CHAPTER TEWNTY ONE

ALONSO

Usually when someone is kidnapped, they first get knocked out or blindfolded. Thus, Alonso should not be surprised that the Russians did just that. Perhaps, it is the fact that they shipped them half-way across the world that startles him a little.

Then, they shackled them like animals. The two men have a shackle of each leg and wrist and one around their necks. Thankfully, they are left alone.

"It has been a while since I got shackled and tortured." Nicholas says breaking the silence.

"We are not being tortured." Alonso points out as he sits on the floor and leans his back on the wall. His Brazilian friend copies his actions.

"I know, but I have a feeling that we will be."

"At least we can move around a little while having these fuckers on." The Italian mafia boss shakes his hands aggressively for emphasis.

"Yeah." Nicholas hits his head lightly against the wall.

"I think this is karma for not telling my sister that we were leaving. Now, there is a chance that we will never see her again." Alonso gets mad at his friend's words.

"One, you are the one who did not want to tell her about our trip to Greece. Two, do not dare talk like that because the thought…" Alonso chokes on his words.

"The thought of never seeing her again is one I am not willing to accept." A tear parts from his eye as Nicholas gives him a sad smile in return.

"I will never understand how Crystal managed to get you to fall in love with her. Back in the day Lucas and I believed that she is the female version of the joker."

Nicholas tries to hide it, but something happened before they took off to Greece. Now, since they have nothing better to do than talk Alonso decides to ask about it.

"What happened Nick?"

"What do you mean?" Nickolas clears his throat as he avoids Alonso's eyes.

"I mean your entire face twisted when you mentioned Lucas. So, tell me what is wrong?" The Italian man sees Nicholas fight with himself before he eventually starts talking.

"I had a fight with him right before…" Nicholas takes a deep breath as he closes his eyes as if trying to block away the unwanted memories. He does not need to clarify any further; Alonso understands what he means.

"You will get to see him again, and you will have the chance to right things with him."

"I hope so." Alonso is about to talk about something when suddenly they hear a third voice in the underground room they are in.

"Do you hear that boys, the deadly mafia bosses are turning soft. I bet you two would have hugged each other if you were not chained like animals." A man who appears to be in his mid-thirties shows up along with a few other members from the Russian mafia.

Both Alonso and Nicholas look at each other for a few seconds as they share a moment of silence; it is easy to foresee what is about to happen.

The men grab them and place them on two chairs, and they use more chains to lock them to the metal hard and uncomfortable chairs.

"Can I go first?" A blonde man with a wicked smirk asks. He carries a huge hammer in his hands. When all men give their consent, the blonde man walks towards Nicholas with a psychotic smile. Alonso prepares himself mentally for the pain that is to come.

The Italian mafia man forces himself to watch as the hammer makes contact with Nicholas' wrist. He also fights himself so he does not close his eyes at his friend's loud screams when his bones break. Alonso cannot help but feel a little relived that it is him and Nicholas who are getting beaten rather than Crystal. He feels like he might throw up when he imagines one of these men get within ten feet of her.

Nicholas is still screaming when a kitchen knife is stabbed into Alonso's thigh. Despite the pain, the Italian man cannot help but think about how stupid it is to use a kitchen knife as a torture device. The thought leaves his mind when the knife starts to move inside his flesh creating a deep long cut, but it is not deep enough to cause any severe damage.

He manages to only hiss at the pain which turns out to be a huge mistake because one of the men runs out of the room and returns with half a lemon. He gives Alonso an evil smile before he starts squeezing the lemon into the huge cut.

Alonso tries to stop it, but the screams keep coming. He is sure he has not felt a pain like that in years, he has not been kidnapped for years so it is understandable. The last time he got kidnapped was before he even became the leader of the Italian mafia.

Due to the pain, Alonso does not notice when the man stops pouring lemon into his wound, and he definitely does not notice when he and Nicholas are left alone in the dark place tied to metal chairs while being injured.

"Are you okay man?" Nicholas' voice is hoarse, due to the yelling Alonso guesses. He might be in pain, but he is trained to handle such things since he was a little boy, they both are.

"Define 'okay,' besides you are the one whose hand is literally crushed."

"Yeah, but you are the one who has lemon juice inside his flesh… literally." At that Alonso lets out a chuckle. Even though they are in a bad situation, they still manage to be somewhat humorous.

"Yeah, you are right." Alonso's voice is small; tired; he yelled three times more than Nicholas.

"So, how are we going to get out of this one?" Alonso finds himself asking.

