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“We love you too. Hurry home,” she says and hangs up.
Turning to lock the door, I get the key in the knob just before I feel a sharp prick in the back of my neck. My hand immediately goes to the spot, and I whip around. I stumble slightly from the sudden movement, leaning against the wall for support.
“What the fuck?” I manage to get out in a slur. My vision starts going blurry, my world turns on its axis and everything goes dark.
A searing pain rips across my abdomen, my mind screaming as I jolt awake. I clench my jaw, not giving anyone the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. My pain is their pleasure.
Gathering my surroundings, I yank on my arms only to realize that I’m chained to the wall. Looking at the man standing in front of me with a branding iron, evil smirks plastered on their faces in pure glee. I yank on the chains, desperate to get out of their hold. The steel digs into my wrists, biting harshly into the flesh. I grit my teeth, putting as much momentum in dropping my elbows as I can. Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no give.
“Good luck getting out of those,” one man laughs, the other men following suit in weird cackling. His face poses with disgust after a moment before pressing the hot iron back to my skin right below my rib cage.
Motherfucker!
Internally, I scream through the searing pain against my skin. The smell of burning flesh hits my senses, making the pain worse as I shout inside my head while the expression on my face never changes except for a tiny flinch. The man furrows his brows, removing the iron, grabbing a different one and placing it on my lower stomach. I flinch slightly, but keep my face as neutral as possible.
“Ah, your training has done you well,” he observes out loud, pacing in front of my chained body. I sag against the wall, relieved that the fire has diminished for now. Placing the bar back on the table that is scattered with various torture devices, he cracks his knuckles harshly. “Let’s see how well you handle this.”
His fist connects with my face and a small grunt is knocked out of me from the force.
Dude just branded me, but expects his fist to hurt more? Dumbass.
“Now, where’s Declan?” He asks, his nasty breath wafting across my face. I mimic a gag, spitting blood onto his face. His features pinch is disgust as he slowly wipes away the saliva.
“Like I’m going to tell you,” I grit, sending another wad of spit flying to his feet. My eyes follow his movements as he slowly walks back to the table, dragging his hands over the available weapons before picking up a wooden bat. He smacks it against one of his hands, tsking as he slithers toward me. I ensure my face curls in anger, ready to lash out at him should one of these fucking chains decide they don’t want to stick into the wall anymore. He lets the bat freely move in his hand, swinging it around playfully with a sick smile on his face.
“Your death won’t be as painful if you just comply, Finn,” he says sadly, his tone sarcastic as he glides toward me slowly with the bat. I gulp silently, knowing just what is going to happen. “That Don of yours has really gotten himself into a rut. It’s quite unfortunate if you ask me, because now… well, we have to kill him. Tell us where he is, and we will make it quick.” Not giving me the chance to reply, he swings the bat and makes direct contact with my knee.
“You stupid fuck,” I groan, trying my best to keep as silent as possible. The pain shoots through my kneecap, and I know it’s undoubtedly broken. “You might as well kill me because I’m not going to tell you where he is.”
Sorrow forms in the pit of my stomach as I think of my family. Skylar, Ava, and the baby we waited so long for. Our family is finally growing, and I may never get to grow old with them. I know Declan will make sure they’re taken care of, but they’ll never be the same. My sweet baby, Ava… both of my girls are going to be destroyed. I hang my head with shame, wishing to give them a different, safer life. All the things I want to give to them would have to be done through Declan.
If I die, at least I know they’ll be taken care of.
I’m thankful the last thing I said to her was that I love her. I want her to know that I would have shown her and our beautiful children the world. Hopefully, she already knows this. If she doesn’t I have no doubt that Declan will reiterate it on my behalf just how much she means to me. I just hope she knows how much I truly do, that the words Declan and Natalia would tell her, she would understand. I refuse to give up on her, I’ll fight tooth and nail to never leave. I hope she doesn’t give up on me, either, even after my death.
Ava, my beautiful, sweet little girl. I never knew how much I could love another human until the day I looked into those sweet brown eyes. The way her tiny hand wrapped around my finger, I knew I’d never be the same man again. I hope it’ll be easier on the baby because they’ll never know me. They’ll never know the man I wished to be for him or her. Skylar and I tried for so long for this new baby, only for me to be ripped away from them before I even had the chance to meet them.
I’m lost in thought when I hear a fourth voice come into the room.
“We found him,” they say gleefully, and I freeze.
No. They can’t have us both. The guy sends more punches in rapid succession, my head slamming into the concrete wall. My ears start ringing, eyes dotting with white spots before everything goes black once more.
Chapter twenty-two
Natalia
AsDeclanwalksoutthe door, I grab my phone and walk to his bedroom. I get everything ready to just climb in after he leaves. Maybe I can get him to stay just for a little longer… I change into my pajamas and slip under the covers, snuggling into the pillow that still smells like him. After a while, I notice that it’s been a little bit since he left. Checking on the time on my phone, I notice he has been gone for over fifteen minutes. He should have been back already. Furrowing my eyebrows with a grumble, I climb back out of bed and pad back to the living room. Looking around, he hasn’t come back inside yet.
“Ugh, Declan,” I groan, walking over to the door and swinging it open. Looking around outside there’s no sign of him.
“Declan?” I call out, curiosity and a sinking feeling in my stomach. As I step out into the cool night air, I shiver. My skimpy underwear and Declan’s shirt provide no warmth against the cold Jersey air, goosebumps prickle my skin. Taking a step further out, I go to call out again but stop when I step on something that isn’t a cold stone. Lifting my foot, I squat down to pick it up. Declan’s phone is lying there, his screen cracked from where it landed on the ground. Glancing around, I see my charger laying a few inches away. Frantically looking around the wooded area, I take his phone with me as I stand and rush back inside, locking the door behind me. Dropping to the floor, I make sure to stay out of range of the windows. Once out of the main window range, I quickly shut off all the lights and dart to the bedroom.
I have no clue if whoever took him is still out there, but I don’t have any intention of finding out. Grabbing my gun from the dresser, I sit in the corner of the room so that I can see both the window and the door.
“Fuck,” I whisper, my hands shaking lightly. I go to reach for my phone, but realize it’s on the nightstand. I scoot over, swipe it off the surface and move back to the corner. I turn the brightness down and dial Finn’s number. He doesn’t pick up, and I groan under my breath as it goes to voicemail. Dialing Skylar’s number I wait for her to pick up.
“Natalia?” She questions as soon as she answers, the confusion in her voice is prevalent.
