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My mind is running on a loop with horrific images of what is happening to my sister. “Send me a picture. I need a picture to confirm that you haven’t harmed them.”
Lorenzo sighs. “Very well. You should be receiving it now.”
My phone pings with a text message. I immediately click on the image. There my mom and sister are bound and gagged in chairs. Their hair and clothes are rumpled, and their faces are streaked with tears and mascara. The image is horrendous, but not as horrifying as seeing Lucky Luca standing behind my sister with his hand down her shirt.
Flashes of Jacob molesting me in the back of a dirty van flood my head. The fear I felt when I was at my most vulnerable was the most excruciating emotion to experience. Seeing my sister in a similar situation makes me burn.
“You said you wouldn’t hurt them!”
“I haven’t laid a finger on them, Pina,” he says smugly. “And they aren’t hurt.”
“Unwanted touching is hurting. If you allow those fuckers to touch my sister or my mom, you’re no better than Jacob,” I snarl.
Whatever I say gives Lorenzo pause. He snarls. “I’m nothing like that monster.”
“Doing nothing while my sister is being violated is the exact same thing Jesse did when he helped Jacob kidnap me. Your hands are still dirty,” I snap.
Lorenzo growls with irritation. “Take your hands off the goods, Luca. No more touching.”
“Promise me no one will hurt my mom and sister. Promise me you’ll let them go unharmed, and I’ll come to you,” I beg, unable to hide my trembling voice.
Lorenzo sucks in a ragged breath. “Pina, I’ll promise you the world if you’re mine. If you wish for me to let them go unsullied, I’ll grant it. But you must come to me first. It’s important that you make this the choice you want. I’ll not take you by force like Jacob. I don’t manhandle women, certainly not you.”
Truly, I cannot understand how he believes he’s any better than Jacob. They’re cut from the same cloth from what I can see.
Giving me a choice? Is he serious?Not much of choice when my only option is to hand myself over for the release of my mom and sister. Of course, I will do it willingly, but it’s not what I want—far from it.
“Why are you doing this? You don’t love me. You only want to possess me like a thing, like an acquisition,” I cry into the phone.
“Oh, you’re wrong, Pina. Yes, I wish to possess you—mind, body, and soul. But I love you. I have since the day you met me to go over the casino project. And I can love you more than what the gutter rat pretends to, if only you allow me.”
My head spins and my stomach threatens to revolt again. There’s no other option but to give into Lorenzo’s demands. My mom and sister are in danger. “What do I need to do?”
“Pina,” he purrs. “You’ve made me a very happy man. I’ll send you my location. Memorize the map, leave your phone and all evidence of your life with him behind, and come to me.”
I gnaw on the inside of my cheek. “It won’t be easy sneaking away. You know I’m in a fortress meant to keep you out and eyes on me at all times, right?”
“Think outside the box,bellissima. Where there is a will, there is a way. I texted you the address. Do you have it?”
With shaky fingers, I check my messages. “Yes.”
“Do you know where you’re going? Can you find it?”
I gulp. “Yes. I know where to go.”
“Hurry, il mio amore. We need to leave tonight. Don’t make me wait any longer than I already have. And don’t bother to call this phone again. It’s being disposed of. If I discover you have informed anyone of any of this, I’ll hand over your family to my men.” The line goes dead.
Springing into action, I throw on my shoes. Grabbing my keys from my backpack, I notice my rings. I remove my silicone band and the chain around my neck with my engagement ring. I kiss the ring and place it on Maceo’s nightstand along with my phone. “Forgive me, Maceo.”
I go to leave and turn back to my phone. I look at the text with the address, copying and pasting it into Maps. I set my cell on the nightstand with the location on display. It may be too late for me, but Maceo and his men should be able to find my mom and sister by the time they learn I’m gone.
I run and open the door of our suite, leaning my ear out to listen. The house seems still. I make a beeline for the staircase down to the main living area and pause when I see Stage and Triple making their way up the stairs, laughing and oblivious to me.
Retreating, I race to the other end of the hall where a second staircase leads to the ground level. With the number of people living here, I was not okay with having only one set of stairs. A second exit was needed for safety reasons, and thank God, I did it. I fly down the back stairs and come out by the club’s offices. Maceo and Gauge are gone, leaving only the tech guys. I peak my head around the doorway and see all three of the guys hard at work, faces bent, and backs to me.
My heart pounds as I sprint to the patio doors. Every time an access door opens, an alert is sent to the tech team, but there’s a way to override the system.
Working with Chase while building this headquarters was vital in order to understand his security needs. Chase said even the club needed an evacuation program if they were ever under attack and had to escape without alerting the perpetrators.
