Chapter 1 BELLISSIMA

My father is at gunpoint.

"You owe us a total of 102 million dollars. Do you have the means to pay, or are you ready to die?"

The bald, 6 foot tall henchman clicks the gun, tapping my father's forehead with he metal.

My heart is racing and I don't know what to do.

Earlier on, father had been rejoicing to me about the new scam he had pulled on a gullible project manager of a big firm.

He had good skills- commiting crimes that no one could trace.

To him, this was the easiest scam he'd ever pulled.

Father had even gone ahead to purchase an exotic home worth 70 million in Milan.

We were both rejoicing- well I was joining in because that's the only way he can be happy these days- before our door was broken down.

Father pushed me to the closet and made me hide while they rushed in.

Now, I'm sweating in the midst of coats and boots, watching these men with criss crossed knife tattoos on their necks point a gun at my father.

Black Silver.

The only gang I know with these tattoos belong to the infamous mafia cartel, Black Silver.

Did father really cross these people? Did he not know that company was owned by them?

Knowing these men are even more dangerous than I thought, my body goes cold.

I'm sweating profusely, but I am freezing from fear.

"I-I can pay...I can pay. I will just need s-some time. The M-"

Before father can get his words out, the man whoops him with the gun across the cheek, flinging his face to the side.

I hold in my gasp and clutch my lips with both hands.

My body is shaking; the closet feels too small.

"Can you pay now, or not?" The second guard asks. His voice is monotone, just like a robot's.

Father raises his head. I see tears in his eyes; he knows I'm seeing all this and he's trying desperately not to look afraid.

Ever since mom died from a minor kidney illness we couldn't treat because we were poor, father went money crazed.

He did everything for it- and he was scary good at it.

He robbed and scammed, swindled and gambled.

Anything at all to make sure we had more than we needed.

As though he was apologizing to mother for not having enough.

But now- father has gone absolutely insane.

How did he even end up stealing from Black Silver?

I watch him bow his head, dejected completely. "I don't have the money..." he says.

My heart drops.

"You spent it all didn't you? Mark, you know what to do." The first guard says, stepping aside for the second one with a loaded gun.

Click.

Time stops as he gets ready to pull the trigger.

I don't know when my body moves, but in the next second, I've flown out of the suffocating space.

"Stop! Stop it please!" I cry aloud. Father turns to me in alarm. The first guard immediately points a gun at me.

"Gracie, what are you doing?!" I hear my father cry.

I ignore him and raise my hands up. "I-I...we don't have the money but...we will soon. My father is quick...he'll find something. But please don't kill him."

My voice is shaking the whole time; I'm feeling quite light headed.

"Gracie, you're insane. Why did you come out?!" My father's face is already swollen from that hit and it's making me extremely pained.

And to think they were about to shoot him dead.

The guard tilts his bald head at me.

"Our orders are to take payment and leave. If no payment is offered, death is next. Appeals will not work."

I shake my head profusely and instantly fall to the ground to beg. "Please, sir! Please. My father will truly pay you back. If he doesn't, you can find us and kill me yourself! But please let him go."

My begging doesn't move him one bit and the other guard raises the gun again.

"My apologies, girl. Our orders are final."

The barrel is pointed at my father's forehead. My world is shattering and there's nothing I can do but watch.

I beg and scream as he places his hand on the trigger.

However, at the last second, a static sound covers the living room.

The first guard tells his companion to pause and takes a walkie into his hand.

"Yes boss?"

"Leave the man alive and bring me the girl," comes a low, menacing voice. The static makes the man sound like a snake.

My heart drops.

Bring the girl?

My father's eyes are peeled open in shock and he's shaking his head. "No, no. No! You will have to kill me. Don't touch my daughter!"

Before I know what is happening, the second guard takes out another gun and shoots something sharp at my father's arm.

It's a tranquilizer.

"Dad!"

They don't let me get close to him, dragging me from the ground where I'm kneeling.

In one swoop, I'm in the man's arms, kicking and screaming.

My father's eyes are gradually losing focus. He's reaching an arm out to me.

"Gracie-"

He falls down to the ground, unconscious.

"Dad!" My voice is hoarse and my tears scorch down my face.

I kick and try to wiggle my way off the guard's shoulders but it's to no avail. They take me out the broken doors and outside of my residence.

"Please! Please let me go! Father will pay...he'll pay you, I promise! Let me go! Let me go!"

Without caring for my screams, the guard tosses me into the backseat of a sleek black car. The two of them sit on either side of me while I cry loudly.

As the car zooms off, an injection is stabbed in my arm.

I instantly lose consciousness.

When I regain myself, I'm on a bed, in a dimly lit room smelling of expensive silk and cedar.

"You're awake, bellissima." Comes a familiar menacing voice.

It's him. My kidnapper.