The Mafia's Pet: Pawn Of The Ruthless ( A Dark Romance)

Chapter 68: A Grave Awakening

The chill of the evening air crept into Evangelina's skin, waking her as she struggled to open her eyes. The taste of metal filled her mouth, a sticky residue that coated her tongue. She blinked, trying to make sense of her surroundings, only to realize she couldn't move her arms or legs. A coarse material chafed against her wrists and ankles. Duct tape.

Panic flooded her senses as she strained against her bindings, her body twisting in a desperate attempt to break free. Then, as her eyes adjusted, she saw him.

Érico was crouched just a few feet away, his figure outlined by the faint glow of a lantern. He was digging—a steady, rhythmic motion as he scooped soil and tossed it aside, the sound muted but unmistakable. Evangelina's breath hitched as a dreadful realization dawned on her: that hole in the ground wasn't just a pit. It was her grave.

A muffled scream rose in her throat, but the duct tape covering her mouth stifled it, leaving only the desperate sound of her breathing to fill the stillness. She turned, trying to catch his attention, to plead with him through her gaze, but Érico didn't even glance her way. His focus remained on the hole, his hands methodically shoveling dirt, as though burying her was simply another task to complete.

"Don't struggle too much, Evangelina," he muttered, barely glancing at her. "It won't make this any easier for you."

The coldness in his voice was a slap to her already racing heart, yet there was something detached in his tone, as if he were talking about an errand rather than ending a life. She fought against the panic threatening to consume her, trying to focus, to stay calm, but each shovelful of dirt reminded her just how close she was to the end.

Her mind raced. There had to be a way out. She couldn't let this be the end—not like this. She remembered the device hidden in her shoe, a small button embedded there as a failsafe, but she couldn't reach it with her hands tied behind her back. She shifted, pressing her feet together, attempting to find a position that would give her leverage. Her fingers strained against the tape, each movement feeling like an eternity.

Érico finally stopped, dropping the shovel beside the pit. He moved toward her, his gaze impassive, and without a word, he lifted her by her shoulders, dragging her closer to the edge of the hole. She wriggled in his grasp, thrashing against him with all her strength, but it was no use.

"Why, Érico?" she managed to murmur, the words barely escaping beneath the tape. Her eyes searched his, desperate for a glimmer of humanity, a hint of the man she had thought he was. But his expression remained indifferent.

"You're nothing but a liability," he replied flatly. "It's best to finish things cleanly."

With a final shove, he pushed her into the pit. Evangelina's body hit the ground with a thud, her shoulder scraping against the dirt wall. She looked up, catching a final glimpse of Érico's silhouette before he disappeared from view, leaving only the faint trickle of dirt as he began shoveling it back over her.

A muffled scream tore from her throat, the sound barely reaching the surface. She twisted in the dirt, kicking and thrashing, but her movements only succeeded in loosening more soil, small clumps falling over her face and shoulders. The weight of the earth pressed down on her, her breaths coming faster as the air grew thick with dust and panic.

Just as she began to lose hope, she heard footsteps—a sharp, rhythmic sound that didn't belong to Érico's steady shoveling. She froze, straining to hear, the frantic beat of her heart almost drowning out the noise. Then, a shot pierced the night, silenced but unmistakable.

Through a haze of fear and exhaustion, she saw Érico's body jerk and fall, his lifeless form collapsing at the edge of the pit before rolling in beside her. She screamed, pressing herself against the dirt wall, her body rigid with terror as his blank eyes stared back at her, unseeing.

"Get her out," a low voice commanded, and she saw the outline of men dressed in black looming above her. Her heart raced, hope flickering to life even as her mind grappled with this new threat. Who were they? Why had they saved her?

A pair of hands reached down, lifting her from the pit with surprising gentleness. As they set her on solid ground, she gasped, her lungs filling with the crisp night air. The man who held her was silent, his face obscured by shadows, but there was a firmness in his grip that grounded her.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, his tone clipped but concerned.

She nodded, her voice barely a whisper beneath the duct tape. He quickly tore it off, and she inhaled sharply as the sting registered. "Thank you," she managed, her voice hoarse, barely able to believe she was free of Érico's grip.

The man studied her, his expression unreadable. "You need to leave. This place is no longer safe for you."

"I... I have nowhere to go," she replied, her voice cracking as the weight of everything crashed down on her. Her body trembled, the adrenaline fading as exhaustion took hold.

He glanced over his shoulder, signaling to one of the other men. "We'll take you somewhere secure," he said, his tone softening slightly. "You don't have to worry anymore."

Another man approached, draping a blanket around her shoulders, and she clutched it tightly, feeling its warmth seep into her chilled skin. She glanced back at the pit, the sight of Érico's body half-buried in the soil a haunting reminder of how close she had come to death. A shiver ran through her, and she forced herself to turn away, focusing instead on the men who had saved her.

As they guided her toward a sleek black car parked in the shadows, Evangelina felt a strange mixture of relief and apprehension. She didn't know who these men were, or why they had intervened, but for the first time in a long while, she felt a glimmer of hope—a chance at freedom.

Before they closed the car door, she looked at the man who had first spoken to her. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

He met her gaze, his eyes piercing and unreadable. "Someone who's been watching over you," he replied. "You're safe now, Evangelina. Trust me."

As the car pulled away from the mansion, she allowed herself to lean back, her eyes drifting shut as exhaustion finally claimed her. For the first time in months, she felt like she could breathe again. But even as she drifted into a restless sleep, she knew that her journey was far from over. Whoever these men were, whatever their motives, she would need every ounce of strength she had to survive the path ahead.