Page 131 of Power & Punishment

A raspy breath breaks through my lungs as I loosen my grip. My hands are trembling as I come down from my adrenaline high. For one horrifying second, I was going to kill him…and I wanted to.

A loud snore rattles out of him, confirming he’s alive. I drop the belt to the floor and let myself stare blankly at his body. But it’s only for a second until I snap back into escape mode and scramble for my captor’s gun.

“Mia,” Keith croaks from the corner.

The sound of his voice nearly cracks my heart into two. Swallowing that feeling, I slide the stolen gun in the back of my jeans and rush over to Keith’s body crumpled on top of a stray mattress pushed up against a wall. His digs aren’t as nice as mine.

“Are you okay?” I ask, going to work on his restraints. I swallow hard, trying not to let my eyes hover over the large gash on his forehead. It’s going to need stitches.

“I’ve been better,” he rasps, wincing as I carefully navigate the rope burn around his wrists.

“Same,” I say, cracking a smile once I get the rope loose. “Can you walk?”

Keith winces, rubbing the raw skin on his hands. “Yes,” he says. “Let’s get the hell out of here before dumb and dumber wake up.”

I glance at the two pathetic men snoozing away on the wooden floor. “That’s the plan. I think Adrian is downstairs, but I have no clue how many more men there are.”

“I don’t think they stand a chance,” he smirks, slowly getting to his feet. I lend my shoulder to help stabilize him as blood starts to circulate into his legs again.

Heavy footsteps pound against the staircase. We both snap our heads in that direction and quickly turn back to each other.

Shit.

“We need to move now,” I whisper, but it’s too late.

Adrian and two men are already in the doorframe, guns in hand, staring in awe at the bodies lying on the floor. “Fucking useless,” he mutters under his breath.

When his sickly eyes land on me, my pulse hammers. “Impressive, Mia. But I’m afraid playtime is over. Let’s go see your boyfriend, shall we?”

Leo’s here.

He came for me.

No, Adrian lured him here.

Used me as bait just like he said he would.

Anger rolls over me, and some of that adrenaline from a few seconds ago is still pumping through me. I reach for the gun safely stowed behind my back, but Keith nudges my arm, stopping me. I look up and he shakes his head.

He’s right. Even if I get one shot off, we’re outnumbered. They’ll put a bullet in my brain before I can do anything.

And who knows what would happen to Leo.

I let out a frustrated sigh and step forward, dread curling in my gut. Adrian has us exactly where he wants us, but I won’t go down without a fight.

As if on cue, Shrek moans in his sleep. I let a cocky smile break the surface before letting my mouth crumble into a straight line. “Fine. I’ll go, but Keith is coming with me.”

“Good choice,” Adrian responds, turning to his men. “Take care of them.”

I grimace, picturing what that could mean as I step over one of their limp hands.

I keep silent, trailing behind Adrian. Keith flanks my back, and another one of Adrian’s men follows closely behind like some kind of fucked up conga line.

When we get to the bottom of the stairs, Adrian offers his arm, but I respond with a dirty look. He chuckles to himself, shaking his head. “You know, Leo’s been quite difficult tonight.”

I keep my face blank, even though I want to punch him in the throat. “What did you do to him?”

“Why does everyone ask that?” He smirks, tilting his head. “I’m not a bad guy. I just do bad things sometimes. Big difference.”