I sat, terrified, as Francesco Bonano stood in front of me. The last time I'd seen him he had told me to finish the job or that I would regret it. I didn't know if this was what he meant, but I knew I probably wasn't going to come out of this unharmed.

It took me a second to remember how I'd gotten here and my heart ached for what had happened to Giulia. I felt terribly guilty and couldn't help but blame myself. If I hadn't been with her, she'd be alive right now. Stefano would never forgive me for this.

"Alaya, how lovely to see you again." Francesco said with a smile.

"Can we just skip the pleasantries? Why am I here?" I insisted. His nonchalant attitude was making me uneasy and I didn't like the way he was smiling at me. It was almost as if he knew something I didn't.

"No need to be rude." He feigned offense. "You look like a smart girl, Alaya. So tell me, why do you think you're here?"

I felt so vulnerable it was almost laughable. I took a deep breath before speaking again.  "I'm sorry about what happened at that casino." I mumbled. "I-"

"Alaya." He cut me off. "You disappoint me. This has nothing to do with what happened at the casino. Although I will admit, I'm impressed you got out of there alive. You just can't seem to die. You're like a cockroach."

"Then why am I here?" I asked again, pulling against my restraints.

"I wanted to personally congratulate you on your bundle of joy." He said sarcastically. "You're here because an enemy of mine seems to be very fond of you. That same man has taken one of my men, so I've offered him a little deal. You and your child for Luca." He explained casually.

"What?" I asked. "How did... How did you know?"

"A little birdy told me." Francesco said casually. "Portatela!" He ordered.

(Bring her.)

Two men dragged a struggling, crying Diana into the room. "Alaya, I'm so sorry! I didn't think he would do this, he told me you'd be fine! You have to believe me, I-"

"Sta 'zitto!" Francesco yelled, backhanding her.

(Shut up!)

"Diana?" I whimpered, crying. She had asked me where I was going so she could sell me out. She was the reason Francesco had known where to find me. She was the reason Giulia was dead.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Francesco mocked. "Diana was never your friend. Not really, anyway. She was helping Luca the whole time."

"Why?" I whispered, closing my eyes.

Francesco laughed. "Why? Because she loves him! It's funny what people will do for the ones they love. That's why you're here."

"But I'm not even with him anymore! I have nothing to do with any of this, I left him!" I insisted.

"Oh, fiore, don't you get it yet?" Francesco asked. "Just because you left him, it doesn't mean he wouldn't give up everything for you."

"That's the thing!" I screamed, border line hysterical. "He would never put his family ahead of me! You're all the same! You Italians pledge blind loyalty to some stupid family and don't care about anyone else!" If my only hope at being saved was in Stefano, I was doomed. After all, I had just pushed him away for good and gotten his mother killed.

"Maybe you're not family to him, but the life inside of you is." He said with a dark chuckle.

I blanched. "But he doesn't even know!" I tried to take a deep breath and calm myself down, but it was useless. I couldn't help but think that the doctor would disapprove my her inability to avoid stressful situations. "He wouldn't risk his men for me!" I tried to reason with the man.

"Well, then I guess you're screwed aren't you? But don't worry, if he doesn't show, I'm sure I can find a purpose for you." He chuckled darkly. I was beginning to really fear for my life. Francesco was displaying true insanity at a level I'd never witnessed before. I'd never call Stefano insane again if I survived all of this because nothing could compare to the man standing in front of me.

"Please..." I begged, forcing tears back from my eyes. I didn't want to cry but I couldn't help it; I cried when I got angry or frustrated. "You don't have to do this!" I cried.

"Your tears make you weak," was Francesco's only response.

"Francesco, please!" Diana cut in. "You promised you wouldn't hurt her! You told me-"

A gunshot rang out and I screamed as Diana fell to the floor. Francesco's arm was still outstretched, gun pointing to where she was standing just a few seconds ago. "She was getting on my nerves."

I wanted to look away from Diana's lifeless body but I couldn't. She was the reason I was strapped to this chair right now. She was the reason I was in this mess, but it didn't mean she had deserved to die. I took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts.

"Okay, so tell me." I started. "How long are you planning on waiting here, huh? He probably won't even notice I'm missing for a few days and even then, what makes you think he's gonna give a damn?" I tried to reason.

"He already knows you're here."

"How?" I asked.

"I sent him a text with a picture of you attached to it." He shrugged. "I attached the file from your doctors visit today as extra incentive."

I couldn't help but laugh, and I immediately tried to cover it up with a cough. "You sent him a text? You guys have each other's phone numbers?"

"Yes, now I suggest you stop laughing. Everything's about to get a lot more complicated." Francesco said cryptically.

"Why?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"Stefano's here." As soon as the words left Francesco's mouth, all hell broke loose. Francesco's men rushed into the warehouse with guns and took up positions as an explosion destroyed one of the side walls. Through the smoke and fire, men rushed inside and took places opposite of Francesco's men.

Were they seriously going to have a shoot off in an open warehouse with me tied down to a chair, right in the middle? When the last man walked through the fire, my breath caught in my throat. It was Stefano.

I hadn't seen him in days and seeing him only brought a painful yearning and an ache between my legs. He looked composed, his face emotionless, but I could tell he was livid. He caught my eyes and gave me a looking saying I'd really screwed up this time, but I already knew that.

"Francesco!" Stefano yelled.

"Ciao, Stefano. What can I do for you?" He asked mockingly.

"You can give me back my girl. Non mettermi alla prova, vecchio amico." Stefano growled menacingly.

(Don't test me, old friend.)

"Oh, that's funny. I seem to recall having asked you for someone myself, but what did you say again?" Francesco pretended to think for a few seconds. "Oh, right! You told me the next time I'd see Luca was cut up into pieces when you mailed him to my doorstep."

