At this, I laugh. I might give my sister’s husband shit, but no fucking way is Emilio ever going to let anyone get their handson Frankie. I look down at the Rolex still on my wrist. Where the fuck is the cavalry? My parents, uncles, and even my Aunt Lailani should be busting down doors by now.
Has anyone even fucking noticed that I’m missing? It’s been five hours.
“You are either batshit crazy, stupid, or both if you believe you’ll ever get your hands on my sister,” I tell him. “Who the fuck do you even think you are?”
“I’m the person who’s going to wipe that smile off your face. You’ll see. I have a special gift for you.”
I keep my mouth shut. I don’t know why I’m taunting the fucker, or entertaining his delusions. But then I also need to get as much information out of him as I can, so when I leave here I can hunt down the people he works for, because I know this cocksucker can’t be the one in charge of any operation.
“You can tell your bosses that I said they can all go fuck themselves. Whatever is on that disk you so desperately want is mine now.”
I’m bullshitting. I have no idea what’s on the disk. I didn’t even know there was one, and if there is, it’s now disintegrated with the rest of that Russian pimp’s body. We don’t leave evidence lying around.
“I have a feeling you’re going to have a change of heart.” The Russian steps in front of me, walks to the door, then out of the room.
What the fuck?
I don’t waste time. I quickly wiggle my wrists, twisting my fingers enough to loosen the rope. Fuckwits didn’t even tie it properly. I look down at where my ankles are bound together. Once I get one hand out, I bend and loosen the rope without removing it completely. I don’t want to give away my newfound free state too soon.
I like the element of surprise, and I want to see the horror in this asshole’s eyes when I drain his body of blood.
I look at my watch again. It’s pissing me the fuck off that no one has stormed in here yet. I know there’s a tracker in the watch my father gifted me for my eighteenth birthday. He thinks I don’t know about it, but we all received a piece of jewelry he told us not to take off. My sister got three, a pair of earrings, a necklace, and a watch all at different birthdays. And then there’s the jewelry my Tío E gave Frankie—we all know there are trackers in it too.
I make a mental note to buy Molly some new jewelry. I wonder if it will put her off or if she’ll think I’ve lost my mind. She’s not exactly the type of woman you buy cheap shit for either.
Maybe I should just get her a ring…
That thought has me pausing. A ring. What the fuck am I thinking? I can’t marry her. If I propose to her now, she’s going to think my motives are not legit, considering the fact we’re both trying to keep a hold on those last two buildings. At this point, I’m not even sure why I’m fighting her on it anymore. I should just let her have them, do whatever she wants with them.
Besides, if she’s got a project happening in this city, it might give me a reason to keep her here longer. I’m not even close to wanting to let her go.
When I hear the shuffling of feet outside the door, I clear my mind and focus on the task at hand. Getting the fuck out of this building alive because it doesn’t seem like anyone is coming for me.
I’m going to fucking kill them with my bare hands if I have to.
The moment the door opens, the puppet walks in. But he’s not alone. He’s pushing someone in front of him. Molly. The fucker pushes her so hard she falls to her knees. Her hands arebound behind her back. My eyes quickly scan her, but I don’t see any marks on her.
“You see, if you don’t give me back what’s mine, I’m going to keep this one here for myself. She’ll make a nice little plaything for at least two weeks before I tire of her… or her body gives up. And you can only fuck a corpse for so long before the stench ruins your hard-on.” The Russian fucker smirks.
Molly has tears running down her cheeks. I don’t look at her. I can’t. I need to get us both out of this alive.
Chapter Thirty-One
My knees throb. My head is foggy from whatever drugs these people injected into me. I woke up in a cold, dark room. Alone. I didn’t know what had happened, but then I remembered… Angus.
My breath catches on a sob as I think about him. My best friend is gone. Why didn’t he stay in the car? This is my fault. If he wasn’t with me, he wouldn’t have been shot.
I look up, and my heart cracks all over again. I’m going to lose everything. Alfie is tied to a chair, his hands behind his back, just like mine.
I don’t know what these men want. I don’t even know if they have us because of me, because they’re going to try to ransom me off, or if it’s Alfie they want. It doesn’t really matter. There’s no point in fighting what I know is going to happen.
They got us to a second location. The chances of surviving being taken to a second location are slim to none. I know the statistics. My security team had drilled the facts about kidnappings into me when I first hired them. Fat lot of good that did me. They weren’t even there to protect me when I needed them…
Alfie won’t meet my eyes. I keep staring at him, and he’s looking everywhere but at me. Maybe he blames me for the fact he’s currently tied to a chair, or maybe he just doesn’t care about me like I thought he did. I get we’ve only known each other for a short time, but I really let myself believe that we were more.
Alfie has consumed my thoughts. When I’m not with him, I’m thinking about him. When I am with him, I’m still thinking about him. It’s breaking my heart seeing him so hurt. His nose is bleeding, his face red and bruised. He also looks mad as hell, his jaw clenched tight and his dark eyes sending a glare towards the men next to me.
“Do you even realize who’ve you’ve taken?” Alfie asks.
