Her Sicilian Arrangement (18 page)

Marco sighed. “Ryan, you say? I remember her mentioning you
once or twice before.”

“
Really?” he chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair.
“She talks about me? Did she tell you that I’m a fashion designer
and I am a big fan of your style?”

“
Listen, no offence, but I don’t have time for small talk.
Meagan is in trouble.”

“
Trouble?”

Marco walked back to his car and muttered before entering,
“Follow me inside.”

Ryan
did just that and drove his rental car behind Marco along the
driveway of his large and spacious home.

It
was not until they had both entered and Marco had gulped down two
glasses of the drink he had been thinking about ever since he had
gotten first word of the hostile news, that Marco muttered firmly,
“She was abducted a few minutes ago.”

“Damn
! By
who?”

“I
don’t know. I think it has something to do with the person who has
been spreading the rumours that I smuggle drugs. And in case you
are wondering, they are all lies.”

“
I
never believed them anyways. What does the abductor
want?”

“Two
million Euros,” he replied and swallowing down the entire contents
of his filled glass so quickly that it brought water to his
eyes.

“What the
fuc
—!” Ryan
exclaimed, caught Marco’s raised eyebrow and cleared his throat.
“Pardon me. But two million?!”

“
I
have…,” Marco began and looked down at his watch. “An hour and a
half to deliver it.”

“
Shoot…that’s not enough time.”

“
I
called my accountant on my way here. The money is being processed
at the moment. I am only determined on getting her
back.”

Ryan
shook his head slowly and then sighed. “Are you two engaged for
real?”

“
It
was selfish of me to force her into our sham of an engagement…I
regret it more than ever at the moment.”

“
Hmmm,” Ryan murmured. “So you like her then?”

Marco slurped the small amount of beverage from the glass,
shook the empty bottle as if it pained him to, and then groaned,
“
Like
? I love
her.”

“
I
told her that you would notice!” Ryan exclaimed haughtily and then
when he realized Marco’s quizzical expression, he cleared his
throat roughly. “I mean, that’s great…so what happens
now?”

“
Now? Now, we wait.”

Ryan
took a seat on a stool at the mini bar area in the living room and
then sighed, “We wait…”

* *
* *

Her
head felt as if she had been hit with a sledge hammer. She tried to
reach up to feel her aching temples but her hands felt bound
somehow. It was dark…far too dark and she could not see a thing. At
that moment, she figured that she had just gained consciousness and
she was sitting upright on what felt like an iron chair because the
cool surface chilled the back of her thighs. Wait a minute…she was
blind folded…and her mouth was covered as well. The tight knot on
the back of her head felt as if it was squeezing the life out of
her. All she could remember was entering that restroom at the drugs
store with every intention of taking that contraceptive pill when
she felt a piercing needle-like stab in the neck. She had gone
completely blank ever since. And now she had awaken feeling like
she had been out partying; left with a massive hang over. From a
distance, she could hear a faint masculine voice discussing
something out of her ears’ reach. It sounded as if he, whoever it
was, was arguing and it was at that moment that it occurred to her
that she might be in some serious trouble.

Meagan bit on her bottom lip trying to keep it from quivering
with fear and then rocked from side to side trying everything she
could to escape. It was no use! Whoever had kidnapped her had done
a pretty decent knot job on her hands and feet. Her breathing rate
escalated and her heart beat wildly against the walls of her chest.
She was scared out of control. But why was she kidnapped? Did it
have something to do with Marco and their suspicions? Was it really
Fabio who was doing this?

Meagan gasped as she heard footsteps approaching and then
stopped directly before her. It was a minute before she felt busy
hands undoing her blindfold and then the tie covering her mouth.
“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” she exclaimed, trying to see
the person standing behind her. Her eyes then fell on the body of
man, his hands and feet bound with chains, lying on the floor
across the room dressed in a black suit. It looked like—it was
Fabio! “Oh my god—!”

“Mee—gan
, calm
down.”

Mee-gan
? Only
one person ever pronounced her name that way. Only one person’s
voice sounded so familiar at that moment. Wait a second—

“
Miles?” she gasped. And then her eyes widened when he stepped
out in to her view. “Miles?” She could not believe what she was
seeing. “What do you have to do with this?”

He
ran his hand through his beloved hair and then grinned wickedly.
“Let’s face it, Mee-gan. You and I never liked each other. But
don’t flatter yourself…this is between me and my old friend, Marco
Mussolini.”

Old
friend?
“What are
you talking about?”

“
Your so-called ‘fiancé’ and I—yes, I am not easily fooled—went
to college together in London. We were friends, great friends until
he decided to stab me in the back.” He paced back and forth and
flashed a dark smile at her. “We were roommates. I’ll have to
admit, I was never a saint. I had been selling some pot here and
there to our school mates until he chose to float in on his golden
carpet and rat me out to safe his ass! Now what kind of friend does
that? Huh?!” Miles clenched his jaw angrily and spat on the dusty
floor. “I was expelled! I was studying to be a lawyer for God’s
sake! No, I couldn’t just let it go and let him get away with
ruining my life. I kept following his track for years
when—hello!—he met up with the beautiful Libyan, Aimee,” he said
with a laugh. “I paid her to seduce him…to wiggle her way into his
arms—and his bank account of course—but that asshole, Fabio, found
out about her nasty plan and Marco dumped her. So, what did I do? I
started circulating the lies about him…they worked, you have to
agree!”

“
You
are sick!” she spat out at him.

