We had to spend another day at the hospital. Now, we were in the parking lot, sitting on a bench. The cold evening air hit us sharply. 

His words lingered in my mind, "Welcome to our world," they were cold and chilling. 

I sighed, and he took a sip of water from his bottle, leaning his hand on his thigh. There was a brief silence.

 Suddenly, he broke the silence, "You're coming home with me-"

 "No,"

 "Yes," 

I looked at him seriously, "No." 

He looked at me seriously, "Since when do you get to argue?"

 I raised my eyebrows, "I decide for myself." 

He scoffed and stood up, lifting me from the bench onto his shoulder. 

I hit his back, "Put me down!"

 But he said nothing, opened the car door on the passenger side, and let me slump inside. 

I tried to open my car door, but it wouldn't budge. 

He got in and said calmly, "You can try to open it, but it won't do you any good." 

I looked at him annoyed and slumped back in the seat like a child. The drive passed quickly because we didn't talk. We drove through a gate, and he parked, opening my door. He held out his hand, but I didn't take it, getting out on my own. 

He turned me by the arm to face him, "I don't care what you think of me, Sofia. This is who I am, and I'm not going to change." 

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and I shook my arm free from his grip, "I didn't expect you to."

I am a liar I expected it.I don't know what was happening to me. My conscience was in turmoil. Should I tell him right away, "Dante, I'm a spy, and I've been using you"? How would he react? Would he even believe me? He's at least honest with me, but what am I doing? I'm getting closer to him emotionally, but for what? So that I can handcuff him in the end and testify against him in court? It pained me in my heart. 

I looked away and only now noticed that the parking area was surrounded by their villa, surrounded by a beautiful garden. There were quite a few guards around. He walked ahead of me to the door and opened it. The villa was huge from the outside, two stories, rectangular. The upper left half had giant windows, but you couldn't see inside.

I was overwhelmed by the interior design. Hanging from the ceiling, which felt like it was about 25 meters away from me, was a grand chandelier adorned with elegantly crafted crystals. The hallway was spacious, with a spiral staircase leading upwards, covered in high-quality white carpet. The floor was adorned with glossy marble tiles, and in the center of the room stood a massive round table with a large vase containing an extravagant bouquet of flowers. The woman, who appeared frail but had gentle features, her hair completely gray from age, her face partially scarred, was dressed in a long black skirt and a turtleneck sweater, tending to the vase. 

She looked at Dante in astonishment, "My son, you're finally back!"

 My mouth hung open. I couldn't think clearly for a moment. It was his mother. I was shocked that after all this time, after the police and FBI had been searching for them, they were right here. 

Dante shielded me from her view, stepping aside and gesturing to himself, "I've brought someone else with me." 

His mother was so shocked that she covered her mouth with her hands, took a step back, and exclaimed in disbelief, "A woman!" 

I smiled gently at her and chuckled at her reaction. Another voice, somewhat younger, chimed in from a distance. The voice sounded confused and shocked as it approached closer, eventually running into the hallway.

 She leaned against the doorframe, "DANTE AND A WOMAN?" 

I looked at him, bewildered, as I didn't know who she was. 

She was likely around my height, slender, with the same facial features as Dante's mother.

He sighed and said to me, "Allow me to introduce my mother, and this is my annoying sister, Elena." 

How foolish of me not to notice the striking resemblance; one could even say she was much prettier than Dante. She had long, smooth brown hair, beautiful brown siren eyes, perfect heart-shaped lips, a slender body, and a tan. She was wearing a hoodie with shorts.

 She ran to me, taking my hand and exclaimed in shock, "Are you the one he—" he pinched her on the upper arm before she could finish her sentence, and she winced, pulling her arm back and stepping on his foot. 

The mother sighed and massaged her temple with one hand, "That's enough."

 They both stopped, and I couldn't help but grin at their sibling love. 

Elena took my hand again and said with sparkling eyes, "I'm Elena! I'm 31 years old, a big fan of van Gogh, and you know what? I love anime and nature. Did you know that the so-called yin-yang fish can't be together, or else they'll kill each other? OMG, did you know that—"

 Dante reached irritably for her hoodie, "that's enough." 

