AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Better than being a plastic formed Barbie doll.” I seem to have hit a nerve.
“Shut up.” The man cuts us off, his mask cracking as well, right along with his usual mocking humor. “Both of you.” His glare at my grandmother confirms some of what I’ve suspected, about there being a deeper connection somewhere down the line for the two of them. “If you want your precious Daddy to stay upright or out of the penitentiary, you’ll do as you’re told. He’s no fucking saint, by the way. And I’m not just talking about what he does for a living, either.” His hard words drive nails into my heart.
I’d do anything for Daddy. To keep him safe. But there is a part of me that aches. Whatever he’s done, it must be bad, and the betrayal of trust stabs knives into my chest.
“I don’t do anything dangerous or illegal, Babybear. There are no other girls for me. I promise.”
Daddy’s words ring in my head like bells announcing some impending danger.
The irony of his rule “Never lie to me” is the next thing that makes me realize, maybe I’m the one being played. Confusion rakes at me but anyway I turn, I’m settling with the fact that I’m going with her. I’m going back to the life I tried so hard to forget.
My eyes burn as Daddy’s voice echoes in my head. I do everything I can to not allow them to see my pain.
“Fine. What are we waiting for? Why bring me here anyway? You could have just taken me yourself back to the house. Why even involve her?” I nod toward my grandmother, tears threatening the corners of my eyes, and with a lick of my lips my heart breaks.
“You don’t get to ask the questions. And you’re not going anywhere. Not yet.” He barks. I’m surprised to see a look of fear cross my grandmother’s face. Whoever this man is, he scares her, and not just for her safety. “Don’t forget, I always win. You’re both staying put until I get what I want. Your family owes me.” His cold glance at my grandmother tells me I’m on the right track. If I thought the room had turned cold a moment ago, it was nothing, because now I’m physically shivering.
He stands up from the table and steps in front of me, staring down with something in his eyes that feels like death.
“Now. I need his phone number, the clock is ticking.”
11
Stas
Time is fucking ticking on the deadline.
The Learjet is taxiing to the runway ready for takeoff, but by the time we land we’ll have shaved off another hour or more. That doesn’t leave us a lot of time and I’m just hoping for some sort of breakthrough.
Ten of George’s guys are here with us and I’ve got the rest of the small army scattered around the three states where I think we might have the most luck finding information, but I still have no idea where they are.
Where she is.
I’m dying minute by minute, not knowing if my baby is safe.
In between every thought of Ginger is a thought of a more painful way to kill the fucker that’s taken my world from me.
“Boss.” George cuts into my thoughts. “You’re no good if you can’t think straight. Get an hour of sleep while we’re in the air. I’ll man the satellite phone. I’ll check every email and message. I’ll wake you if we have anything—”
A ring on my cell stops him cold and my finger is on the green button before we can blink.
“Yeah.” I answer the unknown number on speaker, my heart in my throat and my gut churning inside out.
“Hello.” The single ice-cold word lacerates any hope I had left that this could all be some crazy misunderstanding.
“You know you’re going to die.” I answer, unable to hold my cards.
A laugh comes in reply and my mind spins as George nods my way, taking a seat opposite me and hitting record on his own phone.
“We’re all going to die, Stanislov. So, stop being so obtuse. It’s bourgeois.”
“Nothing else is going to happen until I hear her voice. Put her on the fucking phone now.” There’s a strap around my heart waiting for his reply.
“Know who is okay?” He mocks in a sing-song tone.
“Your death is only getting more painful.” My jaw muscle turns to stone as I grit my teeth until I hear them cracking.
“Oh my god.” He elongates every word. “Such drama. Come now, we are all gentlemen here. All in a business that knows the rights and bounds of who we all are. You are no fucking saint. You will go for a trick for the rest of your life as well as I if the right information is made available to the right authorities. Let’s save each other time and irritation and dispose of the unnecessary threats.”
