Abducted and Owned By The Ruthless Mafia

**Joe Banks POV**

I could hear the song playing on the radio—some mystery band that had a high-pitched but soothing sound. It wrapped around us like a blanket, but in our van, the atmosphere was anything but cozy.

I kept my poker face, focusing on the road ahead while the afternoon sun poured through the windshield.

The highway was mostly empty, just a few cars passing by, but the silence in our vehicle was deafening.

Samantha, my little girl, sat in the backseat, her excitement palpable as she bounced against the door. "Look how pretty the flowers are! I can't wait to see the beach!" she exclaimed, her voice bright and full of wonder.

But her enthusiasm fell flat against the stony silence that enveloped the rest of us.

I could feel the weight of the tension in the air.

Dan, my twelve-year-old son, sat across from her, his face a mask of frustration and sadness.

He was old enough to understand the cracks forming in our family—cracks that had grown wider with each argument, each whispered fight that he and Samantha had been shielded from.

I could still hear the words I'd said to Liz just a day before: "Let’s try this, and if it still doesn’t work out, then we do the normal thing, like take legal action." The thought made my stomach churn.

Dan was not the carefree kid I remembered from just a few years ago. He had grown up too fast, forced to bear the weight of our issues.

I glanced at him in the rearview mirror, and the sadness etched on his face made my heart ache.

Samantha, blissfully unaware of the turmoil, continued to chatter for a while longer, but even her innocent joy couldn't pierce through the thick air.

Eventually, her voice faded into silence, and she began drawing shapes in the dust on her window, her small shoulders slumping as she sensed the tension but didn't understand its source.

I kept my eyes on the road, but my thoughts were dark. The indignity of pretending, of hiding the truth from our children, gnawed at me.

We were supposed to be a family, but now we were just a collection of broken pieces. I wished we could rewind time, go back to when laughter filled our home and love felt like a warm embrace.

“Please, Joe, can you turn down the volume?” Liz’s voice broke through my thoughts, cracked and heavy with emotion. I stole a glance at her, and the sight of her distress hit me hard.

I reached forward, adjusting the radio with my fingers—fingers still healing from an engine accident that felt like a lifetime ago.

As the miles rolled by, I could feel the distance growing between us, not just in physical space but in our hearts. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked, trying to bridge the gap, reaching for her hand.

She pulled away slowly, and my heart sank further.

“Danny, how you holding up?” I turned my attention to my son, trying to gauge his mood. He looked away, the sadness in his eyes making me feel helpless.

Samantha, always the little ray of sunshine, tried once more to break the silence. “Are we almost there yet, Daddy?” Her small voice cracked, and I swallowed hard, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes.

“Almost, sweetheart. Just a little longer.” I hoped that once we reached the beach, the fresh air would wash away the heaviness that clung to us, if only for a moment. But deep down, I knew the storm clouds were still gathering back home, and this was just a temporary escape.

Twenty silent minutes later, as we crested a hill, the ocean came into view, vast and shimmering under the late afternoon sun. It was beautiful, but I knew it wouldn’t heal the wounds we carried.

Just then, I caught Dan bending over, his body shaking. “Daddy. Mummy, something is wrong with Danny,” Samantha said gently, her voice filled with concern.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

But Dan didn’t respond. The tension in the van thickened, and I felt a wave of panic. “Danny?!” I pressed, my heart racing.

“I think he’s crying…” Samantha whispered, her innocent observation hitting me like a punch to the gut.

Liz turned around, her voice soft but urgent. “Danny boy, what is it?” She reached out, brushing her fingers through his hair, but he remained silent, lost in his own world of hurt.

In that moment, I was torn between wanting to pull over and sort this out and the reality that there was no safe place to stop. Just then, Liz shouted, “Hey! Joe! Look out!”

It took a moment for her words to register, but when they did, adrenaline kicked in. A car was coming out of a side road, heading straight for us. I slammed on the brakes, my heart racing as I felt the van fishtail on the loose gravel.

In the backseat, Samantha screamed, and I could see Dan go pale with fear. The world slowed down as I fought to regain control, my instincts taking over. Somehow, I managed to steer us past the oncoming vehicle with barely an inch to spare, the rush of air rocking us violently.

For a long moment, no one moved. The silence was deafening, hearts pounding in unison. I pulled over to the side of the road, my hands shaking on the wheel, still feeling the adrenaline coursing through me.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked, my voice unsteady as I glanced in the rearview mirror.

Three pairs of wide eyes stared back at me, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me as they nodded.

Samantha, however, had started crying softly, the shock of the moment breaking through her earlier excitement.

Dan squeezed her tight, and in that pulse-pounding moment of near disaster, something shifted.

The tension that had filled the van began to dissipate, if only for a moment, as we all clung to the fragile thread of our family, reminding ourselves that we were still here, together.