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“What?” I whispered, struggling to catch a breath. My body shaking.
“Over my dead body!” Shane said, and a loud sound of a gunshot rang in my ears.
Next thing I knew, Shane grabbed me by my hand and led me outside. I was running, tightly holding his hand. I was so scared that I didn’t even know if he had shot the guy or not. Fear took control of all of my senses, and I just followed Shane’s lead without question.
WE EXITED THE BUILDING using the back door, and we froze.
“Fuck!” Shane said, irritated.
We were trapped. At least a dozen men looking like clones in leather jackets with earpieces and dark sunglasses surrounded the exit and us. Shane took a firm hold of my trembling hand. I didn’t know what was happening, but I was terrified—my heart kept racing like a hummingbird. A few seconds later, two men on our left side spread out, and a man in his fifties with grayish hair and pale skin in a black suit escorted by two more gorillas in leather jackets came in front of the rest before they settled in the line again. The whole situation looked like a scene from a thriller movie when a Mafia boss enters the room. Little did I know, it was exactly like that, except it wasn’t a movie.
The man in a suit took off the sunglasses and looked at me with his icy-blue piercing gaze, just like Shane’s.
“Karl Vergoossen?” I said, astonished and frightened as I recognized the most respected and feared man in the United States.
“Good evening, Miss Atwood,” he said, his tone low and calm. His attitude reminded me of Shane's. “My apologies for this commotion, but we need to talk.”
Cold shivers ran down my back.
“Leave her out of this,” Shane hissed in warning.
“Oh, I wish,” Karl said, his tone sarcastic. “But how could I if she’s the key element in this whole mess?”
I didn’t understand what they both meant, but at this point, I was sure it was not a mere coincidence that I’d met Shane. There was so much more to it, and I was sure I was about to find out.
“I said…” Shane pointed the gun at his father, and in an instant, every single one of the gorillas pointed their weapons at Shane, cocking them. Again, I froze.
“That wasn’t a wise move,” Karl stated before raising his hand in the air, and one of the men hovering over him shot Shane.
I screamed out in fear, covering my mouth with my hands, watching Shane struggling to stand still, losing consciousness. Two men rushed toward him and caught him just in time to prevent his body from falling to the ground.
“What the fuck?! Did you kill your own son?” I couldn’t believe my own eyes that grew wider and wider in pure shock with each passing second.
Karl scoffed, an amused smirk curled up his lips, and his people took Shane’s body and followed him to one of the black, armored Mercedes SUVs. “I wouldn’t have hurt my firstborn, Miss Atwood. It was a tranquilizer gun.”
“But why did you do this?!” I was shocked and in fear, but also damn mad. I couldn’t grasp why he’d do that to his own son. As far as I was concerned, the Vergoossens were considered a family with strong ties, traditions, and values. Should anything happen to any of them, they would crawl through glass for one another.
“Because, young lady…” He paused for a few seconds as if building up the tension. His piercing eyes locked with mine. “We need to talk.”
“After you, miss,” a deep male voice rumbled from behind, and I turned to see two of Karl’s gorillas flanking me.
I let out a quiet sigh, knowing I had no other option but to comply. I glanced over at Karl. He was watching me expectantly, his hands crossed behind. A man with hair dyed a platinum shade of silver opened the door for me. I couldn’t see his eyes through the dark glasses, but I could feel his gaze, and I got goose bumps. I gave Karl a death stare before heading to the car, and to my surprise, Karl followed me and got in, sitting in the back seat next to me before the man with silver hair closed the door, jumped in the passenger seat and the driver drove away.
~••~
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed or where we were, but I hadn’t opened my mouth since we got in. I couldn’t stop thinking about Shane.
Where did they take him? Why did they do this?
“Cat got your tongue?” Karl’s mocking tone snapped me out of my thoughts.
I turned my head to look at him. He was sunk into the black leather seat, his right hand on the armrest, holding a glass of whiskey.
“What?” I asked quietly, not sure he could even catch my words.
“Are you always so quiet, love?”Love? The nerve of that man.“I’m starting to believe you’re scared of me. Am I right?” He smirked softly to the side.Was this amusing to him?
The truth was, I was scared of him as much as I didn’t want to admit it. You see, Karl Vergoossen was the kind of man who was effortlessly intimidating. He didn’t have to do or say anything. His mere presence was just enough.
