Page 55 of Sacred Blood

The cab pulled up in front of the club and I spotted my bitches heading in. Jumping out of the car, I raced to join them. The doorman let us through and voilà, it was like someone had waved a magic wand. The music was pumping and people were dancing.

“Come on!” I cried, running out to the floor and tugging Lucy and Shay along with me, while Janet volunteered to stay behind and get the drinks.

Shaking it on the floor felt amazing. I lost myself in the beat so completely, it was like being high. Yet despite the sheer pleasure of the moment, an innate sadness filled me that I couldn’t explain.

When Janet waved us over, I downed the shooter and reached for the other drink she had waiting for me and went straight back to the floor. Lucy followed and we continued to bump and grind.

“What’s gotten into you?” Lucy asked when we needed to hydrate and hit the bar for more shots.

“I just really needed this.”

“We’ve tried not to pry, but can you tell me what’s going on? The last we spoke, you said someone was coming by to grab your things and we haven’t heard from you since.”

Could I share the burden of what was happening with someone other than Tano? The urge to spill to another woman was overwhelming. “Let’s go back to the floor and I’ll tell you what I can.”

Taking our drinks with us, I told Lucy a much-abridged version of events, beginning with running away from home in Toronto because my father wanted me to marry some guy I’d never met to strengthen family ties. It was a partial truth at least.

“But why all the cloak and dagger?” she wanted to know. “You said no, that’s the end of it, right? They can’t make you get married.”

Now it would get tricky. “Yes, well, my dad has ties to the mafia and it’s a little more serious when you don’t keep your word in that world if you know what I mean.”

She nodded her head sagely while shaking her ass. “I totally get it. Well, your secret is safe with me, Gabriella.”

The fine hairs on my neck stood up. I’d never told her my name was Gabriella. “Let’s grab another drink,” I said as lightly as I could. When we got to the bar, I excused myself to go to the bathroom.

Pulling out my phone, I saw several texts from Tano, but I had no time to read those messages. I phoned him, but got voicemail. Shit!

“Tano, listen, I’m at the Cock & Tail Club with the girls and something’s not right. I need help!”

Just then, someone booted in the bathroom door and heavy feet clattered on the tiled floor.

“Tano, they’re here,” I whispered as the door to the stall was practically ripped off its hinges. In its place stood four goons with stony expressions.

“Can I help you, boys? I think you’re in the wrong bathroom.” I’d tried to sound amused, but my nerves made my bold words come out small.

“You’re coming with us, Allegra Calabretta.”

One yanked me to my feet while another took my phone and smashed it before putting the broken pieces in the toilet and flushing it. A third took my purse and threw it in the garbage. They hustled me out of the bathroom and towards the exit. Casting a glance back into the club, I saw my three friends staring after me. Two looked alarmed, but not Lucy, she looked guilty as hell.

“Bitch!” I mouthed.

Outside, I was pushed into a blacked-out SUV with a guard on either side of me and two more in the front. The severity of what I’d done chose that moment to hit me full-on in the chest. All that whining about Tano, but he’d been the first person I called and the only person I truly trusted. The guilt consumed me, tears stung my eyes.

What had I done?

“Who do you work for?” I asked. I felt I had a right to know if these men, who were clearly Russian, worked for Dimitri Peskov, my birth father, or Sonja’s father, Ivan Knyazev, but they ignored my question.

Way to go, Gabriella. You totally screwed up this time.

The ride to wherever they were taking me was dark and ominous, with the promise of something even more sinister to come. I was so naïve in believing I would be safe on my own!

Without warning, our car was slammed and pushed across the road. If not for the seat belt and the guy beside me, whose body shielded me from most of the impact, I was sure I would have gone right through the window. The world spun around me and the car came to a crashing stop. I scarcely had time to process what was happening before gunfire rang out and the men on either side of me were dead. I scrambled to get my seatbelt off and crawl over the lap of my dead guard and get out of the car. Stumbling from the vehicle, I tried to make a run for it, but was scooped up by a giant in a black suit.

My kidnappers had been killed, but I hadn’t been rescued, just kidnapped again. The entire situation bubbled in my chest; crazy laughter burst from me that quickly turned into sobs. Three men easily as big as the giant holding me surrounded the vehicle. Guns popped, ending groans and pleas. They pushed the vehicle off the side of the road and carried me to the black Hummer, shoving me inside.

What fresh hell was this? If I thought the last group was cold, these guys were terrifying. Oh, why didn’t I listen to Tano? Everything he’d done was for my greater good, and if I’d been obedient, then I wouldn’t be in this mess. If I ever got the chance to see him again, I’d swear to him that I’d listen, that following his instructions no longer rubbed me the wrong way. Who had I been kidding anyway? Inside of me was a woman who had dreamed of a man exactly like Tano, and all I’d had to do was fully admit and accept who I really was, but instead I chose to play games.

Fear had held me back from being completely honest with him and now fear was all I had. I couldn’t help but remember the interrogation room Tano had taken me to for punishment, a room that soaked in so much fear and death that the visceral stink of it could never be cleaned away. I could smell it even now. Leaning forward, I puked up all the alcohol I’d had at the club. The goons to either side didn’t even spare me a glance, just shifted their feet away so as to not get splashed.