Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it." -Albus Dumbledore

~~

A morning walk in the woods surrounding Sebastian's house had become a regular routine. The air was cold and fresh. It was a good time to think.

I hadn't talked to Sebastian since yesterday. Since he'd taken me with him and Warren to that warehouse.

The moment we'd gotten home I had practically run to my room. I had sensed that Sebastian had wanted to talk but I had no idea what to say to him. Not after what I'd seen.

I'd seen him kill people.

He'd taken lives so easily, without a second thought.

I was troubled.

Not because I had seen the man I had feelings for murder in cold blood but because I wasn't as bothered by it as I should have been.

What was wrong with me?

Had my feelings for him blurred my sense of right and wrong?

I sighed and finally took notice of my surroundings.

It dawned upon me that I had been so preoccupied with my thoughts that I hadn't even realized that I'd drifted further away from the house than I usually did.

I was just about to turn back when I suddenly felt a light pressure on my neck. I didn't even have time to react when a cloth was pressed to my face.

Everything faded into blackness.

~~

The minute I woke up I knew something wasn't right.

All I could see was darkness and when I tried to scream it came out muffled.

Something covered my eyes and there was a gag over my mouth. My hands and feet were tied together at the wrists and ankles.

The floor beneath me hummed and vibrated and took me a moment to realize that I was in the back of a moving vehicle, most likely a van considering the space.

My heart thudded wildly in my chest as dread made my insides tighten.

The vehicle suddenly lurched to a stop. I heard the door open. A hand grabbed my bound ankles and dragged me forward. I tried to struggle, twisting and bucking, but it was of no use. Whoever my captor was they were strong.

I felt myself being hoisted over someone's shoulder, I tried to scream but the dammed gag muffled the sound again.

They carried me for a while, and another door unlocked. My body was suddenly dumped on what felt like a wooden chair.

Something cold and metal pressed against my temple. My heart stilled when I realized it was actually the barrel of a gun.

"If you move. I will kill you." A raspy voice hissed in my ear. It belonged to a man.

My chest tightened in fear. I nodded.

He untied my hands first but they didn't stay free for long, he swiftly tied them to the arms of the chair. He did the same with my feet, tightly securing them to the chair as well.

The blindfold was yanked down from my eyes. I blinked a few times, my eyes getting used to the sudden brightness.

My gaze finally focused on the man.

He was huge and he had on a black hoodie with the hood drawn over his head, he wore a black ski mask under the hood, completely concealing his face.

I took in my surroundings. The room was dark, with only one small window which had metal bars. The door was at the opposite end of the room.

"I am going to remove the gag. If you make a sound I will hurt you." He spoke again in the same rough voice.

I gave him a slow nod.

He removed the cloth that had been shoved inside my mouth. I coughed. My mouth and throat felt like sandpaper.

"I will ask you a few questions, if you fail to answer or if you lie to me there will be dire consequences, do you understand?" He thrust my chin up with the nozzle of his gun.

"I understand," I said, trying to keep my voice as even as possible.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"My name is Angelica Hale," I answered.

The gun pressed tighter against my skin. "Are you lying?"

"No." I hissed.

He paused for a moment probably contemplating whether or not to trust me. Suddenly he stepped away from me and tucked the gun into his pants.

"Tell me about the man you've been living with, Angelica."

A chill ran up my spine as realization sunk in.

He wanted to know about Sebastian.

"Who?" I decided to play dumb.

"You know who." He growled.

"I live alone," I spoke evenly.

His fingers wrapped around my hair as he yanked my head back painfully.

"I warned you about lying." He hissed.

Something cold and sharp pressed just below my jaw. This time it wasn't a gun but a blade.

I swallowed nervously.

He trailed the tip of the blade from my jaw to my shoulder.

"I will ask you again. What is the name of the man you live with?" The blade pushed into the flesh of my shoulder, enough to cause pain but not break the skin.

"Vincent!" I cried. "His name is Vincent! He's my cousin and he doesn't live with me, in fact, he rarely even visits-"  I screamed as I felt the blade puncture my flesh. I felt the blood trickling down my shoulder from where he had sliced my skin.

"His name is Sebastian Alfonsi." The man growled. "And if you start telling me the truth and give me the information I want, I will let you live."

I gritted my teeth as the searing pain in my shoulders intensified.

