Chapter 40 : The Vineyard

*Sophia’s POV*

The bodyguards stayed toward the front of the vineyard, and Vincent pushed me forward with a gun pressed painfully into my back. The gnarled vines parted around us, and we stepped into a clearing. Vincent pointed to an all-too-familiar shape in the earth: a small rectangular pit the length and depth of a grave. All around it were loose dirt and rocks, and a dirty shovel leaned against one of the sides.

I gasped when I saw a metal box lying in the grave. It was the box Alessandro put into the safe in his office, the box that contained Michelangelo's sketches. When I stopped walking, the cold metal barrel of the gun pressed sharply against my spine, urging me forward.

I shook my head vehemently and begged, "No, no, no...please, I haven't done anything to you. Please."

Vincent's icy eyes glimmered in the moonlight as he threw his head back and laughed heartlessly. His laughter reverberated through the night air. I was going to die.