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“No,no.Stay there, stay put.” He was breathing hard as though he was running.
“Danny will make it,” someone else said. Heavy. “He’s hauling ass.”
“What?” I asked and turned in the direction of Beacon Hill. At that moment, a police car went screaming by me and I flinched.
“Are you outside,” Artie barked.
“Yes?”
“Get your ass back in that café, Sara.”
“Danny will make it,” someone else said. Heavy. “He’s probably almost there.”
“Artie, what the hell—”I broke off with a cry of pain as someone seized my arm, and I heard Artie say my name in a panicked tone, before my phone was ripped away. My coffee fell to the ground, splashing and rolling.
A tall, gaunt man stood there, and he winked as he put my phone up to his ear. I gasped and then someone clapped their hand over my mouth, dragging me into the alley next to the café, my hands pinned and then secured with what felt like a line of plastic.
“Hey, Arturo,” the man drawled. “Been a minute. Oh, you will, will you? Finally grow a pair after all these years.”
I stared at him, heart pounding, my tired brain trying to sort through those features, trying to figure out why he looked so goddamn familiar—
“Ah, you always did have a soft spot for that brat,” he said. “That’s too bad, because I plan on making you pay for sticking a knife in my back.” The man laughed and my blood ran cold. “As for my son, you tell him he should’ve paid better attention to what I told him about bitches. Even if this one is very pretty.” His eyes flicked over me. “It’s almost too bad.” He snorted. “I don’t need your money, old man. I don’t need shit. Christ, what has happened to you guys? Sniveling over a dumb bitch.”
My heart almost stopped in my chest.Sal.I stared at the man as I realized I recognized him from Daniel and Ty, I could see Danny in his father.Sal the Reaper.
But how?
“Too little, too late, Artie,” Sal sneered and dropped my phone, then crushed it under his boot. “So, you’re Sara.” His eyes were a washed-out hazel, the lines of his face cruel and hard, and he stepped up to me, grinning. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Car’s almost here, boss,” said a voice that made my skin crawl. I turned and saw Zakary Frole step forward. He was slightly bigger and broader, but still with that weasel face, and now a cold light in his eyes that made my stomach drop.
You helped the Reaper get out of jail,I thought.To get to me.
“Hello, Sara,” Zak said with a wide grin. “I see you got my emails.” He barked out a laugh. “You must be losing your touch if you thoughtDanielsent them to you. He’d sell his own soul to keep you safe.” He smirked as tears formed in my eyes and I panicked, realizing Danny was running straight there, with no thought for his own safety or anything else. Straight toward his father, the man who’d terrorized and brutalized him. “It’s just too bad.”
“Let’s go,” Sal said, and the man holding me lifted me as though I weighed nothing, even as I struggled, as I fought down the disbelief that this was happening in broad daylight, feet away from my favorite café, where my snack waited on the counter.
His hand lifted off my mouth and I let out a scream, but then a gag was shoved in, and I whipped my head back and forth, kicking, eyes tearing.
An SUV whipped into the alley, and I was dragged forward, my brain screaming, and then I was thrown in. Zakary climbed in with me and grinned, setting me upright and dragging his knuckles down my face.
“I promise you my cock is better than that mobster’s,” he said, and I shuddered, trying to draw away from me. He grabbed my hair and pain lanced through my hair. “You’ll learn, bitch.”
“Drive,” Sal barked from the front seat and the SUV reversed, flying out onto Tremont, and then he laughed. “Wait. Roll down her window. Let him see.”
My head spun as Zakary forced me closer to the window and it rolled down, heat hitting me, and I heard running footsteps. I lifted my eyes to see Danny—Danny running toward me, pain etched into his face and such agony in his eyes that I wanted to vomit. But there was fury there, too, and no fear. I twisted and tried to shake my head, tried to tell him to stop.
“Sara.”His voice shredded through me, and tears ran down my face. All of his fears, all of his hell was screaming in my name. “No, Sara,no, don’t do this—”
But we were flying out there, Sal laughing, and in the distance, I thought I saw Danny go to his knees.
My stomach violently contracted, but it was my heart screaming inside of my chest that scared me. How could I feel so much pain and still draw breath? How could I exist right now, knowing that Daniel was in so much pain, that if something happened to me—
He’ll never know how I feel.A sob heaved out of me, and Zakary pulled away in disgust.He’ll spend the rest of his life blaming himself, hating himself, and thinking that I—
“And to think we’re just getting started,” Sal mused from the front seat. I looked up and he smiled back at me, a pitiless smile stretched over nothingness. “Don’t worry, Sara. You’re just whatI needed all along to finally teach that kid a lesson.” He grinned, to himself now. “To break him once and for all.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