"Who does he work with?" The man's voice boomed.

"Tell me what he looks like." He tried again.

I clenched my jaw and remained silent.

When I didn't give him an answer he picked the gun back up from the table and slowly aimed it at me.

"Very well, since you're not willing to cooperate. I guess I will just kill you right here."

I remained silent.

"I will count to three. If you don't answer my questions, I will shoot." He hissed.

"1. . ."

My hands clenched and my breathing became ragged.

"2. . ."

His finger flexed against the trigger.

"Wait!" I shouted.

His finger moved away from the trigger but the gun remained pointed in my direction.

"The truth is, I don't know anything about Sebastian besides his name," I whispered.

He chuckled coldly. "Well that's too bad, you're of no use to me then. I'll have to kill you anyway."

"What I'm trying to say-" I licked my lips nervously "is that I don't know anything about who he is or what he does but I do know where he lives. If I take you to him you can ask him these questions yourself."

He remained silent for a moment but finally, his gun lowered.

"You will take me to Sebastian Alfonsi?"

"Yes. I know how to reach him." I swallowed.

He gave me a stiff nod.

He started to untie me. I waited silently as he worked on my bindings.

As soon as he was done I made my move. My foot came up hard against his groin making him double over in pain.

Without a second to spare o made a run for it. I sprinted to the door.

My hand grabbed the handle desperately as I tried to turn it but it didn't budge. It was locked.

Shit!

I screamed when his hand grabbed my hair and threw me to the floor. The pain in my shoulder made me cry out. The man's huge body straddled me. His hands squeezed my neck.

I stopped struggling, I realized it was no use. I had no chance of escaping.

"Just kill me and get it over with." I snarled. "I'm not telling you anything."

His hand on my neck suddenly stilled.

I watched in shock as he slowly lifted off me.

And then he pulled back his hood and took off the ski-mask.

My mouth fell open.

"Warren?" I sputtered in disbelief.

~~

I winced as I pressed the cloth over the wound on my shoulder. The pain had subsided a little.

"Allow me to apologize once again," Warren spoke up.

I gave him a scowl.

"I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't absolutely necessary." He said calmly making my scowl deepen.

"Did Sebastian know about this?" I hissed.

He studied me for a moment.

"No." He finally answered.

My body relaxed a little. I had been dreading his answer. It gave me a little comfort to know that at least Sebastian wasn't involved in this.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked, my eyes narrowed at him.

"I will answer your questions. But you will have to answer mine first." His voice was stiff.

I raised my chin in defiance.

He sighed. "Please cooperate. I do not enjoy doing this but you need to answer my questions. The sooner you answer, the sooner this will be over." He paused. "Would it make you feel better if I told you that this is for Sebastian's safety?"

My resolve started to waver.

"What do you want to know?" I finally gritted out.

His head tilted to the side.

"What are you doing here, in Italy?"

I swallowed.

"My mother is originally from here, she fled to America with me when I was a child. The man she got married to, my step-father was abusive. So when my mother died I ran. There was nothing left for me there. I came to Italy because my mother used to speak so fondly of it. She was happy here." I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe I was hoping I would find some happiness here myself," I whispered the last words but I knew he heard me.

Warren's gaze on me softened a little.

"Did you know Sebastian before you met him?"

I blanched.

"No of course not!"

He studied my face for a moment before finally nodding.

"This is my last question." He said quietly.

I nodded, eager to get this over with.

His eyes studied my face.

"Why are you still here?" He asked a little harshly.

I flinched.

Warren gave me a weary look. "Why are you still here, Angelica?" He repeated. "You said that you were staying to help Sebastian around the house because of his injury but his shoulder healed completely more than a week ago and you're still here, living in his house. Why?"

I clenched my jaw, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Answer me." Warren's voice was hard, "are you using him? Are you emotionally manipulating him so that you have a roof over your head and food in your stomach? Or are you working with one of his enemies, getting close to him to get information, plotting his death behind h-"

"I have feelings for him!" I yelled in frustration.

I could feel tears of embarrassment and frustration stinging my eyes. "I have feelings for him, okay? That's why I haven't left. He is the only person left on this earth who I care for. I can't bring myself to leave."

His expression remained blank as he studied my face for a few tense moments.

