CHAPTER THREE: The True Reason. 

AURELIA'S POV: 

Someone takes off the hood covering my face and I barely get a glimpse of the men surrounding me before a rag is placed against my nose, the sweet scent of chloroform invading my senses. 

My eyes drift close and no matter how much I try to keep them open, I know I'm fighting a losing battle. A serene feeling washes over me and I can't help but wish for death if death was as peaceful as this. 

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ALESSANDRO'S POV: 

I glare at the still form belonging to the girl we had picked off the road due to her association with my wife's disappearance. 

"What amount of chloroform was poured into the rag?" I ask in a hard tone, barely taking my eyes off the girl. My heart rate increases as I remember the immense fear I found in her eyes as she stared back at me. The color of her eyes were indeed the same from up close. 

"If I didn't know better I would say you actually cared for the girl." Aldo responds in a grim tone as he sits up straighter in his chair. 

"She holds the key to my wife's disappearance, so of course I care that she lives." I say through gritted teeth. 

"She will survive, Alessandro. What you should be worried about are the Irish." Aldo says in a flat tone. 

"What do those uncouth mother fuckers want from me?" I ask in a harsh, rumbling tone as I turn my eyes back to the girl on the floor of the van. 

Her head shifts to an unnatural angle when the vehicle hits a nasty bump. I squeeze my fingers tight into a fist when I find myself almost reaching out to straighten her prone form. 

"Same old. They are looking for a shared ownership of the Santino estates at the borders of the city." Aldo responds in a miffed tone. 

"We could work something out if they reach out to us for a meeting." I say in a tired tone. 

"That would be impossible, considering they have teamed up with the Carlo's, who are looking for ways to make you pay for their daughter's disappearance." Aldo says in a matter of fact tone. "They refuse to listen to reason." He continues. 

"Tell them to give me more time and I will give them something substantial. However, if they choose to attack me or any of my men, I will take that as a betrayal and I would treat them accordingly." I say in a harsh tone, glaring at no one in particular. 

"You can't fault them, Alessandro. Their daughter, who is your wife, is missing." Aldo responds as he takes out a burner phone from his pocket. 

"I loved her, Aldo. I have no hand in her disappearance." I admit quietly, grimacing at my pitiful tone. 

"Tell that to her family." Aldo says pointedly. 

"I will tell them that myself. Do not let it out that we have a suspect." I say to Aldo, glancing briefly at him. 

"What if she has no hand in it? What would you do with her?" Aldo asks, as always, being the voice of reason. 

"I will deal with that when the time comes." I respond in a quiet tone. 

I wish I could say I would let her return to her former life, but that would be impossible. I would dispose of her when the time comes.

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AURELIA'S POV: 

I groan in pain as my head lolls from side to side. My mouth feels as though it is filled with foam and my eyes feel like blocks are covering them. 

It takes me a minute to recall the fact that I wasn't in my own bed and that I was in fact kidnapped by some strange men in black. 

I go still, hoping beyond all measures that no one had noticed that I was awake. I try to steady myself when I hear footsteps drawing closer to me. 

I feel the harsh breath of the person who is currently peering down at me on my cheeks and it takes everything in me not to move. 

"I know you are awake." A hard voice says, causing my eyes to pop open in fright. 

I don't have a chance to say any other thing in response as I notice my surroundings. I was in a goddamned plane! 

"Where the hell are you taking me to?!" I ask in an alarmed but throaty voice, caused by my immense thirst for water. 

"You are in no position to ask any questions." The person standing close to me says as he takes a step back from me. 

"I think I do, considering I'm bound up like a human sacrifice!" I say through gritted teeth. 

The man gives me a hard glare before taking a step away from me, not entertaining my questions even for a minute. 

I take a cursive look at my surroundings and I still in shock when my eyes land on the man who steps out of the back of the plane. 

He is none other than the infamous Alessandro Santino. I don't know why I'm shocked, I should have believed Olivia when she told me that I wouldn't be let off the hook that easily. 

