CHAPTER 92: SILAS

Valerio smacked her hard across the face, shoving her.

"Dammit!" He looked at his hand, hissing at the blood that had begun building.

Evelyn was downright glaring at him now. "Don’t you dare touch me! I’m not going anywhere with you!"

"Is that so?" Valerio scoffed. "I was really trying to be so nice to you, but now you’ve pissed me off."

He snatched her by the throat and glared into her face. "Evelyn, if you don’t want me to break you, you better behave yourself. Beautiful thing like you, I don’t think you want me to disfigure this face of yours. After all, if I do, you think Zayne Mancini will still like you?"

Evelyn swallowed, breathing heavily.

"There, that’s the look I’m looking for. Your fear, yes, that’s the look you should have on your face. Don’t try to be tough with me. It’s not going to work."

He burst into laughter, snatching her hands to tie them. But Evelyn pulled away from him. "You think if I look horrid, he’s going to like me any less?"

She broke into bubbles of laughter, shaking her head. "Zayne Mancini isn’t the kind of man you are, Valerio. I may not have proof, nor a guarantee, but I’d like to think he’s a man who wouldn’t see me any less just because I’m not as pretty anymore."

He blinked at her. His left eye twitched, hands balled into fists and he snatched her hair, yanking her closer.

He leaned in until he could whisper. "Keep running your mouth, sweetie. I’d like to see how you will take it when I have a bullet lodged through his head."

"Don’t you dare!"

"Then, shut the fuck up!"

He gripped her jaw. "I have more men than you can count in this mansion and I’m going to keep sending them after him. Now, if you want Zayne Mancini alive, you better cooperate with me and keep quiet. I don’t really need him dead, but if you try to act any more stubborn than you already have, I’m gonna have him killed and let you watch him bleed out on the lower ground two."

"Now, what do you say? Surely, you wouldn’t like to see the man you love die, hm?"

Evelyn shuddered.

Valerio wasn’t a man to joke with his words. And who was Zayne against so many men? They would kill him. They could kill him, and he could die before help would even come.

She dragged a deep breath. "If I go willingly, will you stop?"

"What do you think?"

"Answer me!" she snapped at him. "If I go with you, will you stop your men?"

Valerio grinned at her. "Sweetheart, I’m a man of my word. Come with me and Zayne Mancini walks out of here alive."

"Okay. Then I’ll go with you. Just don’t...hurt him."

"I love when we’re so understanding of each other like this. See? Peace has been made." He cackled as he tied up her hands.

He stood up, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her up, lifting her off the bed to throw her over his shoulder.

"Keep your head down sweetie, we’re about to walk through the door. Can’t have you hitting your head on something now. It hurts me when you’re hurt. Even when you force me to hurt you."

They walked down the empty dark hallway until they arrived at a door where Valerio stopped. He pressed his palm against the door and it proceeded to read his palm print.

Evelyn stared up ahead. How could Zayne be so close to her, yet so far away?

If she weren’t afraid he would die, she’d probably be in his arms by now. She’d probably be out of this nightmare by now.

But what would be the point? Nothing would be worse than watching the man she loved die. She couldn’t take it.

It would break her if anything happened to him.

So, she bit down on her lip, muffling the urge to scream out for him. The wetness in her eyes broke, still she allowed Valerio to take her away, the door closing shut behind.

"Silas? Is he dead?"

[No, not yet, sir. There are two of them, but the other person is injured]

"Zayne Mancini?"

Evelyn’s ear quirked up at the sound of his name.

[No, sir. The other person who came with him]

"Well, tell our men to stop. I don’t want him dead, as I have to keep to a promise. I’m almost in the helicopter. No need to waste your time with them. It’ll be too late when they find out I’m no longer in the mansion."

[Yes, sir]

He hung up.

The sound of the helicopter was far too loud and the closer Valerio got to it, the louder it grew. He put her in the back seat and locked her seat belt. Then he took over next to the pilot, glancing over to Evelyn.

"Sit tight, sweetheart. This will be a fun ride."

.....

Zayne suddenly paused.

Some of the men were...willingly dropping their weapons and even stepping back like they didn’t even want to fight anymore.

Yeah, he may have had no choice but to kill some, but most of them, he’d only just knocked them out as his only target was Valerio.

What was going on?

Something was strange.

"Alessio—"

[Wait, you guys need to stop]

"What’s going on?" Zayne asked, breathing heavily.

[Valerio is not in the mansion anymore. And so is Evelyn]

"What do you mean?"

[The CCTV camera. He’s taking her away. But the strange thing is that she’s going willingly with him. She’s not fighting him]

"That’s impossible! Evelyn wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t—"

[Get back up, Zayne! Get back up and find your way to the back. He’s heading toward the helicopter at the back. We can’t miss him. We can’t or it’d be hard to find him again!]

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Are you kidding me?!"

Zayne rushed back up the stairs, getting back to the foyer for the exit door. But then came another man.

Silas.

He stood in front of the door, smirking. "I’m sorry, but you can’t pass."

[Zayne... Zayne, what’s going on?]

Every bit of expression on Zayne’s face dropped, the temperature within the room dropping by a dozen degrees.

"Get out of my way."