CHAPTER 1
I tried to open my eyes, but the lids felt like they were weighted down or glued shut. All I could see out of the cracks of my lids was pitch black without so much as a glimmer of light. The pounding in my head was so severe I thought I might vomit. Whatever was underneath my head felt damp against my cheek and smelled of mold. The air felt cool and damp and had a musty odor. My shoulders ached and the backs of my legs were cramping. I tried to shift my position, but when I did, I the pain in my wrists and ankles was excruciating. It was then that I realized that they had been bound with restraints of some kind that cut into my skin when I moved. My mouth was dry and my tongue was stuck to the cloth that was gagging me. As I lay there trying not to move and listening for any kind of sound that might give me a clue as to where I was, blurry images of what had happened started to form in the darkness that surrounded me.
"Are the restraints really necessary?" I heard a male voice say in the distance. My ears strained as I tried to listen.
"You told me to secure her, boss" another male voice said.
"I said secure...not hog tie. She's in pain, for Christ's sake. Take them off….NOW," the first voice said, shouting. I could hear gravelly footsteps echoing around me as they came closer, getting louder with each step. I felt something smooth and cold against my left wrist and heard the snap of plastic. I could feel the tension in my arms and shoulders release. A fiery pain ran down from the back of my neck to my fingertips as I moved my arms. A muffled cry escaped my lips as someone took me by the shoulders and pulled me to an upright position. I felt hands behind my head, pulling at the ends of the cloth that was tied around my eyes until a flash of light broke the darkness I had been in. I shielded my eyes as they adjusted to the sudden rush of light. I slowly recognized my surroundings as the warehouse Stephen bought for me. The very property we were supposed to have a meeting about on Monday.
"Hello, Madeleine," I heard voice say from behind me I felt a chill go up and down my spine, like someone had taken the tip of an icicle and ran it down my back. I knew that voice. It was unmistakable, even after three years.
"Stephen?" I said in an stunned and confused voice as the image of my ex-husband materialized in front of me. He seemed larger to me, like a giant oak tree, as he stared down at me with his hands folded in front of him. He was all in black, which was typical for him, including his jet black hair which he fastidiously dyed every two weeks.
"Have you missed me, gorgeous? I've missed you," he said.
"So you decided to kidnap me?" I said as I tried unsuccessfully to choke back tears.
"Kidnap? Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. You belong to me and you always will," he said.
"You're insane," I said as I rubbed at my sore, swollen wrists.
"And you're still the weak, emotional bitch you always were. This is going to be way too easy," he said, smirking at me.
"Fuck you," I heard myself say to him. He squatted down in front of me and pinched my mouth between his fingers.
"You kiss that fireman of yours with that mouth?" he said, still smirking at me before he let me go with a shove. I sat there in stunned silence.
"Did I surprise you, gorgeous?" he asked as he paced around me slowly, twisting his pinky ring around and around.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
"I'm talking about Lieutenant Matthew Casey, Madeleine. Don't pretend you don't know who that is and I won't pretend like I didn't know you were in love with him while we were married," he said. I was speechless. I had never once mentioned Matthew in the entire time I had known Stephen. The only time he became aware of Matt was the day of my mother's funeral and even then, I only introduced him as a friend from high school.
"What's it to you? It's not like I rubbed it in your face or cheated on you with him...unlike you who dropped your pants for every secretary, sales girl and waitress between Albany and Hoboken," I said, spitting the words out like venom I had sucked from a snake bite.
"But you were the only one that I ever loved," he said.
"Bullshit," I said sarcastically.
"It's true, Madeleine," he said quietly. He sounded surprisingly sincere, a rare thing for someone in real estate and even rarer for Stephen Gage.
"And that's supposed to make everything alright?" I asked, feeling my anger rise.
"It does for me," he said, his voice still low. Did he really believe his affairs were absolved because he says he loved me the whole time? In the three years since we had been divorced, his ego must have tripled in size.
"Does that have anything to do with why I'm here?" I asked.
"Yes….and no," he said, tucking his hand under his chin, as if he was thinking about his answer.
"Goddammit, Stephen! Tell me!" I stood up from the creaky bed I had been sitting on as I screamed at him.
"Sit back down, Madeleine….or I'll have Danny restrain you again," he growled.
"What's happened to you? You're the most successful realtor in Westchester, not some Mafia boss who has his lackey kidnap his ex-wife," I said, trying to pleadl to his sensible side...the side he had shown most often to me when we were together.
"Divorce happened, Madeleine. A divorce that you filed for that ended up ruining me," he said, sounding more angry with each word he spoke.
"Oh please, our divorce settlement barely put a dent in your assets and you know it," I said.
"I don't mean financially, for Christ's sake! I have money socked away all over the world that you and that fancy divorce lawyer of yours never even knew about. I meant it ruined me…...ME," he snapped.
"It was your wandering penis that ruined you, not me," I said.
"Our marriage was ruined the day that Matt Casey walked into Bennett & Sons Funeral Home. We had only been married a month, but I knew it," he said.
"How the hell do you know so much about him and me anyway? It's not like I carried on about him in front of you," I said.
"Jesus Christ, Madeleine...don't you think I did my homework when you and I started dating? I had a real estate empire to protect," he said, sounding annoyed.
"But what does that have to do with now? This?" I said, pointing to my injured wrists.
"You think I'm just gonna let him take what's mine so easily?" he shouted at me.
"He's not interested in this dump. You're wasting your time," I said.
"It's not the warehouse I'm referring to, Madeleine. Are you really that stupid?" he said with a nasty chuckle. I could feel my blood pressure rise as he insulted me, butI had to stay calm and hold my tongue until I knew why he had brought me here.
"You can't possibly mean me," I said.
"Can't I?" he asked. I wave of nausea came over me as the realization of why I was here came crashing into me.
"Stephen, please…." I said in a weak voice. He knelt down in front of me again, laid his hands on my knees and looked directly into my eyes.
"No one in the history of the Gagliano family has ever split up before until you filed for divorce, Madeleine. I lost the respect of my familia and my entire network of people. My own father will not speak to me, even three years later. After everything I've lost because of you, do you really think I'm gonna just let you walk back into Casey's arms that easily? No fucking way, Madeleine Gage...no fucking way," he said. He slowly slid his hands up my thighs and under the hem of my dress. I felt the sickness in my stomach rise up again.
"Madeleine Coventry, you son of a bitch," I said just before grabbing his hands and spitting in his face. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his cheek. Then he slowly stood up and stared at me. In one quick movement, he raised his hand up and brought it down across my face. The force with which he hit me made my head swim and I felt the cool gold prongs of the Gagliano insignia pinky ring dig into my face. I pressed the palm of my hand firmly into my cheek to stop the stinging, but I couldn't stop the tears from falling.
"We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way, gorgeous. The choice is yours. Danny, tie her back up," he said as he walked away from me and out of the room.. Danny lumbered over from the far wall, with what looked like large plastic twist ties in his hands.
"Lie down on your back," he said in a surprisingly soft voice. He gently spread my legs and shackled each ankle to the foot rail of the cot, then shackled each wrist to the metal bars underneath the mattress.
"Ill be back in a little while with some food and water. You just lay there quietly until then, OK Mrs. Gage?" he said.
"It's Ms. Coventry," I said weakly as the tears spilled from my eyes sideways and down onto the mattress. He gave me what I thought was a faint smile before leaving me alone. I laid there quietly crying, not knowing what time it was or what day it was or what Stephen was capable of doing to me or Matthew.