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The car sped out of the parking lot, and I slammed into the door before long, cruel fingers gripped my arm hard enough to bruise.
I screamed, but it was cut off by Nova slapping me hard across the face.
“Shut up, you stupid cunt, before I cut your throat.”
Shaking so hard my teeth chattered, I darted a panicked glance around the interior of a large town car. There was a big guy with light brown hair driving up front, but he wasn’t looking back at us, intent on the road ahead. Pain splintered through me as Nova hit me again, drawing my attention back to him as I tried to shield myself from his blows.
“Stupid,” punch “Fucking,” punch “Bitch. You had to go stick your fucking nose where it didn’t belong, had to get the Cordova Cartel involved. How the fuck do you know them?”
A strange roaring sound filled my ears, and an odd sense of calm fell over me. It was like I’d been standing in the middle of a heavy metal concert, my head being blasted by noise, then suddenly found myself in a soundproof room. My thoughts became organized, focused, and even the pain he’d inflicted on me fell away.
“I asked you a fucking question, bitch!” He slapped me again and the tang of blood hit my tongue. “You better answer me, or I swear to fuck I’ll sell you to the most twisted fucker I know, and he’ll slowly rape you to death.”
My gaze zeroed on in Nova. I knew, without a doubt, he meant every word he said. I had to save myself, had to do whatever I needed to stay safe. Over and over, the words whispered through my head, save yourself save yourself, save yourself…at any cost.
Moving almost in a daze, I slipped the solid silver chopsticks from my hair, then shoved both of them through Nova’s eyes with perfect accuracy, right into his brain.
His shrill, harsh scream barely registered as I turned my attention to the driver. He was trying to keep control of the car, while turning around to look at why his boss was suddenly screaming his death throes. I was already moving, untangling myself from Nova’s flailing arms and reaching for the front seat. Once again, I felt as if I was watching someone else as I reached forward and hooked my fingers into claws, sinking them deep into his face and scratching so deep, blood covered my fingertips.
He let go of the wheel and tried to pry me off as I shredded his face. The last thing I saw before everything went black was the oncoming cement divider between the lanes of traffic.
Chapter 19
I looked out over the long stainless steel and glass table that dominated the conference room, making brief eye contact with every one of the people seated around it.
“Lastly, we’re proud to announce our newest drug, a promising treatment for Parkinson’s disease, has had spectacular results in the small clinical trials we’ve done so far. We’re also happy to announce that we will soon be able to open those trials to a larger audience.”
This declaration was met with pleased murmurs by the board members. They all knew our power as a cartel and a company would skyrocket. People would be willing to pay or do anything to get a shot at a cure, a chance at a longer life. While we always made sure to include worthy candidates who couldn’t afford it, the rest were the beloved of the movers and shakers of this world, because it never hurt to gain their loyalty.
The doors at the back of the room opened and Mark came in, his face tense and his eyes meeting mine. Right away, I could tell something was very wrong, and I cut my speech short. “Thank you for your time. I’ll now turn you over to my father.”
My dad, being the professional that he was, picked up the meeting where I’d left off as I made my way over to Leo and Mark. Instead of heading toward me, they started to leave the room. I hurried to catch up, not giving a shit that everyone was openly watching me. A terrible fear had begun to creep over me, tearing at my chest and sinking my stomach.
As soon as we were outside, Leo grabbed me by my shoulders and looked me dead in the eye. “Joy is missing. We have reason to believe Nova Santiago has her.”
“What!”
Mark grabbed me by one arm, Leo the other, and they practically dragged me down the hallway as they lowered their voices. “Listen, we’ll find her. She has multiple tracking devices all over, including your engagement ring. It’s only a matter of time until we get her back.”
“She could already be dead!”
We’d made it to the stairway, and my voice echoed all around us.