My mind is curiously blank as I take stock of the large figure heading towards me. He was by far the most beautiful man I have ever set my eyes on. His brown eyes pull me in and keep me captive, releasing me only when he takes his eyes off me momentarily. 

"Why are you doing this? Is it because of what happened earlier? I told you that it wasn't my fault. I was being harassed by one of the guests!" I say angrily as I try to plead my case. 

He scoffs at me in response, barely glancing my way as he takes a seat opposite me. "Do you think I'm that petty?" 

My brows furrow in confusion as I take cognizance of his light tone. Is he messing with me? Or is he serious?

"Then what am I doing here?" I demand angrily, unwilling to play his stupid game. 

"You will know soon enough, piccola ragazza." Little girl. The man standing close to me says in an annoying tone, that has me resisting the urge to correct his stupid term of endearment. I am by no means little.

"Fine. I want to use the toilet." I say while rolling my eyes at them, formulating a hasty plan in my head. 

"Lose her, Aldo." Alessandro says in a tone that leaves shivers down my arms, while also staring at me intensely. 

I avert my eyes from his and lean farther back into the chair as the man whose name I know as Aldo takes out a switchblade from his pocket and starts working on the ropes binding my wrists. 

I scuffle towards the back of the plane, trying my best to get rid of the pressure that is Aldo's large palm on my back. 

I step into the stall and move to shut the door when Aldo places a large palm on the door, gently shaking his head. 

"Are you really going to stand there and watch me go?" I ask in an incredulous tone as my eyes widen in shock. 

"Don't flatter yourself ragazza, I'm only doing my job." Also says with a sneer that has me heating in anger. 

"How the hell am I going to escape from a moving plane?" I ask in a shocked but annoyed tone.

"If you've changed your mind, I don't mind tying you up once more." Aldo says with a flat expression on his face. 

I grit my teeth in anger as I inconspicuously lower my skirt and settle on the toilet seat. Aldo turns his back on me and I breathe a little easier. 

I was never pressed, I just wanted a little moment of reprieve from the intense figures surrounding me. My fingers fly to the toilet lid and I poke at the screw securing it to the toilet. 

I gently unscrew it, working harder to keep my breathing at a normal pace so as not to alert Aldo. As I stare at the corded muscles on Aldo's back, I almost have a change of heart. 

The man could kill me with one well placed punch. I steel myself against the thought as I right my skirt. 

"Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh!" I scream as I hit the lid as hard as I can on his back. 

The lid breaks in half and Aldo crouches down, groaning in pain. I push past him and attempt to run off when his hands latch onto my ankles, pulling me down with him. 

"Let me go, you fucker!" I scream as my hands and legs go flying everywhere, not caring where I hit. 

"You are going to pay for that stunt." Aldo says in a growly tone that has me shivering in fear. 

I spit at his eyes, happy when he goes momentarily blind. I knee him in the groin area and rush out front under him, leaving him a groaning mess, as he rolls around in pain on the floor. 

I rush out towards the main area in the plane when a hand shoots out and lifts me off the floor, slamming me into the wall. 

"Settle the fuck down!" Alessandro says in a hard tone as his fingers go to my neck, squeezing the life out of me. 

"Not— not until you tell me why you took me!" I manage to choke out as Alessandro's hand tightens infinitesimally around my neck. 

"Do you really want to know?" Alessandro asks with a sneer that has me reconsidering my choices. 

"Fine. You are going to lead me to my wife. You obviously had a hand in her disappearance and you are going to take me to her." Alessandro says through gritted teeth with a crazed expression on his face. 

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't even know who your wife is!" I say in an outraged tone as I try to dislodge his grip on my neck.

"I don't care the lengths I have to go." Alessandro says, shaking his head lightly. 

"And you will find nothing! Because I had nothing to do with her disappearance. I don't even know who she is!" I say angrily as I fall to the ground when Alessandro finally lets go of my neck. 

"I don't care what I have to do, Aurelia. I'm going to extract the truth from you and you will pay for your sins." Alessandro says, sounding and looking like the vengeful god that he is. 

My heart rate increases as I realize that my life is in the hands of this man. I just hope I'm still alive by the time he finds the truth.