Chapter 3

My head hurts a lot. My eyes stinging. It hurts my ears.

A strange smell fills my nose and gives me a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. A mix of gasoline and dirt that made me feel sick to my stomach.

When I hear a deep laugh that sounds like it came from behind me, I am immediately on high alert and my eyes are wide open. Not until then do I realize I'm no longer at home.

I don't really know where I am, to be honest. In front of me is a dark grey wall, and to my right is a small window that lets in a little bit of light.

When I look up, I have to squint to see the bright light hanging above my head. What the heck am I doing?

When I look down to see my hands, I see that they are tied behind my back. My body is filled with fear and adrenaline, and I pull hard on whatever is holding my hands together, but they won't move.

"It's high time that you joined us." I turn my head from left to right to see who is talking to me.

"What did you do to me?" I keep moving around in the chair, which I think is holding me down. "What do you do? What do I do?"

The man walks around the room and stops in front of me. My eyes widen when I realize that he is one of the men who followed me home.

"Oh so many questions." He mockingly groans and throws his head back as he walks slowly toward me with his hands in his pockets.

His voice has a strong accent. So, what is it? Italian maybe?

"What a beautiful face." As I move against him, he murmurs as his finger moves over my skin and down to my mouth. "That's a shame."

He pulls on my hair tie, which makes my long blonde hair fall out of it and down around my shoulders. When he puts his hand on my hair and runs his fingers through it, it makes me jump.

Before he moves away from me, he says something under his breath. I let out a shaky breath as I try to pull again on my restraints but realize it won't help. Every time I try to pull, the rope burns my skin and I can feel it getting tighter.

He looks away from me, as if he is looking at someone else behind me. "Tommaso, she wants to take pictures of us." The man makes fun of me while smiling in a cruel way and putting his tattooed hand right up to my face, which makes me feel very uncomfortable. "You like taking pictures, mhm?"

I turn my face to the side to see if that will make him let go of my face, but it doesn't work. He just holds on to me even tighter.

"Look at these blue eyes," he says. "Take a look, Tommaso." As he pushes my head to the side so the other man can see, he continues.

I try to get rid of his strange touch by wriggling against him and making muffled sounds with my mouth and nose.

"Imagine that you're on your knees and these beautiful blue eyes are looking up at me. Now that would be something to see." He goes on, and a smirk starts to form on his lips.

"Leave me alone." I snap as I quickly move my head back.

He looks at me with narrowed eyes, stands up straight, and laughs. "So there you go. I knew you had that kind of sass somewhere."

This man feels bad.

He looks up at the ceiling, rolls his lips together, and then puts his hand in his pocket. I watch as he bends down again in front of me and pulls out his phone. He then unlocks it.

"You'd like to take photos?" He snaps as he puts his hand on my jaw and squeezes. "Then let's fucking take some pictures."

He puts his phone on the table in front of us and turns the camera on. I can see us on the screen.

"Cheese!" He makes fun of us while taking a few pictures of us. His fingers are so tight around my jaw that the pressure of my teeth against the inside of my cheeks makes me almost taste blood in my mouth.

After another second, he moves away from me and pushes my head to the side as he laughs to himself.

"Don't hook up with them later, you sick fuck." I think the other man's name is Tommaso. He says something, but the man in front of me doesn't respond. Instead, he laughs to himself as he flips through the photos and adjusts the front of his pants as if to make a point.

He puts his phone back in his pocket and crosses his arms over his chest. I don't even have to look at him to see that his eyes are following me.

"So, you little b*tch. Why were you photographing us? Are you snooping?" When he snaps, my brows raise.

Is he sure I'm a spy?

If I don't say anything, he grabs my face again and makes me look at him. "Tell me, you little puttana, or I'll kill you right away."

"Enough already!" When I hear a loud voice, I jump back and the man in front of me lets go of my jaw and steps away from me right away.

I don't turn my head to see who just walked in. Instead, I close my eyes and grit my teeth as that man's hand presses on my jaw and makes it hurt.

Even though I'm not looking, it's clear that the whole mood of the room has changed, even though I'm not there. It's like the Queen of England just walked in and everyone stopped what they were doing to bow to her.

My eyes slowly open, but I keep them closed because I don't want to look at anyone else.

"Che diavolo sta succedendo qui?" Someone says the same thing, but in a different language, which makes me raise an eyebrow.

What the hell is going on?

"Niente Don, stiamo solo cercando di farla parlare." The man from before answers, and even though I didn't understand what he said, I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was lying.

We're just trying to get her to talk, so don't worry about it.

I can feel the man who just walked into the room moving toward me, and I can eventually see his shoes. His long legs are covered by black pants, but I don't dare look any higher.

"Leave." He tells the man who was making fun of me to stop. He doesn't say anything. Instead, he listens to what is said and then leaves the room right away. "You too Tommaso."

Now, both men leave the room, and the door shuts after them. Two sets of footsteps echo around the room, telling me that the man who just kicked out the other two men isn't the only one in here.

I watch as his shoes come to a stop right in front of me and his hands fall to his sides for a moment. I tilt my head up another inch, just enough to see the rings on his tattooed fingers and the tattoos on his hands.

"What are you called?" He asks, but his voice isn't as heavily accented as the other man's.

"Maria." I tell him quietly, with some hair from my shoulder falling in front of my face.

"Maria, why were you taking photos of us?" He questions.

I don't know, "I did not. Not on purpose, at least."

"But you did." He responds by taking a step toward me. "So, if you took a picture of me doing something illegal that you kept, you would have very strong evidence against me."

My heart is beating so fast in my chest that I'm afraid it will burst. Where am I and who the hell are these men? How did I even get here?

"But I'm sure that a smart and responsible girl like you wouldn't hold that against me now, hm?" He continues in a derisive tone.

I understand exactly what he wants to say. He's telling me in a silly way that I should just forget I took the picture and get rid of it. I'm not stupid.

I shake my head and keep my eyes on the ground as I do what he tells me to do.

"Look at me." He gives me an order, and I don't wait for him to ask me again. Instead, I lift my head carefully and look up at him anxiously.

When I look into his eyes, I feel like I've seen them before. I'm sure I've seen his face somewhere before. Maybe I've just seen him around the city before. New York is a pretty big place, after all.

The dark, thick stubble around his jaw, his jet-black hair, and his dark eyebrows. Long black eyelashes, brown eyes, and tan skin. His His Adam's Apple moves up and down as he looks at me closely, making me feel more and more uncomfortable.

"Why am I bound? What do I do?" I ask him, and he tilts his head just a little and looks down at my arms, which are behind my back.

"I guess I couldn't trust you if I didn't have any limits on you." He only says things.

What am I doing here? I ask, and a lump starts to form in the back of my throat, almost making me lose my voice.

He puts his hand to his chin and runs his fingers over his stubble. "I said so. The camera." He answers.

He stands up and walks back toward the door he came in through. "Wait! Where do you want to go?!" I speak up.

He stops by the door and looks over his shoulder. "To get a drink." He responds. "I think tonight will be a long one."