472 Ba
ch 64

Andrea woke to the morning light peeking through the small, foot-by-foot square window of her cell. Stretching her arms and legs, the cold, damp air enveloped her like a cocoon. She looked around in confusion before memories of the night before washed over her. She had been locked in this solitary cell. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve this, and a wave of fear washed over her. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of Zack. Had something gone wrong? Was she in danger? She desperately wanted to get out of this cell and replace him, but she was confined helplessly. She tried to remember if she had done anything wrong, but the inmates here were all fairly calm. The sound of a tray hitting the cell door shook her from her thoughts. “Breakfast!” a guard’s cold voice announced, and a small gap opened in the door. Andrea slowly approached and bent down to receive the tray. As she ate, she felt something under her plate. She looked at it cautiously, her breath hitching. It was a note, written in Zack’s familiar handwriting. Andrea quickly opened the note, her hands shaking with anticipation. “Love, I know you’ve been put in solitary confinement and you must be very scared, but I want you to know that this is all for your own protection. I’m back, I’m here, and I love you. I’ve done enough work to secure your freedom; you just have to wait a few more days. I love you, and I’ll do everything I can to get you out of here soon. Don’t despair, because we’ll be together again soon. Be strong, we only have six days until freedom. I love you with all my soul. Thank you for reading on LeeNovelas.com. I’m always with you. Zack.” R As she read the words, a wave of relief and joy washed over her. Zack was waiting for her, he was coming to rescue her, and he loved her. She read the words over and over, her heart wracked with love and hope. She knew Zack would never give up, that he wouldn’t stop until he got her out of there. Her heart raced with excitement and she hugged the note to her chest, feeling an overwhelming sense of comfort and love wash over her. She had no way to return those words, but she told herself that if there were only six days left, she could be strong. Being locked up wasn’t easy, but for Zack, being outside and knowing that she was probably cold and scared was much worse. Remember. Read this novel only at LeeNovelas.com, not on other sites. “How long do we have to wait?” Gazca asked. “Enough to give John Hopkins time,” Zack replied. “He asked me for a week, but I know he’s after Rizzuto like a dog after a bone, and he won’t make a move until it’s certain he’ll catch him.” “Fine,” Milo said. “But that’s not our only problem. If Vito suspects this is your doing, he won’t stop chasing you.” “I know,” Zack said, that’s why I’m also thinking about what to do with that. Jhon plans to control it,But we can’t be sure that his plan will work. “Then we have to take precautions, to start with I put three bloodhounds on Mason Lee, as soon as he moves I’ll let you know,” Loan said. If there was one good thing about the Keller boys it was that they understood each other perfectly when it came to drawing up strategies, but in the meantime there was no choice but to keep waiting. The next day, just before dawn, Zack stopped in that parking lot and slid a new envelope of money with a note through the window of a guard’s car. An hour later, under her breakfast plate, Andrea received a new note. “Cupcake: I just saw our baby, she’s big, beautiful and destructive, if you see the twins you wouldn’t recognize them, Adriana took away all the glamour, but at least they smile as if they were real people. Our girl is capable of conquering anyone, and I think they were no exception. They must be strolling through the shops right now, because Noémi wanted to buy her some fancy clothes… we’ll see if the baby agrees. I’m still here, thinking about you every minute, missing you, wanting you, waiting for you. Be brave, my love, we only have five days left until freedom. I love you. Always yours. Zack.” Andrea was speechless. There was a deep tenderness in his letter and it told her exactly what she needed to hear to resist. Even in the most difficult circumstances, she knew she could always rely on Zack to protect Adriana. And now she had her “cool” aunts too. What she couldn’t even imagine was that the twins’ outing with Adriana wouldn’t exactly be peaceful, but not in the way Zack feared. Adriana behaved perfectly, she let herself be dressed, she let herself be groomed and made pretty with each outfit and each romper. “I love it! I swear I’d take the whole store!” Chiara laughed, picking up Adriana and rocking her so she would stay calm. You look beautiful, little girl, you’re a doll and your aunt is going to make you really fashionable! Isn’t that right? Noémi smiled and shook her head condescendingly. “We were the ones who lost all the fashion,” she murmured. “I don’t know how long it’s been since I left the house without heels. Hey, there aren’t any baby heels!?” “Of course not, what’s a baby doing in heels!?” “Dressing up?” Noémi shrugged. What if we dress her up? And off they went, looking for every princess costume there was in the store in a six-month size. They soon put her in her stroller and began to carry a shopping basket. “I didn’t expect that!” they heard a voice behind them and they both tensed at the same time. They turned around just in time to see that woman carrying the little girl and Chiara dropped everything she was holding. “Give me the baby, Giselle,” she demanded, and Noémi dropped everything as well. “I thought you didn’t like the brat, after all, wasn’t that why you called me?” “That was last year, and it was clearly a mistake,” Chiara replied.What I don’t understand is why you’re still hanging around here. Giselle shrugged her shoulders without handing over the girl yet. “Well, since I was here, I decided to see if there were opportunities and now I’m working for a national agency,” she declared haughtily. “Congratulations, good for you, now give me the girl,” Chiara insisted nervously. It was true that they had allied themselves with Giselle and had sent for her to deny that the baby was Zack’s biological daughter, but they had also been taken by surprise by the fact that Gisselle had aborted her nephew. “Relax, I’m not going to do anything to her, I just want to join in the game. I imagine they must be putting on some kind of show in front of Zack, because there’s no way they’re willingly taking care of this brat…” “Enough, Giselle!” Noémi growled and took Adriana from her arms, handing her to her sister. The brat is our niece and that’s it, we’re taking care of her because we feel like it, and if you have an opinion on the matter, keep it to yourself because no one asked you for it. Giselle made a helpless gesture, seeing that she had lost the support of her sisters.Zack and suddenly Chiara narrowed her eyes, understanding the reason for her annoyance. “It’s useless, Zack will never look at you again in his life,” she assured her. If that’s why you stayed in Switzerland, you better leave, because Zack already has a wife and a daughter, and believe me when I tell you that he’s willing to do anything for them. So you better stay away from him, because I guarantee you’ll be redundant.” Giselle’s lips twisted into a sneer and she uttered an imperceptible: “We’ll see” before turning her back on them and leaving the store. The twins looked at each other nervously and immediately gathered everything to go pay. “Look, you and I give the creeps…” Noémi murmured. “I know, we’ve always been bitches…” “But we’re not bad…” “But we’re not good either…” “Well, in between, the thing is that we’re supposed to be the ones who scare, right?” —I know, but Giselle made even the hairs I have shaved stand up… —Dirty! —You understand me! And you too, don’t deny it! —Chiara exclaimed. —I know, I’m worried that we brought her here and now she wants to make Zack’s life impossible—murmured her sister. —Well, for starters Zack has other problems right now and we don’t know when he’ll be back, and I assure you that when he does he’ll go straight to Lucerne with mom and dad. So we better take care of Giselle when she’s a problem. —OK, as long as she’s just an annoying bitch we’ll abstain. Okay? —Okay! They took a deep breath and took Adriana home, determined to be more attentive than ever. For her part, Andrea spent another cold night. She got tired of asking for a blanket, but the one they gave her was barely enough to get a little bit of warmth. Zack couldn’t even imagine that, after all he was paying one of the guards to keep Andrea isolated and safe, and he assumed that not being cold was part of that safety. He was about to write his third letter when Milo ran into his room. “You have to come! I think something is happening, something big. Hurry up!”