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His expression changes in front of me, to one of determination and resolve but he looks dangerous and there’s a promise in his eyes, a promise that I will always be protected.
He kisses me one last time then leaves me with a parting smile before I hear the door close.
I meet the boys in the kitchen for breakfast as usual. It was impossible not to feel the tension and trepidation in the air. Tommy and I tried our best to bring the normal back, but Ren has morphed into the badass Ren, the boss of the family. He takes control of all the men inside and outside the house, and there are a lot.
The clock ticks on and after breakfast it’s too much anxiety to sit around waiting for something, so I disappear into my room until lunch.
Now, we all sit at the large dining table, Ren at the head and me by his side. Tommy, Dante and Dave all eat silently as I push the food around on my plate. There hasn’t been a peep all day, crickets, nada, not even a sighting of him. I see them glance around the table, with questions in their eyes. Maybe they are thinking this is all for nothing, that he’s toying with us, but Sergei doesn’t make threats. He makes promises and he always delivers.
Ren’s phone beeps and he snatches it up in a heartbeat.
Then Dante’s phone goes off.
Then Dave’s.
And Tommy’s.
Then finally, mine.
I don’t need to see it to know it’s begun, but I do, I open the message. There is a picture of Sergei and Amari, his arm draped around her shoulder sitting on a couch in his living room with a smile on his face that screams checkmate.
Then another message comes through instantly.
Sergei: Give me mine and I will give back yours.
The men jump from the table, curses and yelling fly from every direction. I don’t move. I sit paralysed watching the horror unfold. Ren is straight away on his phone dialling a number, then holding it to his ear.
“She isn’t answering.” His panicked grief-stricken voice cuts through to me.
Amari.
What have I done?
He tries again, and again, until he launches the phone from his hands and smashes it against the wall.
“Fuck!” he yells, a heartbreaking cry.
My ears pound and my heart is thumping so hard I nearly don’t hear Dante speak.
“Was the house hit? Call your dad.” He hands him his phone since Ren’s is in pieces on the floor.
He makes quick work at dialling, the boys gather and when his father answers, he puts the call on loudspeaker.
“Hello,” his father says, his voice calm and unstressed.
“Dad, what happened? Is everyone safe? How the fuck did Amari get taken? Where are the men?”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down. What are you talking about? Amari is here. She’s in her bedroom.”
The boys look at each other around the room as hope and confusion wash across their faces.
“Put her on the phone,” Ren says.
“Ok, hang on. Amari,” he calls out. “Come out right now. Your brother needs to talk to you.”
There’s no urgency to his calls, no worries, confident she’s still there. Maybe the photo was taken another day, maybe Sergei is playing with us. He does like his games. Please, oh please let this be one of them.
“Oh, for god’s sake this girl is going to give me another heart attack,” he says as we hear his footsteps stop walking, then there is a knock. “Amari?”
