hurts whenever I touch it.

Stawarski had done the absolute kindness of letting me sleep on a mattress that was tucked into the corner of the room and I only got a thin blanket to cover myself with. As soon as Stawarski and his men had left, I burst into tears. I sat up, rubbing my eyes and holding my hair out of my face. My heart beat didn't slow down once, and I struggled to breathe at one point. I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to cry a little quieter. The guards were still here.

I tried to sleep, but nightmares shadowed the night and I was too scared to close my eyes. I was stuck in a room with two random men and God knows what would happen to me if I fell asleep. So, I sat up and leaned on the wall, covering myself with the blanket to keep warm as I pretended that my parents were beside me.

My mum had her arm around me and she was telling me a story from her childhood and dad was opposite me, laughing along to her story. They'd tell me about the day they met, like they've told me multiple times, and I'd ask them the same questions and they'd give me the same answer.

I pretended that my siblings were running around the room, chasing each other like they do all the time. I was chasing after them, ready to attack them with pillows and tickles. A smile trickles my face as a tear drags down my cheek.

I pretended that Dawson was there, too. He was leaning on the pillar, smiling at me happily as I spoke to my family. His eyes never left mine and the smile on his face widened into a grin and then he slowly approached me, cupping my face and softly, gently kissing me.

Part of me wanted to cry the night away. Part of me wanted to accept that I wasn't leaving this building alive. Part of me wanted to hate Dawson for putting me in this position. But, I couldn't. I couldn't hate him. In fact, I felt the complete opposite. I couldn't admit it to myself, but I'll never blame Dawson for this.

He was going through the same things at the hands of Stawarski. And the man who truly deserves those beatings, he got away.

***

I was tied to the chair again. My stomach rumbled with hunger, and Stawarski raised his eyebrow at me as he flicked through my phone. "What's wrong with you?" He rolls his eyes, shaking his head, almost as if I wasn't kidnapped.

"I haven't eaten since last night." I grumble, glaring at him. "I seem to have been preoccupied." I tell him, but he ignores me.

"Whatever." He mumbles. "I'm gonna call your mother." He sighs, holding out my phone, where he was on my mother's contact. I hold my breath. "We're gonna let her know that her precious child has been taken so that Anderson can snap into action, but if I as so much as hear a non-English word leave your lips, I'll kill you, and then I'll kill your family. Got it?" He tilts his head at me, and as much as I would have loved to send a message to my mother, it's not worth the risk. I can't lose my family. I quickly nod my head.

Then, Stawarski calls my mother, and she answers after the third ring. "Alayna, ayn ant-"

"Mum!" I cry, leaning forward in the chair so I can be closer to her voice. Stawarski smirks from behind the phone, a weird glint in his eyes.

"Alayna? Is everything okay?" She asks, in Arabic.

"Mama, I've been kidnapped!" I yell, and Stawarski's smirk changes into a sadistic grin. "They've taken me, and you need to call the police!" I tell her, and there's silence on the phone. Then, I hear my dad's voice.

"Alayna? Where are you? What do you mean you've been kidnapped?" He asked frantically, and I opened my mouth to speak, but Stawarski cut off the call. I choke back my tears, staring up at him. My breath shook and I slowly leaned back on the chair.

"What are you trying to do, Stawarski?" I asked quietly, shaking my head. "All this, for money?" I cry, and Stawarski shakes his head.

"Oh, dear one." He lightly pressed his fingers to the bottom of my chin, lifting my head to stare at him. "It's not about money. It's about honour. When Anderson crossed me and took ten thousand pounds worth of goods from me, he took away my honour. And that's something that I live by. And, by giving me my money back, he'll show me that he can be a better man."

You have no right to talk about being the better man, I think. "You're crazy." I whisper. "You have a crazy, twisted view on life, and it doesn't matter how many people you hurt, Stawarski, because in the end, we all die. We all get what's coming for us, and so will you."

"Alayna, I've already warned you about what will happen if you disrespect me." He raises his eyebrow. "Don't make the same mistake twice." He pinches my chin in between his two fingers, and I pull my face away from him, looking away. "You're a very pretty girl, Alayna Camila." He says, and my eyes waver. "And, personally, I think you're wasting your potential by running around with that boy. He's got the hots for the waiter friend of his, anyway, so it's not like you're at the top of his list."

My head snaps towards Stawarski, my eyes widening in shock. Stawarski grins. "Come on, I'm kidding." He laughs, pressing his hand to his stomach. "Take a joke, will you?"