“Uh-uh
!” he
chuckled. “Let me finished my story, the best part is coming up.
You see, when Aimee saw what was happening to the bastard, the
bitch felt sorry for him. Can you believe it? She wanted to
talk…but I couldn’t let her do that now, could I? So, I killed her.
And now, here you are. You just couldn’t leave things as they are.
So, I’m going to have to kill you too.”

“
You
can’t do this? You won’t get away with it! Marco
won’t—.”

“
Not
so fast,” he said, stooping to look her straight in the eyes. “Your
little friend laying there had made it perfectly clear that you and
Mr. Perfect weren’t on so much of great terms. Besides,
Marco—wherever he is—is sorting out his payment for to get you back
and I can think of two millions reasons why he will keep up his end
of the bargain.” He laughed disgustingly at her and then rest firm,
aggressive hands on her shoulders.

“
Don’t you touch me…”

“
But
I can’t leave you two hanging now, could I? You see, I will get my
money and you two will live a happy life in heaven. Fabio here
might just re-unite with his beloved, Aimee. Don’t move an inch,”
he said and looked down at his watch. “I will see you in a
bit.”

Meagan watched Miles as he walked away from her and then
exited the room. She felt like crying at that point but the tears
refused to surface. She had to think of a plan…she would not wait
for a so-called knight in shining armour to rescue her. For all she
knew, Marco did not care about her. He was probably only paying
Miles Hart the money to save his ‘name’ any further tarnish. He did
not love her—she still could not come to why and how she had begun
to fall for him—, he had made it perfectly clear an hour ago when
he had compared her to a prostitute. She had had sex with him
because she had wanted to. Not because he was promising her a
story. She had chosen him of all persons to surrender her virginity
to…and he blew it up in her face. Well, that was what she got for
lowering her defenses.

“
Fabio!” she called out lowly. He seemed to be unconscious. She
knew that she had hated him…she had even told him to his face—she
regretted it terribly for her unkind judgement—but at that moment,
she desperately needed his help, even though he was in the same
exact bounded situation that she was. “Fabio?” She saw him flinch
and then he turned over unto his back, with a pained groan.
“Fabio—oh thank god!—over here. It’s me…Meagan.”

“
Meagan?” he murmured and then bent his neck to look up at her.
“What—? Where am I?”

“
I
don’t now…but listen, Miles Hart—do you know him? He tied you
up…and me too. He’s going to kill us. He tricked Marco and he’s
luring him into a deadly trap!”

“
What?” he muttered and managed to sit up after a struggling
minute, leaning against a wall.

“
How
did you end up here?”

“
I
don’t know. I spotted him at the, um—a café downtown and I followed
him. Maybe he saw me…I don’t know. I was walking through the
parking lot at the motel he was staying at and I just—I just felt a
hard blow in the back of the head. And then—then I wake up
here.”

Meagan chewed on her bottom lip nervously and looked around
the room trying to find answers for questions she did not even
know. She just wanted some hope that she they were going to live
through the current condition. “Was Aimee related to
you?”

Fabio blinked rapidly and then looked away. “She was my
sister.”

“Your
sister
?”

“Sí
. We had
shared the same father. My mother was Sicilian—she was a nurse who
had been placed at Aimee’s village because there was a yellow fever
epidemic going around. My mother had fallen for her father and that
is how I had come along. It wasn’t until I had grown, that I had
found out I had a sister. I visited her once in a while but it had
gotten so much easier and inexpensive to travel there since
Signor
Mussolini employed me. You see, when I
found out about what she doing to him, I had to tell him. He was so
good to me and I could not allow her to scar his reputation. When I
heard that she had passed away I was shocked so I started my own
little investigation. It lead me to
Signor
Hart.”

“
Oh
god…,” she sighed. “I am so sorry for judging you
wrongly.”

“It
is okay,
Signora,
” he
said in a calm sincere voice. “I would have done the same to
protect the one I love.”

Meagan almost choked on her dry throat. “What?”

“There is no further need to pretend that you do not
love
Signor
Mussolini,
Meagan.”

She
sighed and blinked away painful tears. “Well, what’s the use
anyway? We are all going to die. Besides, Marco hates
me.”

Fabio chuckled for a moment. “With that you are terribly
wrong. I have never seen him happier before you.”

Meagan looked away at the door that Miles had exited through
and then bit her lip frantically and anxiously. “We have to figure
out something…I am too young to die—I mean there are a lot of
things I haven’t even tried yet. And you have to live because as
far as I know, you’re the hero to begin with.”

“
Your appreciation means a lot. But I see no way that we can
escape.”

“
Damn it!” she cursed with frustration and breathing hard. “I
hate feeling hopeless!”

“
It
seems as if we have no other choice than to wait.”

“
What is wrong with you?” she uttered suddenly at
him.

“Scusami
?”

“
How
could you be so calm in a situation like this?”

Fabio stared at her quizzically and then sighed. “Working for
Signor Mussolini has been the perfect practice. I have learnt to
‘expect the unexpected’ as they say. People always want something
from him—some might take up on the audacity to take themselves. I’m
his personal bodyguard so I’m always by his side.”

She
was about to open her mouth to speak when they both saw Miles
re-enter the room and slamming his flip cell phone shut
concurrently. “
Ahh
…,” he
began with a smirk. “I see my friend Fabio has so gracefully
blessed us with his presence.” Then he turned to face Meagan.
“Whatever he says, don’t believe. He knew about his half-sister’s
act. He only disclosed her plan to save his own ass—just like Marco
did to me.”

“Bugiardo
!”
Fabio yelled at him—which meant ‘liar’ in English—with
scorn.

Miles laughed in a voice that would have made her—if the
current situation was not so serious—laugh as well at his feminine
chuckles. “Please, Fabio,” he drawled in an amused manner.
“English…please!”