Chapter 12
Francesca POV
I immediately turned and hid behind the doorway before his sharp eyes caught me peeping at his actions from behind.
I quickly forced my hands over my mouth so no more yelps would exit and I scolded myself for not restraining myself from reacting to the gunshots.
But who the hell would not scream at what I just saw?!
I slowly began to hear footsteps coming towards me.
Fuck!
I was done for!!
What if he caught me standing here? What explanation was I going to give him over what I just witnessed seconds ago?
The footsteps kept getting closer, and my heart threatened to burst out of my chest. I saw the shadow become more and more intimidating by the second.
Just one more step for him to exit the room and meet my shuddering body and I suddenly heard a ringtone from the room.
He seemed reluctant, but the call was evidently of urgent importance and soon enough the shadow faded as he walked back into the room to answer the phone.
"Yes, it's done. Come clean this place and take care of the body", he ordered to the person on the other end of the call.
A tear dropped from my eye involuntarily. Even I who was not a part of the scene went through so much emotional stress that I shed tears involuntarily.
This had to be the worst night of my life. I shouldn't have let curiosity get the most of me and walked into that hallway.
Did Enzo know about that secret underground stairway, or was I the only one who stumbled on it? If Enzo and the rest of the guards in this mansion knew about it, then did they just ignore it like nothing happened?
Fuck! What kind of evil mansion did I find myself in?!
And who the hell is this Paolo guy?
I needed to leave this place.
I had nowhere to go, but anywhere was better than here at this point.
I couldn't explain where I got the surge of courage and strength from, I decided it in my mind. I was going to leave this abysmal mansion before it'd have the chance to run me mad or worse, take my life.
I got up from the floor and walked to the door. Gently, I opened it and stuck my head out, peeping through the long hallway. It was empty.
"Good"
I gently stepped out and slowly closed the door, making sure the wooden door didn't make any sounds.
I knew the main door and the compound gates would be guarded no matter how little, so I had to find any other means of escape. I didn't see any rails guarding the fences when I was first brought here, so I planned on jumping the fence.
I carefully and hurriedly tiptoed down the stairs. No one was in the living area, and from where I stood, I could see two guards at the main entrance, but thankfully, they couldn't see me from where they stood.
If only I knew where another exit could be located at...
Wait.
"The kitchen"
I'd been around enough wealthy men to know that they always had an exit in the kitchen so I approached the kitchen door.
There must be another door leading outside in the kitchen. But what if there was someone in the kitchen? What explanation was I going to give?
Saying a little prayer, I walked into the kitchen and to my surprise, no one was there. I looked around for a door, and soon sighted one at the extreme end of the kitchen.
I hurried over and I twisted the doorknob, hoping it wasn't locked.
It gave way.
Maybe the universe did answer prayers.
I walked through the door and the cold night wind blew across my face.
Freedom.
Now, all I needed to do was to jump the fence.
I took some steps back to gain enough speed to take me over the fence. I'd never done this before, but it couldn't be that hard.
"1... 2... 3..."
I immediately ran across the building to the fence and just as I was about to get my limbs all over the fence, I felt a strong force from nowhere drag me down to the ground.
****
What just happened?
How did I get to the ground?
I met the ground with so much force, my body started aching immediately.
It took me a moment or two to recover from the blurriness I got from hitting my head hard on the ground. I was still trying to make sense of what just happened when I saw shadows of three hefty men cover my figure as they towered over me from behind.
I forgot my pains and immediately stood up to face them and saw that two of them were wolf guards, while the other was... Him.
The same man who point blank shot that man on the legs then on the head.
My eyes widened in realization and fear as I immediately turned pale, knowing that I was in big trouble. Just when I was about to escape, Paolo got a hold of me.
"Si…Sir, p... Please, let go of me! P... Please!", I begged my life depended on it, my voice barely coming out as a whisper, but his dark eyes held no conscience for me.
In one swift move, he picked me up from the ground and hung me over his shoulder.
"Let go of me!!! Get me down right now!! I need to go!!!", I cried and kicked and banged against his back, but he carried me unfazed into the mansion and up the stairs into a room that was big but dimly lit.
Why would he take me to a room? I was thinking he would take me to the place where he killed that man.
He dropped me to the bed immediately we got in and locked the door. Seeing that there was no other means of escape, I stood up on the bed and began screaming above my voice.
"Get me out of here!!! Somebody help me!!! Help me, please!!! I don't want to die-"
One second he was standing by the door, and the next second he had me pin against the wall. How I got down so fast, I couldn't fathom.
"Sir, p... Please. I beg you in heaven's name... Please let me go. I... I don't want to die", I cried as I pleaded for my life.
"You'll do just one thing if you want to live. Shut the fuck up", he grunted evilly and his hot raging breath shut me up immediately.
"You saw me kill him, didn't you?", he asked once he turned his back on me.
I shook my head vigorously, but he only scoffed in response.
"The quickest way to die is by lying to me. Don't make me ask twice. Did you or did you not see me kill him?"
I fearfully nodded, scared to death that he would choke me to death.
But to my greatest surprise, he let go of me, allowing me to crash to the ground to gasp for air.
"Now let me ask you this one time, who the fuck are you? And how did you get into my house?"
I looked up to see him pointing a pistol point blank to my head.
I gasped in horror and he was about to pull the trigger when the door suddenly burst open.
"Don't kill her!!"
We both turned to the door to see Enzo breathing heavily.
"Why?" Paolo asked, "Is she your visitor?"
"Yes, father. She is. She's my Fiancée ."