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11
TESSA
I come to on the floor of some nasty-looking room. There’s no windows, no furniture—just the hard, cold cement. My head is killing me as I sit up and try to remember how the hell I got here. Then, it all rushes back to me. My uncle. He was looking for Knox and Delaney. I have to get to my sister.
Struggling to find my footing, my eyes search for the door before they land on one in the corner of the room. I rush over to it, only to turn the knob and find it locked. What the fuck? I try again. No luck.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I shout, hoping he can hear me. “You seriously locked me in here?”
My fist pounds on the door until I hear the click of the lock. The door flies open, and I jump back just in time to not be hit with it. Uncle Dom stands there, looking every bit like a villain. There is no trace of the man who helped teach me how to ride a bike or the one who sneaks me alcohol at family dinners. No, that man is gone, and this dark version is all that’s left.
In a quick attempt, I go to rush past him but he steps in my way and pushes me back, laughing when I fall to the ground. My elbow stings with a fresh scrape, but I’m not about to let that stop me from getting out of here. I get up and try to force my way through, but he’s like a fucking wall, firm and unwavering.
“What is wrong with you? Just let me go!”
He shakes his head slowly. “I can’t do that. You’re an essential part of my plan.”
“What plan?”
Looking to whoever is in the hallway, he smirks, and the next thing I know, four guys are coming into the room. Each one of them have biceps the size of my head, and if this weren’t such a terrifying situation, I’d probably hit on at least two of them. However, they all look like they could snap me in half with ease. I back away until I hit the wall and they corner me in.
“Tie her up,” my uncle orders. “I don’t need her trying to escape every five minutes.”
One goes to grab me, but I’m faster than he is. I lean against the hard cinderblock and use all the force I have to kick him in the balls. He crumbles to the ground, groaning and clutching his damaged goods. Another one pulls me into his hold, but I manage t
o get one hard elbow into his ribcage.
Turning to get away from them, I quickly jab my two fingers into another one’s eyes.
“Christ, you’re feisty,” the last one tells me.
My uncle chuckles. “That’s why she’s always been my favorite. She’s a little fighter, this one.”
“Fuck you,” I spit.
He grins deviously. “I’m not keen on incest, sweetheart, but I’m sure Javi here would love to get a little piece of you.”
Javi looks me up and down, licking his lips and making me feel like I’m going to vomit. The thought of him coming anywhere near me is repulsing. He takes a step toward me and I take one back, noticing the rest of the assholes are starting to recover. I may be tough, but there’s no way I can fight off all these guys plus my uncle. Plus, I don’t know who else is out there.
For the first time since I woke up, fear settles in my stomach, and I start to wonder if I’m going to make it out of here alive. The only thing I know is that in order to stand a chance, I need to cooperate as much as possible.
“Don’t come any closer, or I swear to God, I’ll rip your dick off and feed it to you,” I threaten Javi and then turn to Uncle Dom. “What do you need me to do?”
“It’s simple. Help me get your sister and her little shithead of a boyfriend here,” he sneers.
My breath hitches, and I instantly shake my head. “No. I’ll do anything you want. I’ll lure Knox. I’ll entertain your little brigade of goons. I’ll even let you use me as your pawn. But you have to leave Delaney out of this.”
He narrows his eyes on me but the corners of his lips raise. “I thought you’d say that, but you don’t call the shots here.”
In on quick move, he tosses what looks like a crowbar to one of his jacked-up idiots, and I don’t even have time to duck as he swings it at my head and everything goes black once again.
I jolt awake, sitting up and clutching my head. The memories are vivid and play havoc on my nerves. I try to calm my breathing, but it only gets harder as everything tightens.
Short, rigid breaths are all I can seem to take, and each one hurts more than the last. I press my fist against my chest to put pressure on the pain but nothing seems to be helping. This panic attack is going to rip through me, and all I can do is let it happen.
THE NEXT MORNING, I wake up and realize I slept through my alarm. I’m not surprised, being as I was awake for hours after that nightmare. Usually, I would go into Delaney’s room and be able to fall back asleep without too much issue. Unfortunately for me, she’s about three thousand miles away and therefore not able to calm me during my 2:00 a.m. freakouts.
I head down into the kitchen to get something to drink, only to find my dad sitting at the island with an angry look on his face.