"Thank you for being honest," Warren said quietly as he got up.

He offered me his hand. "Let's go."

~~

We drove in uncomfortable silence.

"I already called Sebastian. Told him we were on our way." Warren said stiffly.

I gave him a nod.

"Take my advice and leave while you still can, piccola." Warren's gaze was trained ahead as he spoke to me. "He is not good for you and you are not good for him. Whatever this is between the two of you, it will not have a happy ending."

I wanted to tell him to shut up, that he had no idea what he was talking about, but I didn't because in my heart I knew he was right. I knew this time the pain he was causing me wasn't intentional.

As we reached the house I could see Sebastian already standing in the driveway.

The car hadn't even stopped when he jogged over and flung the passenger side door open to get to me.

"I thought you were gone. I thought I lost you." His voice was hoarse.

He practically lifted me out of the car, his arms squeezing me hard, making me yelp as pain shot up my shoulder.

He let go of me in an instant. His eyes zeroed on my shoulder and his eyes darkened. "What happened?" His voice was strained.

Before I could say anything Warren spoke up.

"Her loyalty needed to be tested."

Sebastian's whole body stiffened. His jaw clenched.

"What did you do?" He practically growled.

He lunged for Warren. Grabbing the man by the throat and thrusting him against the car.

"I specifically told you not to." Sebastian hissed, getting in Warren's face.

Warren didn't even look surprised, he just looked at Sebastian warily.

"And I listened to you, up until you started taking her with you while you carried out tasks for the family. She could be a spy, she could be playing you."

Sebastian's hand tightened around his throat.

"Did Lorenzo put you up to this?" Sebastian demanded.

"Yes, but I wouldn't have done it if I thought it wasn't necessary." Warren scowled. "You know it had to be done. You cannot afford leniency in the world you live in."

Sebastian's whole body was shaking with anger.

"You defied my orders. You hurt her. I will kill you." His voice hardened.

"The target recognized her. Was I just supposed to let that slide?" Warren grunted.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "And I told you that Angelica didn't know him. He was trying to mess with our heads. He was trying to confuse us and it worked."

Warren's jaw hardened and his eyes flicked towards me for a brief moment.

"A man tried to break into the house last night," Warren spoke quietly but I heard him.

A chill raced down my spine.

"What?" Sebastian demanded, finally loosening his hold.

"A man tried to break into your house last night. He had a weapon. I managed to stop him. When I got him to talk he told me that he had come for the girl."

My eyes widened in shock.

"I swear to God. I had nothing to do with this Sebastian!" My voice was desperate.

Sebastian's head tilted in my direction, his eyes gentled. "I believe you, tesoro."

"Trust has to be earned. You cannot afford to be driven by your emotions, Sebastian." Warren's lips drew into a wry smile. "She chose death over betraying you. Now she has my trust too."

Sebastian didn't say a word. He walked towards me, taking slow deliberate steps. When he reached me, he just lifted me in his arms like I weighed nothing and carried me inside the house.

He gently placed me on the living room sofa and disappeared down the hallway, returning a few seconds later with a bottle of antiseptic spray and a bandage.

His fingers were gentle as he dragged the sleeve of my shirt down my shoulder to completely expose it. He silently tended to the wound.

"You know what this means." Warren's voice suddenly called out.

"I do." Sebastian responded not bothering to look at him. "Now get out."

Warren rolled his eyes. "I will make arrangements at the other safe house for you two."

"What does this mean?" I finally managed to speak.

When Sebastian looked at me his expression was tortured.

"It means that this house is not safe anymore. We have to go somewhere else."

I gasped. "But you love this house."

He grasped my hand and brought my fingers to his lips.

"It is just a house, bella."

His eyes saddened.

"This also means that my enemies know about you. They know that you are important to me. They know that if they hurt you they will be hurting me. They want to use you to get to me."

His fingers caressed my cheeks affectionately.

My breath hitched.

"I am so sorry, Angelica. This means that you are in danger because of me."

Maybe I should have been worried, or scared. But I wasn't.

The only thing I could think about was how close he was.

How his fingers were caressing my face.

"I almost forgot how agonizing it is." Sebastian suddenly murmured his voice mournful.

"What is?" I whispered.

His forehead came to rest against mine, our noses brushing.

"The fear of losing something that means everything to you."