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I knew it was Bosco’s men, so I didn’t look over my shoulder.
I could see the sign to the pizza place jutting out from the building. It had a picture of a cheesy slice along with the name of the restaurant. I knew his men would pick up anything I asked for, but it seemed ridiculous to order someone to do something that I could do myself. Besides, it was nice to walk.
The car stopped behind me, and all the doors opened.
I rolled my eyes, unable to believe they were really going to follow me on foot. “I’ll be right back, boys. I can make it the rest of the way.”
“Wow, you’ve got spunk.” A distinct Russian accent sounded behind me, sinister, cold, and terrifying.
I stopped in my tracks, knowing this wasn’t one of Bosco’s men. I turned around, the panic already rising in my blood. My heart thumped against my rib cage, and I tried to think of something to do next. Bosco’s men were just around the corner, so there was nothing to be scared of yet.
My eyes met a pair of blue ones. They were bright, almost the color of the sky on a summer day, not deep the way Bosco’s were. With a few scars on his face and a lanky body, he seemed like the kind of criminal who had other men do his dirty work.
That didn’t make him any less scary.
I chose to be brave, knowing Bosco’s men would save me like they had in the past. “I was just about to get a pizza. Want a slice?”
He wore a navy blue suit, his hands in his pockets. Three men stood behind him, all carrying rifles that were pointed to the ground. He slowly walked toward me, smiling with crooked teeth. “I’m liking you more and more.”
The sound of several gunshots erupted in the distance. The noises ricocheted off the buildings, audible from a few blocks over. They were so loud, my eardrums stung. My body jolted, and the terror gripped me.
“The men are taken care of,” one of the guys reported to the Russian.
Jesus Christ, I was in trouble.
Another black car emerged from the other side of the street. It pulled up alongside the first. Four more men got out.
If Bosco’s men were dead, then there was no way for the others to know I was in danger. There was no way for Bosco to know I was in danger. I would be taken by this man, and Bosco may never find me.
Enough jokes about pizza.
The Russian studied me as he slowly crept up to me. “A woman like you is smart to keep bodyguards. Too bad they weren’t good at their jobs.”
I had no idea who this man was. He obviously didn’t know those men worked for Bosco, so why was he after me? Did it have something to do with my family? Or Griffin? “Those men belong to Bosco Roth. I also belong to Bosco Roth. So you should consider your next actions carefully.”
That actually stopped him in his tracks, his smile weakening at the threat I’d just unleashed. He clearly hadn’t taken the time to do his research before he approached me, because this was news to him.
“He’s a possessive man. You should leave while you still can.”
He recovered from the surprise and kept moving forward, approaching me with a cruel look in his eyes.
I didn’t take a step back, knowing there was nowhere for me to go.
When he was right in front of me, he lifted the back of his hand to my face and felt my cheek with the backs of his fingers. “So soft…so flawless.”
His breath smelled like cigarettes, and his slimy hands were ice-cold. He smelled like the back of a taxi, soaked with the scent of so many things it smelled like the odor from a skunk. With disgusting features and an even more disgusting presence, a grosser man had never touched me.
I pushed his hand away. “Don’t touch me—”
He backhanded me hard, so hard I flew into the cold concrete. “I’m going to enjoy doing that to you—over and over.”
It was the second time a man had hit me—and I was getting really sick of it. I didn’t stay on the ground long because I refused to bend to a man. I refused to accept defeat. I pushed my way up again and silently threatened him with my gaze. My cheek was pulsing with inflammation, and I knew my cheek would be red for days. “You’ll die for that.”
He smiled, like that was the response he was hoping for. “You’re just like Mia. I was hoping you would be.”
Mia. The only terrible man who would know Mia would have to be… It only took me a few seconds to figure out who he was. He was the man who’d raped and tortured my sister-in-law, the one who took away her ability to have children.
