The Mafia’s Good Wife
Chapter 37

~ Damon -

----- THREE DAYS LATER-

"Good morning, my son," Hugo chimed as he swung the cell gate open, waking Damon up from his exhausted rest. "How was your sleep?"

Damon groaned groggily and pried his eyes open. He didn't know what day it was or if it was night or day. Hugo kept him inside the dark cell, chained to the wall. His clothes were ragged and torn and his body was severely dehydrated. Every once in a while, a guard would come in to give him food and water. There was also a bucket in the corner of the room where he could relieve himself. Still, this was no condition for a man like Damon to be in. This was disgusting and degrading. Damon would rather die than to be kept alive like this. But it seemed like Hugo had other ideas. He purposefully wanted to keep Damon alive, though he didn't know why.

"Oh, come on, don't look at me like that," Hugo laughed as Damon glared viciously at him.

Damon knew Hugo was toying with his emotions on purpose. But what was it that he wanted? Revenge? Personal satisfaction?

"We're taking good care of you, aren't we?" Hugo said again, holding onto Damon's face. "Compared to the way we treat most of our prisoners, you're getting a star treatment here,"

For whatever reason, he's keeping me alive just to break me apart. I need to stay strong.

Damon kept a straight face as Hugo smiled menacingly. After being in this business for a long time, Damon knew what was coming. If Hugo was keeping him alive, that meant he wanted something. And in order to get that, sometimes the prisoner needs to be broken down.

Hugo had tried several different things with Damon over the past few days. First, Damon was beaten up by the guards, they broke his ribs, his fingers, and dislocated his jaw. After all the beating he took, Damon didn't react in any way and that angered Hugo even more. Hugo wanted to see a reaction. So, he went to phase two, which was psychological torment. They gave Damon some kind of psychedelic drugs that made him see his worst nightmares.

Ever since then, Damon spent his nights awake because he couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he was reliving all the worst memories of his life. Starting from losing his innocence as a young boy, being told to kill and murder people, to the Red Wedding where he lost his fiancee and his father figure, to the moment where he was supposed to marry Violet, but she shot him in the chest and left instead.

Out of all the darkest memories he had, that one hurt him the most. But the worst part was that it didn't end there. Yes, she shot and left him to die, but he kept coming back after her. He found her again and it seemed like there was hope for them in the end, but that was also short-lived. Damon realized that the cruelest t*****e in the world wasn't violence or broken bones, but it was hope being taken away.

At first, Hugo thought that the psychological torment was working. Damon was groaning and yelling in pain night after night. In the beginning, Damon was hurting when he saw those nightmares. But when he was seeing those things, that also allowed him the chance to see Violet. And in some dark and twisted way, the memories didn't become a nightmare anymore. Even though the events that happened were traumatic, the fact that she was there somehow made it all okay.

How crazy is that, sweet girl? Just your existence can shun all my nightmares away.

Maybe it was just in his imagination, but sometimes, after he saw the moment that Violet shot him in the chest, Damon saw other things too. He saw Violet bending down and taking him in her arms. She held onto his face and her eyes shone like never before. She wasn't saying anything, but she pressed her forehead against his as if she was sending him a message telepathically.

Stay strong, Damon. Stay alive and stay strong.

That image in his head, though it wasn't real, kept Damon going. Without seeing her in his dreams, he'd have no desire to keep living. Now since Damon was able to use those nightmares to his advantage, the psychological torment Hugo prepared for him backfired. That meant that Hugo would go on to phase three, and only God knows what that would be.

"It seems like you had a good night's sleep last night," Hugo taunted again. "We should probably stop giving you those medicines,"

I want to stay strong, but it's hard when you're not here with me, sweet girl.

Though Hugo kept taunting him, Damon focused his mind on Violet instead. Hugo was standing right in front of his face, but Damon was seeing far into the distance, to a place where there was no hurting and pain. He was picturing a moment where he would wake up in bed and find Violet lying next to him. She'd open her eyes too and her lips curved into a smile.

"Hey! Look at me!" Hugo yelled angrily and slapped Damon's face a couple of times.

Damon felt the stings of pain and clenched his jaw.

"... What do you want from me, Hugo?" he spoke finally. His voice was raw and coarse.

Hugo let out a laugh. He was finally getting Damon's attention.

"I want everything that you own to be mine," he said. "With your word and your signature, you can hand over everything under the Van Zandt name to me, and I'll end your misery,"

Damon paused for a moment before stifling a laugh. So that's what Hugo wanted. The Van Zandt empire to be his.

"I don't own anything anymore, Hugo," Damon answered. "The moment I left the estate and came here, I came with nothing. I left everything in Adrian's name. I'm worthless to you, so you might as well just kill me now,"

Hugo's smile fell flat in an instant. He took a step back and studied Damon's face. Damon kept his gaze at Hugo with no expression. Was he telling the truth?

"I don't think you're telling me the truth," Hugo said finally. "I know you, Damon. A man with your ego, you're not the type who'd give up everything just like that,"

"You know the old me," Damon smiled through the pain. "The old me will hold onto power until I'm dead. But the new me... I'm done holding onto anything anymore,"

A big change happened when Damon decided to leave that day. After he lost Violet for good, having the world on a silver platter might as well be horse shit. He no longer found meaning in being Damon Van Zandt, the mafia king of the east. The only purpose he had left was to finish the one thing he promised Violet he would do, which was to kill Hugo DeSantis.

Damon knew that going after someone like Hugo would have consequences, which was why it took such a long time for him to do it. Just because he could get close and eliminate Hugo from the inside, that doesn't mean there won't be repercussions. A war would be inevitable and his family would suffer the consequences. But if Damon separated himself from the family and went on this mission on his own, the other families could not blame his family. That was why Damon did everything he did.

