Chapter 2 Blinding Lights

• Chapter Two
• Daniella
• (Blinding Lights)
• “What are you talking about, sir?” I wiped my sweaty palms over my dress.
• “Your face.” He simply stated.
• I cupped my cheek immediately I figured that he might probably be talking about the slaps that mother gave me. “It's nothing, sir.” I tried to cover my cheeks with my hair.
• He rose to his feet immediately before marching to where I was seated. In one swift motion, I was pulled up from where I was seated and dragged to the mirror in the living room. “Look at your face!”
• I gasped as he removed my hair from my face so I could get a clearer view of what my mother had done to me. Two red handprints were visible on my cheeks.
• “Nothing happened.” I still insisted. I don't know what he might do to mother if I tell the truth.
• “I'm no fool, Miss Moretti. If you're blind then I must inform you that I'm not. Someone hit you and I demand to know who it is.”
• I looked at our reflection in the mirror. He was dressed exquisitely in a navy blue collared shirt with fitted black dress pants and black Italian leather shoes. His appearance was like that of a model as everything was in place unlike me, the ugly duckling of the duo with my frizzy black hair, chapped pink lips and sad grey eyes.
• We were not a good match and the mirror told it so glaringly.
• “I am not blind, Mr D’Angelo. It's not my fault that you don't believe me.” I went back to my seat.
• “Then you must be blind and stupid.” He continued, “We are getting married tomorrow at my estate and I wouldn't want my bride to appear with handprints on her face and everyone looks at me as the suspect. It's not a very good thing regardless…” He let his statement hang there.
• “But I don't want to marry you.” I blurted out causing the guards to glance at me before quickly averting their gaze.
• “You have no choice. But it's quite simple also. Give me back my hundred million dollars and you wouldn't have to go through with the wedding tomorrow.” He said with a straight face.
• “But I don't have it. I wasn't even the one who took it. Why am I being forced to suffer?”
• He just shrugged and crossed one leg over the other before pulling out his phone from his pocket, “Ask your parents that question.”
• His attitude pissed me off as I rose up in anger, “I'd rather go blind than marry an arrogant and dangerous man like you. That wedding will not hold.” I threatened him while he just smirked.
• “Be careful what you wish for, Miss Moretti. You might just wake up blind tomorrow.”
• “What a joy that would be, Mr De Angelo. I wish that it would come true. At least I wouldn't have to marry you anymore.”
• “Let her be, boys.” His tone held amusement in it as his bodyguards tried to approach me when I rose up.
• “Have a nice day.” I left for my bedroom in anger, slamming the door loudly for everybody in the house to hear.
• I paced around my room thinking of what to do as I anticipated my mother or father storming in here anytime soon to give me a pep talk that I didn't need.
• Hours rolled by after Luciano left but none of them came to my door.
• As night time rolled by, I hatched a plan of running away this night to avoid the wedding tomorrow. But where would I go? Should I call my brother, Rafael? What if he tells on me?
• Well, how would I know if I don't try.
• “Rafael?” I called him immediately he picked up.
• “Dani, it's quite late. Your wedding is tomorrow, aren't you supposed to be in bed now?” He sounded like I had just woken him up.
• “I don't want to do it, Rafael. Please help me.” I pleaded with him.
• “Hold on. You're trying to back out of the wedding? Are you crazy?” He sounded more awake now.
• “Please lower your voice, Rafael.”
• “You're going to get yourself killed, Dani. Luciano D’Angelo isn't a man you mess with. He's going to find you one way or another. And when he does, you're going to pay with your life. He's a very dangerous man.”
• “I know and that's why I want to run away.” I looked around the room as if there was someone there before whispering, “I saw him shoot someone in his office, Rafael. He's a mad man and my life is in danger if I marry him.”
• “You saw him kill someone? When was this?” Rafael asked.
• “A month ago. When I went to deliver lunch to father. He has no idea that I saw what he did.”
• That day, father had been in a hurry to get to the office and didn't have breakfast so I decided to bring it to the office for him.
• His office was on the same floor as Luciano's since he works hand in hand with him. The sound of struggling and muffled noises was what had carried my feet from my father's office to Luciano D’Angelo's office door.
• A slit through the closed door was where I peeped from and saw a bound and gagged man on his knees pleading before Luciano fired a shot at him. Straight in the head.
• I hadn't told anyone this because it was a secret that I kept to myself. That was the major reason why I wanted nothing to do with him.
• That sight haunted me for nights on end. He's a bloody murderer.
• “Does anybody else know about what you saw?”
• “No.” I answered, “I haven't told mother yet.”
• “Good.” He said before I heard shuffling, “I'm going to help you run away to a nice place, very far away from here.”
• I nodded immediately as if he could hear me as tears of relief dropped from my eyes, “Thank you so much, Rafael. I knew I could count on you.”
• “Of course. You're my sister and I only want what's best for you. I only have your best interest at heart.”
• “Mother and father don't even want to hear me out.” I complained.
• “Don't worry about them. They'll understand sooner or later. Just pack the few things you need and meet me at the location I'll text you once I hang up. I'll help you cross the border.”
• “Thank you so much, brother. I love you.”
• “I love you too, Dani and that's why I'm doing this.”
• I grabbed a duffel bag and stuffed the few clothing that mother didn't pack into it before changing into black sweat pants and sweat shirt and grabbing my car keys.
• I tiptoed out of the house and straight to my car. I gave the house one last look at midnight before I drove away from where I had learned to call home to an unknown destination.
• Rafael had texted me the place we would meet and told me he was waiting for me.
• The route he directed me to take was dark and abandoned but he assured me that he didn't want Luciano to track me down through security cameras on the highway.
• The road was getting much more scarier as I drove further. I tried calling him but he was not picking up so I continued driving to the location.
• The road was a bit slippery due to the rainfall earlier in the night and I tried applying the breaks but they weren’t working.
• As I was struggling to control the speed of the car, Rafael began to call.
• I removed my eyes from the road for a second to grab my phone from the passenger seat but as I focused my attention back to the road, it was already too late.
• All I could see was blinding lights before everything went pitch black.