𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚

7

What do we think so far? Both the new readers and the old one's.

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It had been a month since the wedding and Severus had been busy. Since he was the new boss, he had to go meet several of their allies and renew their treaties so now they would serve under his name and be ready at his beck and call. Not on his fathers.

This was very dangerous though and from the bits of conversation that I would occasionally catch onto, there were a few cases where guns had been involved. In each of them Severus and his band of selected members would win.

He was kept away most of the time because of this and rarely managed to get some sleep. Edward had dropped by soon after the wedding, when Severus was away and had enlightened me with the information that no one else had the guts to relay.

Ranging from traitors, moles and enemies, Severus had also been buried under heaps of paperwork and Edward had told me the whereabouts of his office in case I wanted to meet him. That was a week ago, now I barely had anyone to talk to. Dramas and books were my only amusement.

Donna had been moved to a safe house since I had 'taken over' her position, and Sally was to remain with her. Never in my life would I have imagined actually missing Sally, but in times where I was this alone, my thinking was valid.

Edward was also busy, according to him, there was a lot more burden on his shoulders now than before. Since the second in command was new, the boss was new and a few important members of the gang had been replaced by their successors. Edward was left to analyze and check up on the new replacements. The job was given to him by none other than Severus himself.

I sighed and settled my head on my knees, I couldn't even focus on the story playing on the LED. All I could do was think about Severus and how he had been, I hadn't seen him for a while now and was just itching to hit him with something the moment he got back.

Who leaves their new wife on the first night? Granted that I had fallen asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, but that didn't mean that he had to disappear on me. I only caught glimpses of him every now and then.

The worst part was that the man- my now father-in-law -also frequented the base and I could only hope that he didn't find me alone. I had barely been stepping out of my room lately and had little to no motivation to move from the comfortable position on the couch.

The corset under my dress was still suffocating me but I had grown used to it over the years. Donna did say something about it being mandatory and the only case it could be removed in was if I was to get pregnant.

I sighed and stood up before dragging myself to the shower, I could at least look around right? I won't run away and I would be supervised by the men Severus had left outside my room.

After taking what had to be the most relaxing shower I had ever had, I dried my hair and put on my dress. Soon after that I was out of my room and on my way to explore the lair. They made it sound very dramatic.

It was a huge mansion in the middle of trees, the landscape was owned by the gang and it stretched for acres of land. I knew for sure that some of the important members were also accommodated somewhere on this piece of earth.

The guards followed after me, they were two bulky men dressed in black with visible guns strapped to their belts, a dagger hanging from one of the hoops on their jeans. I could bet that they had more guns hidden somewhere under their clothes.

Both of them were silent and refrained from talking to me, their answers to any of my questions were either nods or monosyllables. Another reason why I wanted to find someone to talk to, but strangely enough their weren't any females present. Even the person who came to check on me every hour and brought along food or new dresses or replaced and checked the essentials in the washroom, was a male.

And even he didn't say a word to me, I could almost bet that it was another rule and Severus had gladly followed it.

A throat cleared behind me and I turned to one of the guards in silence.

"Where are we headed, Donna?"

He asked politely, eyes not bowed but not meeting mine either.

"I want to go see Severus."

Both the guards shared looks before replying.

"The boss will be back in a while Donna, would you like to return and wait inside your room?"

I shook my head, it was obvious that I could only visit a few spots that were specified by someone, others would probably scar me for life.

"We can look around till then, I haven't left my room up till now and I really want to see everything up close."

The other guard replied instantly, his voice sounding a bit guarded than the other one.

"You can look around in the presence of the boss, Donna, I'm sure he would be more than delighted to be present."

I waved my hand in the air as if I was dismissing the idea and waving it away.

"If he wanted to be present then he would've given me a tour on his own and since he barely has enough time for me, I'd rather do this on my own than not at all."

The guards went to interject but I frowned at both of them in suspicion, they were clearly trying to hold me back.

Silently, they followed after me, opening doors. Nodding to other guards and helping me through from one room to another. That was when a certain someone made their presence known.

"Edward?"

"Princess?"

"You're free?"

"What're you doing out here?"

We asked together, barely managing to catch what the other was saying over our own voices.

"I'm looking around."

He nodded to me before turning his head to the guards.

"Leave."

They both stiffened at his command and his glare sharpened as they didn't follow immediately.

"But the bos~"

Edward interjected with a voice as hard as steel and the most commanding one I had ever heard.

"Told you not to leave her alone and she won't be alone, so neither of you are needed here. Leave. Now"

Both of them bowed their heads and left without another word. Edward stayed rooted on spot and waited till they were completely out of sight and after I had heard a door slam somewhere, he finally began talking.

"You could've waited for Severus to return."

I shrugged in response and gave him the side eye. He sighed and nodded silently, both of us knew that Severus didn't have any time now a days and he was more than just busy with everything. He was drowning in it.

"Will you show me around?"

He nodded silently and led me to a hall. There were numerous pictures that decorated it, people standing with all their glory, guns and daggers on display. It was almost like walking into a museum, except I knew that these guns were in perfect and loaded condition to be used if needed.

I followed him quietly as he didn't speak a word nor turn around to see if I was right behind him. But somehow, whenever I stopped to examine something, he would stop in his steps as well. There were numerous questions clouding my mind but I knew they were not going to be answered anytime soon, especially not by Edward.

"What's in there?"

I questioned and he finally turned his head to look where I was pointing. I frowned as he grimaced and stiffened, before relaxing as a lazy smirk took over his features.

"You sure you're strong enough to handle what's in there, princess?"

I nodded eagerly, of course I was strong enough or at least I hoped I was. But no amount of hoping or praying could have readied me for what I saw.

Blood drained from my face as I stared at the massive room in front of me, my mouth agape as I swallowed back the scream threatening to come through.

Young girls... They all looked so young, not even in their teens. All of them were buried in the walls.