Stefano looked angry as my eyes widened in horror and Francesco laughed at my expression. I feared that that was exactly what Francesco was planning on doing to me. "What's wrong, piccola ragazza? You didn't know just how horrible he was, did you?"

(Little girl.)

"Let her go, Francesco. This is your last warning." Stefano said, his voice sharp like razor blades as he pulled his gun and aimed it at Francesco's head.

"You didn't bring me Luca!" Francesco spat, finally losing his composure. I flinched as he pressed his gun to my head. "Is he alive?"

Stefano shrugged. "Barely."

Francesco's sanity seemed to disappear right then as he grabbed me by the throat. Stefano took a step forward. "If I don't get him by sundown, the next time you see her she'll be in a body bag."

Francesco dragged the chair backwards and immediately all the tension in the room exploded. Men from both sides shot at each other, filling the warehouse with gunshots as Stefano tried to fight his way to me. I was being dragged out by Francesco, and men were holding Stefano back and swinging.

"Untie her from the chair and then tie her up again." He ordered someone I couldn't see. "I don't want her to be able to run away."

A man cut my feet free and I immediately kicked out, causing the man the curse. "I'll fucking stab you in the leg if you don't stop struggling." He threatened, successfully making me stop.

He moved on to my arms, cutting me free before tying them together again. Francesco grabbed me, his arm around my throat and his gun pointed at my head as he made his way towards a door. I drove the heel of my foot into his shin, but he just cursed and lifted me up by my torso, carrying me.

"Stop!" I yelled as he left the warehouse, heading towards a waiting car. "Stop it! Stefano, help!" I screamed desperately. "Stefano!"

I knew that if I made it to the car, I wasn't going to live. If I made it into the car, Francesco would surely kill me. There was no doubt in my mind.

Just before they reached the car, however, Stefano burst through the door. There was a cut on his forehead and his hair was disheveled, but he looked gorgeous. That was all the motivation I needed to kick free.

Francesco dropped me in surprise and pain as I nailed a kick to his groin. I scrambled up and took off towards Stefano, but before I could get there, a gunshot rang out, a blinding pain coming from my side.

All the air seemed to leave my lungs and I gasped for air, falling to my knees. I let out a pained yelp as I looked down at my stomach, watching in horror as a small patch of blood on my shirt grew. I immediately thought of the baby.

"Move one step closer and the next bullet goes through her head!" Francesco yelled, his gun still aimed at me. Stefano stopped a dozen feet from me. "Alaya, come here, and I promise I won't hurt you anymore than I already have." Francesco promised. "All Stefano has to do is give me Luca, and you'll be fine."

Before I had time to react, a police siren interrupted the encounter. Francesco looked from the car to me a few times before leaving me and getting into the car. It raced away before the cops could stop him.

Stefano rushed to me as soon as Francesco left. In the second it took him to wrap his arms around me, I forgave him for everything. There were a lot of things we would need to work through, but the man holding me in his arms was the man I loved and there was no force on this earth that could prevent me from loving him. He had just proved that he would fight through anything to get to me.

"You have to go..." I mumbled weakly. The sirens were getting louder and I didn't want him to get caught. Men were racing out of the warehouse and getting into different cars. Everyone was leaving, but Stefano refused to move.

He ignored me, pulling me to his chest as I trembled. "I'm so sorry, Alaya. I came as soon as I realized you were gone. I'm so, so sorry." He whispered, burying his face in my hair.

"Stefano, your mom..." I choked out.

"I know, it's not your fault." He said with a pained expression. "I'll make that bastard pay."

"Stefano, I-I'm pregnant." I cried, looking down and my bleeding stomach.

"I know, Alaya, I'm so sorry. I should have been here sooner, I should've-" He started.

"It's okay." I cut him off before he could make himself feel anymore guilt than he already did. "I forgive you. But you have to go. Get out of here before they catch you, I'll be fine. They'll take me to a hospital and I'll be fine, but you have to go!" I insisted. Stefano looked conflicted, so I gave him a weak smile.

"Stefano, dobbiamo andare, capo!" Roger yelled, running over to us.

(We have to go, boss.)

"Please, go." I insisted. "Come find me when it's safe."

"And the baby?" He asked.

I let out a sob. "He'll be fine." I tried to convince myself.

Stefano lingered a moment longer before nodding and getting up. "I love you, Alaya Pierce."

A tear escaped my eyes as I nodded my head. "I love you, Stefano Colombo."

He began yelling orders in Italian to his men, who were rounding up cars and leaving by the dozen. Stefano made sure all his men got out of there and got into the last car with Roger. He looked back at me as the car pulled away. "I'll come for you." He promised.

The first cop car pulled in only moments after his car left. The firefighters were close behind to put the fire in the warehouse out. Tailing the whole crew was the ambulance that I was loaded on to.

The emergency response team rushed to my side and began bandaging up my side as they strapped me into a gurney. "You're going to be just fine. Can you tell me your name?" One of them assured me as they loaded me into the back of the ambulance.

"Alaya." I mumbled as my vision darkened around the edges.

They placed an oxygen mask over my mouth as the world began to fade. "We've got a gunshot victim down by the old warehouse, we're stabilizing her and taking her in now." A woman spoke into a radio as my eyelids felt heavier and heavier.

"My baby," I struggled to tell them. "I'm pregnant."

"We're doing everything we can. You're going to be just fine." The woman said.

"Alaya, we need you to stay awake." The man insisted.

"Alaya?" He asked as my eyelids dropped.

"Alaya!" He yelled.

"I think we're losing her, George, check her vitals!" The woman ordered, but I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

My last thought before drifting away was about Stefano and all the things I would say to him when he came for me.

I had so many things to say.

So anyways...

Don't forget to vote and comment! Love you guys!!

-Emma