"For once, I have no idea. But the fact that the Russians knew we were heading to Greece and to that house in particular means that we were right, the letters are valuable." Alonso wants to be angry because Nicholas' objective from saying all that is to point out that the Russians have the letters. Sadly, he does not even have the energy to even be angry.

"You know, for some reason I am more worried about how we are going to explain everything to Crystal once we manage to get out." Alonso chooses to change the subject. Both of them need to focus on things that will ease their pain and their situation.

"I believe the pain we are feeling right now is nothing compared to what we will feel once she is done with us." Nicholas tries to chuckle, but it sounds more like a sob. Still, Alonso decides to not mention it or ask him about it.

"Do you think our trackers work?" Nicholas asks.

"I think they do, but the question is whether the Russians did something to mess up the signal."

"Great!" Nicholas huffs before he passes out.

It turns out the Russians did mess with the signal; it is the only explanation Alonso finds to make sense. He has lost sense of time, but he believes he and Nicholas have been within the Russians clutches for three days. The one thing he has been asking himself is why the Russians did not come to torture them after that first day. In fact, the next morning a doctor came and tended to their wounds. Luckily, Alonso's wound did not get infected, and Nicholas' bones were not crushed; they were only broken.

All the while, they have not seen Ivan nor Nicholas and Crystal's parents. A part of him feels glad, the other part however; the one that years for answers, disagrees. That part of him wants to confront Ivan so it could learn what he wants. That part wants to know the rules, the motive, and the endgame so he can act.

Alonso's wishes are granted when after three days Ivan walks towards them with a satisfied look on his ugly face.

"To what do we owe this great pleasure?" Nicholas asks with bitter sarcasm.

"Actually Nick, can I call you Nick?" Ivan gives him a fake sincere smile.

"No." Is Nicholas' short stern answer.

"Oh come on, we are all friends here." When neither one of the tied men reply, Ivan continues. Despite longing for answers, Alonso cannot help but want the Russian man to shut up.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I am here to help you." Ivan gets really close to them and he leans his hands on the chairs' arms both Alonso and Nicholas are tied to; a hand on each chair hand.

"Oh, do not give me that look. I am serious. I am here to give you the answers to questions you have been asking yourselves from the very beginning." The Russian mafia boss says when he takes notice of their blank faces.

"Okay, first question. Why do I want your precious Crystal?" At the mention of her name, Alonso attempts to break free from the chains to strangle the man before him. Alas, he does not succeed.

"Leave my sister out of it." Nicholas hisses.

"I cannot do that. You see, your sister is the important piece of the puzzle. Although, rest assured, I do not want her, I want what she has." Alonso can tell that Ivan enjoys himself as he taunts his enemies.

The Italian mafia man knows the question he should ask, but for some reason he cannot force himself to say the words.

"Are you seriously not going to ask? Neither one of you?" Ivan gives them a disappointed look. Alonso turns to Nicholas to find a cold expression on his face.

"I am still going to answer." Ivan pulls away from them, grabs a chair from the corner, and sits right before them.

"The thing she has is information. You see your sister knowing about you notorious life style and you stupidly not knowing about her knowledge actually worked for me." Ivan looks Nicholas in the eye and although it is evident that Nicholas tries to not show it, the Russian man's words affect him.

"You really are enjoying this, aren't you?" The Brazilian man's anger can be detected from miles away.

"Do not get angry now; wait until you hear the best part. Turns out, Crystal has a dirty secret, one that is dirtier than any secret you had kept from her Nick." The use of the nickname is to provoke Nicholas. Luckily, the Brazilian mafia boss does not fall for the trick.

"Turns out, your innocent sister knew all along that your uncle and his son are alive and well."

"You're lying." Alonso is the one who speaks this time. He does not believe it, he refuses to believe it.

"Am I? I mean, your friend does not seem surprised." Ivan gestures at Nicholas who still had a cold expression on his face.

"What are you hinting? that you too knew all along? Or did you at least suspect it?"

"The only think I suspected is that my sister might have huge secrets just like I have mine." Nicholas' voice is unrecognizable. It is as if he regrets being right.

"I am starting to get a little confused here. Are you saying you never trusted your sister?"

"Go to hell." Is Nicholas' only reply.

"Oh, Nick, I think we both know that all three of us will meet there at some point." The Russian mafia boss gives them both a wink before he gets up.

"I am going to leave you two to discuss Crystal's betrayal and all." And he leaves with an even more satisfied look on his face than the one he had when he walked in.

Neither of them speaks, they know that there is a possibility that all of this is a trap to get them to talk, a possibility that there might be someone listening in on their conversation. Hence, they kept quiet, although there were millions of unsaid words hanging in the air.