𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

The Band-aid Comes Off.

(First Edit)

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

Wringing my hands I glanced at my watch for what must've been the tenth time. It's been hours since Valentino left with the guys to go to Atlantic City. We've had no word since they last called and that was over four hours ago.

I thought of calling but decided against it. If they had any news Valentino promised he'd tell me first. Although my anxiety wasn't giving me any reprieve. My mind was in an uproar as my thoughts spiraled, creating different scenarios, each one more horrifying than the last.

"One little monkey jumping on the bed, he fell off and bumped his head. Mamma called the doctor and the doctor said, 'put those monkeys back to bed'." Sabrina finished singing the last stanza of Five Little Monkeys for Gia who was lying peacefully in her arms after having spent the past hour crying.

Glancing up Sabrina saw me sitting by myself and came to sit next to me. "You know, staring at the door and checking your watch every fifteen seconds isn't going to make them come home any faster."

"I know," I murmured. "I'm just so worried. What if they don't find her in Atlantic City? Or what if they do find her and she's..." I couldn't bring myself to finish that sentence. The thought of them finding Adella dead in some cold, damp room was terrifying. I couldn't bear to think about it.

"They're still not back?" Dad asked as he came into the room with Enzo, Riley, Annalise, Dario and Dean who came home a few hours after I did. After combing through the surveillance cameras in and around Chelsea they came up with nothing.

"I hope everything's alright," Sabrina sighed. "Damen usually calls to check in when he's away from home but we haven't heard back from them in so long. I hope nothing's happened to them."

"I'll call and see," Dario volunteered as he dug his phone out of his pocket. Moments later we heard a car pull up and doors opening and slamming. In the next instant Valentino entered the room and I got off the couch to greet him with a hug. But then he walked right past me and went straight upstairs.

"Val? Val what's wrong?" I asked as I watched him go. The next to enter was Damen and I quickly turned to face him. "Damen what's going on? Is everything alright? What happened to Valentino?"
"Fucking Mikel Montoya happened," he said angrily. "That asshole has been toying with us all afternoon."

"What did he do?" Dad wanted to know.
"After we got to Atlantic City we went to see him to show him the ring. But first we had to play houseguest, drinking his Brandy, snorting his coke and laughing at his jokes."

Damen sank down on the armchair and began massaging his temples. "Finally we got to the reason behind our visit. Apparently he got a shipment of girls that morning so he took us to the backroom to see if Adella was among them."

My breath hitched in my throat. "Then what?"
"There were thirty other women there. He trafficked them from Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Colombia."
"Is..is that why Val was so upset when he came in?"
"No. It's because... Mikel raped one of the girls in front of us."

Hearing this my eyes widened in shock. "He raped a girl and Valentino watched?"

Damen nodded and rubbed Gia's foot through her onesie. "He said women needed to be broken before they can be put to use. That they're meant to be tamed, dominated and subdued. He did it to teach us the proper way to handle women who don't obey."

"How typical of Mikel," Dad scoffed. "He always did resort to the most extreme methods to prove a point. He was a loose canon, a rabid dog. It's why Lucas cut him loose. Now he's in Atlantic City and running the show, just like he always wanted."