The Four Mafia Men and Their Prize by M C

41 Secret Passage Aurora POV The small cramped cemented space was pitch black once the hidden panel was sealed once again. The only illumination was from the small torch in my hand, pointed straight at the support pillar of spiral staircase that had no support banister and many large cobwebs littered the empty spaces.

| could still hear whistles and shouts of my nbut they were distant, muffled by the thick concrete walls.

Knowing that I couldnt actually escape this hell hole right now, | decided to just explore and curiously began to ascend the stairs to the upper level. Holding onto the cold damp wall for support, | took each step gently for fear I would trip and fall. I climbed for three spirals until | cto a landing platform and there was a small unfinished hallway of sorts. It was just large enough for one person to fit through.

The stairs continued upwards but | was curious as to this hallway so | decided to explore it. | followed the path and it turned into a single hallway to the left. | followed it for a few moments until | cto a dead end and saw a large new wooden panel sat in front of me.

The wood was unfinished and full of dust. Cobwebs were heavy around the edges. A small wooden handle much like the one downstairs jutted out, no doubt to help the panel close. AImost level with my height was a small wooden flap like a micro speakeasy door. | cautiously tiptoed over to the door and listened closely for any noise. | could hear faint noises and my breath caught. Even though curiosity constantly gotin trouble, | couldn't help the temptation.

| gently lifted the flap, careful to keep my flashlight low to the ground. A small light peeked through a small drilled hole no larger than a quarter. Peering through the hole with my right eye, | tried to get a good look around.

It was the room. The large office that | was brought to all the time. | could see the outline of books around the edges of the hole and realized | was looking through the corner bookshelf | was able to stifle my gasp at the sight. Jason and Ben were in the office. | could see Ben on his computer, typing away ferociously and his face looked so stern like he was constipated and needed to desperately use the restroom. Jason was pacing and on the phone, screaming in a foreign language. He had a slight Irish accent when he got all flustered. It madewant to giggle. “FIND HER” was the last thing | heard Jason scream before a crash sounded close to the panel.

My breath certainly hitched but I luckily didn’t scream.

“Did you find anything?” Jason had asked Ben..

“No. | can’t find her on any of our cameras. Last footage | found of her, she was stomping over to the forest line.

She was definitely crying.” Ben was sad, a look of concern covered his face.

“I swear that girl gives us more trouble than our worst enemies.” Jason said exhaustingly.

“Yeah, but she is worth it.” Ben said matter-of-factly. Jason took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah, you're right! We are so whipped.” He said more to himself and it madescrunch my face in disgust. Ew.

They may be dastardly magnificent and beautiful specimens on the male population but looks are not everything. | mean con! These jerks are crazy and so bad. | mean who KILLS THREE PEOPLE BEFORE FUCKING BREAKFAST? And they were unphased by it too.

Jason began walking closer to the far wall near the bookshelf. His eyes trained on the wall and | felt like he was staring 1/3 41 Secret Passage right at me. My heart started to race faster. He had a curious look on his face. | subconsciously took a small step back in the closed dark space behind me.

A ding on Ben's phone turned Jason's attention away from the wall. Ben mumbled something to Jason before they both quickly exited out of the room. A soft click of the door was the final sound. A sigh of relief left my body and | only then did | realize | had been holding my breath. A few tears began to run down my face. | have always tried to keep a brave face but | am so scared right now.

Returning to the enclosed space around me, | notice there was a small wooden button on the far-left side of the panel. Only thing missing was a neon “push me” sign. | pushed it and there was a small click and the door moved a small amount. Years of collected dust and the hanging cobwebs were disturbed and a small puff of dust and dander wafted in the air, makingcough and my eyes water even more.

| gently pushed on the panel and found it a lot heavier than the first door. | continued to push the panel until there was a large enough gap forto slip by, taking one last look around the door, making sure the coast was clear. | stepped out of the hidden panel and closed the door behindgently, eventually hearing the soft click of the lock. | pulled on the panel for good measure and it was stuck like glue. The old books on the bookshelf held new meaning to now.

A wave of tiredness flooded through my body and my legs somehow managed to trudgeover to the very comfortable leather sofa that my gluteus maximus was already great acquaintances with. My body sunk into the cushions and my eyes closed rapidly, a lone tear escaping and dropping on the throw pillow that my head was resting upon.

Charlie POV We were headed back to the strategy room. We searched every inch of this mansion and the guards searched the property. She was no where to be found. Vanished but we knew she didn’t leave the property.

Ben and Jason cto find us when they got a message from one of Ben's hackers who said they were delivering new footage at the front door. We had met his teammate Chris and we were handed an IPAD.

was Chris had found an old solar powered camera near the forest line, right where we lost sight of Aurora. We watched the choppy footage with bated breath. You could make out Aurora’s figure slumped behind the big Magnolia tree; she shaking for a few minutes before calming down. The next set of images had her sneaking along the tree line and she passed the old camera. It caught her fleeting image going back into the house! She made sure to avoid the known cameras. Smart girl.

She’s here! We knew it. We marched up to the office and called our most trusted men to meet us in ten minutes.

She was playing hide and seek apparently and was getting really good.

Jason opens the door ahead of us and stops in his tracks. Ben, Kai, and | almost all bumped into each other but quickly looked at what stopped our fearless leader. On the sofa was our princess. She was fast asleep, her eyes closed but they were puffy and red from crying. Her chest was gently rising and falling while she was in her peaceful slumber.

We all let out a small chuckle and Ben crossed to her, picking up a blanket we kept on the back and placed it gently on her body, kissing her forehead before returning to his laptop. We all follow suit, each approaching her gently, like a sleeping lioness in her den, taking a moment to kiss her before sitting down at our desks.

2/3 41 - Secret Passage Draco, Thomas, and a few of our guards knock on the door before coming in harshly. Jason halts their movements with a simple hand raise. He then raises a finger to his lips signaling everyone to be quiet and then points to our sleeping beauty snuggled in the blanket on the sofa.

Their eyes widen when the notice her sweet figure and then just like us, the questioning looks on their face grow while looking back at us.

Draco and Thomas are the first to move close to Jason and I's desks. Draco whispers rapidly “What? How? When? What happened?” Jason just chuckles and then says softly.

“No idea. When we cback from downstairs a few minutes ago, she was already over there and sleeping. We will wake her in about an hour.” The guys all nod in agreement.

Draco and Thomas take a seat in the red upholstered chairs in front of Jason's massive desk and Jason begins to talk softly about training for the week. | try to pay attention, but my eyes keep wandering over to Aurora. This morning. she had true fear in her eyes and that is what we wanted to see.

She was supposed to see what she did. It wasn’t planned originally but it was quick thinking on Kai's part when we got the call this morning about them. We had all been talking the night before that it was good for her to be reminded of the monsters we are. It will keep her in her place. Those three arrogant bastards tried to run from us and take our money without paying us back. That is just bad business, trying to flee from us. So we had to send a message and one message was for our lovely sleeping beauty. No runs from us and gets away without consequences. Not even Aurora.

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