AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aprilia
Mason had taken me to Bennigan’s Bar and Grill, it was one of the nicest restaurants in Griffinsford—well, aside from the ones that required a tie. The food was amazing, and it was so good to get out. Not that there was anything wrong with the Dark Slayer’s clubhouse, but seeing the same four walls day in and day out was starting to get boring, and I’d had my fill of steaks no matter how amazing Rob’s cooking was.
Mason was the full package—rough, hot, plain spoken, and sweet as can be. I had a feeling he was my one. I ran my fingers around the edge of the gold choker. It was lightweight, comfortable, and pretty, just the opposite of the leather cut he saddled me with. I’d popped to the restroom to freshen up before we headed back, and I preened a bit in the large mirror in the restaurant bathroom. I liked wearing a Slayer cut way more than made sense for the daughter of mobster. All in all, I was happy with my own reflection for once.
I stepped out of the restroom and turned to head back into the main area but stopped when I heard a sound that sounded like someone whining. I heard it again and realized it sounded more like a puppy in distress. I turned around, trying to figure where the noise was coming from, it seemed to be coming from the far end of the short hallway. I walked up to the emergency exit and put my ear against it.
Sure enough, I heard it again. It sounded so pitiful, like maybe the puppy had gotten itself trapped in trash or something. I shoved the door open, half expecting an alarm to sound but there was silence and I walked out onto what appeared to be a small cement loading dock. The area was dimly lit but I was determined to search for the dog.
The moment the back door closed, someone grabbed me from behind. “Gotcha,” a gruff voice whispered into my ear as he dragged me backward and off my feet. I tried to scream, but the hand over my mouth stifled any noise.
We stumbled down a ramp and I kept hearing the whining puppy. Finally, I realized the sound was looping, like it was a recording. Shock roiled through my gut as I realized whoever this was had intentionally lured me out of the restaurant. I caught sight of a white panel van and that’s when it hit me full force that I was in the process of being kidnapped.
This realization catapulted me into action. I began fighting as hard as I could. Kicking, making him bear the brunt of my weight, and clawing at his hands. He tried to shake me into stopping. I didn’t stop. I bowed my back and went for his eyes. He didn’t like that. Not at all. He made his displeasure known by slamming me face first into the van.
The door immediately slid open, and the barrel of a gun poked out. Instead of being pointed at me, it was pointed at my abductor. Relief surged in my chest. I was being rescued.
“I dare you to injure my property. You were explicitly told not to damage her. She’s no good to me if she can’t bear children.”
As I was forced into the van, I wanted to throw up. Chester was sitting with a gun in one hand and the other holding a roll of duct tape. I tried to scream again and fought against being wrangled into the vehicle.
Chester tossed the duct tape down onto the seat, grabbed my arm, and pulled me inside and the door slammed shut. He threw the duct tape to another man, who promptly tore off a piece and put it over my screaming mouth. I kicked and fought until he put another piece over my nostrils. I started freaking out even harder because I couldn’t breathe.
“Hold out your wrists, my little wildcat. Once we have you immobilized, we’ll take the tape off those pretty nostrils, be a good girl.” Chester said.
I stopped fighting and held my wrists out. I knew the golden rule of abduction was to fight with all your might to get away—that was your best chance of survival. However, once the van door closed that wasn’t going to be possible. The next rule was to comply and bide your time, I knew Chester didn’t want to kill me. What he had planned was far worse, but if I could calm myself down and start thinking rationally then maybe I’d have a better chance of getting away from this alive. His accomplice quickly put on several layers of thick tape and then roughly yanked the tape off my nose. I took a deep, cleansing breath and took a minute to gather my thoughts.
During this whole struggle, my abductor had climbed into the front seat and the van had started moving. I was totally at Chester’s mercy, mercy I couldn’t even beg for because my mouth was taped closed.
My mind began spinning in a thousand directions, but I focused hard on everything going on around me. There were four men, two up front and one in the back with Chester. Four against one didn’t leave me many options.
Chester was trying to talk to me, but I tuned him out and concentrated on trying to figure out where we were going. I couldn’t think of Chester right now and what lay ahead. The thought of him touching me in any way was too much to fathom. I knew it was going to happen, but I locked all thoughts of it away in a little box in the back of my mind as the road signs flew by.
I wondered if Mason had realized something was wrong or if he thought I was still primping in the restroom. Speeding away from the restaurant, it seemed almost too much to hope for a quick rescue from my handsome protector. No, my luck had finally run out.
I brought my bound hands up to touch the choker he’d given me, only for my fingertips to brush against naked flesh. That’s the moment I realized it had been ripped from me during the struggle. Sadness settled in my heart as I tried to block out Chester’s excited chatter.
Chapter 21
Mason
Iglanced at the clock on my cell phone. Aprilia was taking a long time in the restroom. So long that I’d already finished my coffee and paid the check. Though I knew women sometimes took forever—Celt would often joke about how long his old woman spent primping herself.
I looked at my phone again, twenty-five minutes. That was too long, plus Aprilia wasn’t really into the whole dressing up and heavy makeup thing. Tonight, she’d had on mascara and a touch of lip gloss and that was it.
No… something was wrong.
I bolted out of my seat and headed toward the back. I knocked on the restroom door and got no response. I knocked again with the same result. Finally, I pulled the door open and stuck my head inside.
“Aprilia, are you okay?”
Panick surged in my chest when I didn’t get a reply.
I rushed inside and searched each stall. She was nowhere to be found. I headed out of the restroom and began looking around the restaurant.
Someone must have alerted a manager, because a man hurried over to me. “Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes, do you have security cameras at your establishment?”
