CHAPTER FIVE: Perfect Scapegoat. 

AURELIA'S POV: 

I groan in despair as the memories of the events that occurred earlier in the day assault me. I am definitely in way over my head. 

"Fuck!" I say in anger as I attempt to stand up and I find a chain linked to my left ankle. 

I look around me and I once more feel like passing out at the decor of the room. The room is large. Extremely large. It looks like an abandoned ballroom if I ever saw one. 

The bed I'm currently lying on looks like it was thrown haphazardly into the room, but strangely enough, the sheets seem clean enough. 

The other end of the chain linked to my ankle is connected to the steel bars guarding the windows. If the chain wasn't long enough, my leg would have probably been suspended in the air. 

I tug on the chain, trying desperately to get it off but knowing deep within my soul that it wouldn't be possible. Unless I find a saw lying magically around, the chances of remaining chained like a dog for the rest of my life were increasingly high. 

After my failed attempt to get the chain off, I walk around the bed, trying to determine exactly how far I could go around this large room with the chain still connected to my foot. 

'It turns out my captor is a considerate asshole' I think with a sneer on my lips. 

I could make it comfortably to a disgusting bucket sitting close to a wall on my far right. I would rather be struck by lightening than be forced to use the goddamned bucket. 

After exploring the extent of my freedom in this new cage of mine, I collapse on the bed, groaning in pain at the hardness of the foam. 

My mind goes back to Alessandro's threat and I can't help but shiver in fear. Who is his wife? Did I fall and hit my head and lose my memories of our encounter together? 

My thoughts come to an abrupt end as I hear the distinct sound of heavy footsteps heading in my direction. 

The large double doors are pushed open and Aldo steps inside. He gives me a strange look that has me taking a fearful step backwards. 

"What? Have you finally come to finish your dirty work?" I ask with a tone of false bravado and a sneer on my lips. 

"On the contrary. I have come to make a deal with you." Aldo days with a smile on his lips that unsettles me. If I hadn't seen him wield a gun, I would have considered him as being a beautiful man. 

"What deal? I haven't done anything wrong! You guys are just bullies who lack the audacity to go after people your size." I say through gritted teeth, in an anger infused tone. 

If I'm going to die, I'm taking their fragile egos down with me. 

Aldo doesn't say a word in response, instead he drops some pictures in front of me. 

I'm a little hesitant to pick it up, but I do eventually, my curiosity getting the best of me. 

"Who is this? Am I supposed to regain memories I didn't know I lost? Or is this me from a past life?" I ask in a mocking tone, unable to keep the sarcasm out of it. 

"Look carefully, Bambina." Aldo says in a flat tone, refusing to entertain my theatrics. 

I glare at him as I take a cursive look at the picture. The lady in the picture is extremely beautiful. Her piercing blue eyes are so captivating that I have a hard time focusing on anything else. 

An image flashes through my mind and I gasp in shock. "She was one of the sponsors I spoke to!" 

"You are going to have to clarify that for me, Bambina." Aldo says with a wry smile on his lips that bursts my bubble. 

"She is part of a charity organisation that was supposed to help me out with something." I say in a hard tone. 

"Help you out with what?" Aldo asks in an inquisitive tone. 

"I am not giving you more ammunition to use against me." I say as I avert my eyes from his in a disparaging manner. 

I know he can find out that information with just a single phone call, but I refuse to be a willing participant in my own demise. 

"How do you explain these photos?" Aldo asks in an emotionless tone as he drops another set of photos in front of me. 

I pick them up and this time, the pictures are from when I had dinner with a sponsor concerning my dad's illness. 

"I had dinner with her concerning the help I needed." I respond, praying that my answers and cooperation will get me out of here and back home by night fall. 

"Very well." Aldo says as he steps away from me and turns his back on me. 

What the hell? What sort of reverse psychology bullshit is this? 

"Who is the lady?" I ask in a slightly raised but annoyed tone. 

"Giulia Carlo. Alessandro's wife who is missing, and she was last seen with you." Aldo says in a strained tone that grates on my nerves. 

"But I've told you everything you need to know! I had nothing to do with her disappearance! Shouldn't you guys let me go?" I ask in an alarmed tone. 

"That may be true and it may also be a lie. Alessandro isn't taking the chance. Someone must pay for her disappearance." Aldo says in a hard tone that has me doubting his sanity. 

"And I'm the convenient scapegoat?" I ask in a bitter but anxious tone.

"Alessandro isn't as forgiving as me. It will serve you well to remember that." Aldo says as he walks out of the room. 

I scream in anger, pulling my hair almost out of its roots. This life sucked. Being poor sucked. 

_________________________

ALESSANDRO'S POV: 

"It's been three weeks, son. Any new information." Gio Carlo asks me in a calm tone but with a raging expression on his face. 

His wife bursts out into a sob and excuses herself from the table when her husband glares at her. 

"I'm working on something." I respond as I take a light sip of my water, dropping my utensils beside my still full plate. 

I refuse to share any information with him, because irrespective of the fact that he's Giulia's father, he could turn on her at the slightest instance. He's definitely a suspect. 

"That is not an answer, Alessandro! How can you be so calm when my daughter is missing! She could be dead for all I know!" He says in an indignant tone, his voice rising with every syllable. 

I'm quiet as I clean the water off my lips with the help of a napkin. If not for the peculiar circumstances, he would have lost more than his tongue for his insubordination. Giulia's disappearance is enough incentive to forgive him. 

"He doesn't know what he's saying, Alessandro. He is half crazed with grief. Please try to understand." His brother, Antonio, says hastily, jumping to diffuse the situation. 

Gio looks at me with barely concealed rage while nodding his head in support of his brothers statement. 

"He can speak for himself, Antonio." I say with a sardonic smile. "Tell me, Gio. Do you think I had a hand in my wife's disappearance?" I ask in an indulgent tone. 

"No. Of course not. She was special to you." Gio says hastily, averting his eyes from me, but not before I see the doubts in them. 

"Good. So you will understand when I say you are also one of my major suspects." I say, putting the question in form of a statement and not missing the way his eyes widens comically. 

"That's— That's impossible! She was my daughter!" Gio says in a loud tone, more than shocked at my statement. 

"That you sold to me in exchange for clearing your debts. Excuse me for thinking you never cared for her." I say in a saccharine sweet tone that does nothing to abate the anger building in me. 

"That's not true! I was in a bad position! I was forced—" Gio stutters, trying hard to explain himself. 

"If I find my suspicions to be true. I will wipe your whole family off the face of this earth." I say in a menacingly low tone, staring calmly into each and every one of their miserably sour faces. 

I get up from the table and stalk out of the building, not stopping until I'm inside my car. 

"How did it go?" I shoot a text off to Aldo the moment I'm settled. 

"Nothing new." Aldo responds with two words that sends me spiraling down the black hole of anger. 

"Lock her in and don't let anyone inside the room." I press send on the message, flexing my fingers in order to get rid of the excess energy flowing through them. 

"What's your plan?" Aldo's message reads. 

"It's time I pay our little killer a visit." I press send and relax into the car seat. 

It's time I take this interrogation to the next level. And this time, I'm doing things my own way.