AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Who’s that?" Frankie yelled to me. "Is that your new man?”
"I, uh..." I muttered, staring down at the number that had just called me. I didn’t know it. Shit – it probably was one of the guys. They were likely worried about me, or just so pissed they wanted to chew me out in person. Either way, I wouldn’t have blamed them.
"Give me a minute," I called back to her over the sound of the music. "I just need to take this, okay?"
"Sure!” she replied, and I made my way to the back entrance of the club, somewhere I could take the call without getting distracted by anything that was going on inside. The cool air prickled at my skin – I had dumped my coat at the table, but it was too late to go back in and get it now.
I tried to dial the number back, but before I could, I heard a voice calling my name – I spun around, confused, wondering if it was Frankie coming to find me with my jacket.
But it wasn’t Frankie. No. My heart dropped when I saw two men blocking my exit from the alleyway around the back of the club – I had no idea who they were, but one of them was holding a gun, the dark metal glinting in the dull light back here. I backed towards the door again, ready to sprint back inside, but I bashed right into another man who was already positioned there to keep me from bolting.
The phone slipped from my hand, landing with a thud on the sidewalk below.
"What – what...?" I began, stuttering the words out uselessly. But before I could ask a single question, the man behind me wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me off the ground.
"Put me down!” I screamed. Someone inside the club would have to hear me, right? But you could hardly hear your thoughts over the sound of that music inside, no way was anyone going to be able to make out my cries for help...I kicked my legs desperately, trying to find purchase against him with the sharp end of my heel, but it was useless. I was too weak to make any kind of a dent.
"Get in touch with her father," The man who had me in his grip instructed the others. "Tell him we want a million for her. And we’re not going to take a cent less..."
He kept talking as he dragged me along the alleyway, but I couldn’t make any of it out, the ringing in my ears too loud for me to make sense of anything else. Shit! All this time, I had been so sure my father was just being paranoid when he had hired those bodyguards, but here I was, my first time out without them, and look what had happened to me. I had been so stupid, so fucking stupid, and now, I was going to pay the price.
"Hey!”
A familiar voice cut through the ringing in my ears, and I twisted my head around to see who it was.
And, as soon as I laid eyes on him, I felt a flood of relief hit me. Alex.
Chapter Eleven – Alex
"What the fuck is going on?" I spat at the three men before me. I didn’t need to ask, it was already pretty damn clear what was happening. But I needed to buy time to figure out how I was going to take all of them on – and how I was going to get her out of here in one piece.
I knew something was off as soon as I had stepped up to take my shift. Something different about that apartment, something...quiet, removed. Something nagged at the back of my mind until I eventually cracked and went to check on Olya – only to find that she was missing from her bed.
Panic had kicked in at once. I knew I had to find her. Where the fuck could she have gotten to? What the fuck was going on with her? Why would she leave without telling us? As though I didn’t know the answer to that – as though I didn’t know for damn sure how much she hated having to have the two of us around. This was her way of rebelling, but I wasn’t going to let her get away with it, not in the middle of the night when I knew anything could have been happening to her.
I thought about waking Solomon up, but I knew he would have kicked off into high-gear panic, and that was the last thing I needed. I wanted to keep my head in the game and deal with this myself. And I could. I just needed to figure out where she had gone to and get her back. Easy, right?
That’s what I had to tell myself. I found the number that she used, and called it a few times, to no avail – either she wasn’t picking up because she didn’t want to talk to me, or she couldn’t. Fuck!
I kept my cool, breathing hard as I tracked her phone’s location to a club a few streets away. She was likely just out with a few of her friends. Nothing bad had to have happened. I was likely overthinking all of this, letting my imagination run away with me...
But I couldn’t stop it. My mind was filling with memories of the missions I’d been on as part of the military – the men I had seen die, their bloodied bodies scattered across dusty streets, never to go back to their families, never to see the people they cared about ever again. That was what could happen if I took my eye off the ball.
And if something happened to her...I knew I would never be able to forgive myself.
I drove out to the club, jumping red lights, only focused on one thing – only interested in getting her back to the apartment in one piece. I would chew her out when I got her there, but right now, all that mattered was making sure she returned to me, safe.
Screeching the car to a halt, I was about to rush into the club – when I heard something, a shout, a voice I recognized at once. Olya.
I bolted around the back of the club, where a narrow alleyway led away from the back entrance – normally, it would have been occupied by bartenders finishing their shifts, smoking after a long night of work, but now, instead, three men waited in the dark shadows.
One of them had Olya.
She was fighting to escape his grasp, but he had her arms pinned to her sides with ease – the other two men were providing cover as he dragged her towards a sleek black vehicle, parked at the far end of the alleyway.
"Hey!” I yelled, and I rushed towards him, not able to think twice before I made my move. "What the fuck do you think you’re doing?"
The man didn’t loosen his grip on Olya for a second. He looked me up and down.