She pouted and looked at me, "Sorry, haven't talked to another human in a while."

 I laughed and took her hand this time, "Nice to meet you, Elena. I'm Sofia." 

She smirked at Dante, "I like her."

 He raised his eyebrows and let go of her hood.

 I then went to his mother and hugged her, and she hugged me back, "Welcome, my child." 

I said with a twinge of guilt but smiling, "Thank you." 

I let go of her, and Elena pulled me by the hand, so I had to move faster, but my hip hurt momentarily, and I had to stop and hold my hip in pain. 

Dante sounded concerned from behind and came to me, "Elena, watch out, she's injured!"

 He put an arm on my back and the other on my arm for support. I straightened up again. 

Elena looked at me apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sofia, I didn't know."

 I shook my head, "No, it's okay."

 Dante turned me around and said to both of them, "I'll take her to her room first; she needs to rest." 

His mother sounded worried, "Do you need anything, Sofia?" And in that moment I missed my own mom. 

 I shook my head and smiled at her, "No, thank you." 

Dante helped me up the stairs carefully, and we arrived upstairs. Once again, I was amazed by the beauty of this villa. Upstairs, there were about eight rooms. He led me down the hall, then to the left, to a narrow corridor, and then opened the door to a room and brought me to the bed. I lay down carefully.

 "Elena's room is at the beginning in case you need anything, or better yet, just call me," he turned around and was about to leave. 

I reached for his hand, "Thank you." 

"Not for that, Sofia." And he left. 

The room was as large as my living room back home. It had a balcony with white curtains, a huge wardrobe to the left of the door, the floor adorned with glossy marble tiles, and my bed was a queen-sized one. I sat on the bed and reached into my jacket pocket where my work phone and the phone I received for the operation were. I looked at both phones. If I don't report to the boss soon, he'll call, and I'll have to answer. I should just get it over with now. I took my work phone and dialed his number. Carefully, I stood up and went to the balcony door, stepping outside. The cold evening air made me shiver.

 It took a moment, but he picked up, "Rose?!" 

"Sorry, boss, for the delayed report."

 He sounded frantic, "Damn it, Rose, you can't stay quiet for so long; I've been having all sorts of thoughts!"

 I looked up at the pitch-black sky with stars, "There was an incident with James." 

He sounded confused, "With James?"

 I sighed, "He joined the Mafia Cartel Hunter and kidnapped me. He lured Dante and tried to kill me; he even stabbed me." 

There was a brief silence, "No, that can't be true..."

 "Unfortunately, boss, and now he seems to have managed to leave the country." 

"I'll immediately put him on the worldwide wanted list, don't worry about that."

 I smiled at the pitch-black sky, "Thank you."

 "But where are you now?" 

I swallowed hard. Should I tell him I'm at Dante's private residence? If I do that, he'll ask for the address, and I'll have to find evidence against him, and he'll send a group from the Swat Team, and that'll be the end of me and Dante. If I lie to him now, I'm betraying the country.

 I wrapped my hand around the railing and held it tightly, biting my lip and squinting my eyes thoughtfully.

 "Rose, are you still there?" 

My heart started racing faster, and I put my hand to my chest, "I'm at my own home; I've already been treated." 

"Oh, okay, that's good then."

 Tears welled up in my eyes. I lied. I covered my mouth. 

"Have you found any evidence against him yet?" 

I took a few deep breaths, "No, unfortunately not. I'm even working in his cartel and haven't found anything. He still doesn't fully trust me." 

Another lie; I had found so much evidence against Dante to arrest him. I wanted to throw my phone off the balcony.

 "Ah, damn it, but don't give up; I trust you, Rose!"

I whispered then intentionally into the phone, "Boss, I have to hang up now," and ended the call. 

I suppressed the loud scream I wanted to let out. The scream of desperation. The scream of inner turmoil. 

I went back inside and threw the phone on the bed, looking at myself in the mirror, touching my reflection, and talking to myself, "Am I now a traitor to my country?"