"You're lying to me," Hugo said after a while of silence, pondering after Damon's words. "If Adrian Luciano is really the head of the Van Zandt family now, we would've heard something. But, we haven't heard anything, which means they're all still waiting on you to come back,"

"That's only because you haven't announced my death," Damon retorted back. "As soon as you kill me, the transition will be complete,"

Hugo swallowed hard and leaned closer. His face was only inches away from Damon's.

"So you're saying you're no use to me dead or alive?"

"What can I say?" Damon shrugged and stifled a laugh. "I'm good at playing this game,"

Hugo was fuming. His breathing got heavier as he glared daggers at Damon.

"You son of a bitch!" Hugo spat and punched Damon right in his ribcage. Damon heard the crack of his bones and excruciating pain reverberated through his entire body.

"Aghhh!!!" he groaned in agony.

"Daddy, stop! Please!" suddenly, Celina's voice was heard. She was standing behind the cell's gate. "You're hurting him!"

"That is the point of torture, Celina. You know that," Hugo said as he staggered back. "If you can't handle it, you shouldn't be here,"

Celina watched Damon struggle to contain the pain. He was already so weak and defeated. It broke her heart to see him this way, even though he broke hers first.

Celina pushed past the guard and entered the dingy cell. She bent down to Damon's eye level and held his face with her hand. His skin was all bloody and battered up. Celina choked back her tears.

"Damon, come on. Just tell daddy whatever he wants to hear," she whispered gently. "I hate seeing you like this..."

Damon kept quiet and just held the pain inside. He knew exactly what Hugo was trying to do. He purposefully had Celina there to play good cop and bad cop. Hugo thought if he couldn't break him, maybe Celina could.

"I need a drink," Hugo said as he left the cell.

Celina waited until her dad was completely out of sight before grabbing a bottle of water from the guard's table and bringing it to Damon.

"Hey, have some water," she said as she poured a little water into his mouth.

Damon tried his best to catch them, though he was struggling. The water tasted bitter in his torn up lips, but it was refreshing to his body. Celina let out a long sigh before putting her hand on Damon's face again, slowly caressing his skin. "Look, Damon, despite everything, I still love you, you know..."

Damon felt weak. He didn't have the energy to concentrate or respond to her. He was slowly drifting into unconsciousness again, and he said the only word that came to his mind.

"...Violet..."

Celina's face turned sour in an instant. She threw the bottle of water to the wall and the remaining water splashed all over the ground.

"Will you stop saying her name!?" she screamed somewhat maniacally. "When will you accept the fact that she's out of your life for good, but I'm not!? I'm here! But where is she?"

Damon didn't entertain her by answering. He just kept his head down, imagining he was somewhere else instead. Somewhere with Violet by his side.

"But you know, I do have to thank her," Celina said suddenly. "If she didn't call you that night, I would've never found the phone and know all about your plan,"

"...What?" Damon pulled his head up with all his strength.

"Yeah. She was calling the phone and that's how I found it,"

Damon blinked for a few times. Violet was calling him? He thought he would never hear from her again. But she was calling him? Why? Did she miss him too?

"What did she say?" he sounded eager all of a sudden.

"I don't know, I don't remember. But hey, that's not the focus here," Celina said as she snapped her fingers. "Listen, I'm going to make you a deal. If you tell daddy what he wants to hear and switch your allegiance to me, I'll make sure to protect you. I won't let daddy or his people harm you,"

Damon was at a loss for words. He couldn't even hear what Celina was saying. All he could think about was that Violet called him. She wanted to speak to him. Maybe there was hope after all?

"I love you, Damon," Celina said again, putting her hands on his chest before leaning her face to his heart. She could hear his heartbeat getting faster, but it was only because he was thinking about Violet.

She called... She was looking for me...

Celina smiled to herself, thinking that Damon's heart was beating for her. In her twisted little mind, she was conspiring something. Something that she thought would be a win-win solution for her, her dad, and Damon.

But as for Damon, his gaze became sharp and his mind was strong. Despite everything and the condition he was in right now, he never felt more alive. Because finally, for the first time since she left, he found a purpose. I have to stay alive! I have to see her!

-Violet -

"So, what's the plan here?" Violet asked impatiently.

Violet, Adrian, Liam, and Beau were sitting in the private jet en route to Italy. They also had other men with them, the loyal ones. The ones who wouldn't mind giving up their life to save their boss.

"I believe he's still inside that house," Liam answered. "We're gonna have to find a way to get inside and get him out,"

"With all the guards there?" Beau interjected. "That place is impenetrable!"

"Adrian, do we have any room for bargaining?" Liam turned to Adrian.

"I'm not sure," Adrian sighed. "If Damon did what he did and he was caught, they're probably holding him hostage,"

"Or maybe he killed Hugo and got away?" Beau suggested.

"We would've heard something if that's the case," Liam shot the idea down.

"So, the most plausible scenario is that Damon's alive but they're keeping him in there?" Violet asked.

"Yes," Adrian nodded. "So it's up to us if we want to attack with violence or we go in through negotiation,"

"There's no such thing as negotiating with Hugo DeSantis," Liam scoffed. "He'll kill us all once we walk in there without our guns!"

"So then we fight," Violet said simply. All the guys turned their heads to her with a bewildered look.

"We're gonna do whatever it takes to bring Damon home, even if that means we're fighting the impossible," she said again, full of conviction.

The guys looked at each other with worried eyes. They knew she was right.

"Alright, we're bringing him home," Liam concluded, standing up to his feet and preparing his gun.

Adrian turned to Violet and nodded at her. She nodded back.

"Let's just hope we're not too late," he said under his breath.