I should haven’t left the safe haven I had with Ari. I knew I fucked up when I grabbed the gem. I slipped through the garage, using one of the gate openers from the car, typing in the code that opens the gate, and then I typed it in again outside of the gate as I left.
But not before I buried the gem next to the fountain. I didn’t want to hold onto it anymore, but I didn’t want to let it go. So out of sight, out of mind.
I wanted air. I needed an escape. I needed to be away from Ari, and I knew I was risking my life, but it didn’t seem like I was truly needed anymore. I needed time to work through my feelings.
And the only one that I kept coming back to was how much I loved him. I didn’t want to leave. I was being proud and stubborn, thinking if he didn’t want me, then I wouldn’t give him the option to have me.
I was walking down the road when I was grabbed.
Now I’m in a van, gagged, and my hands and feet are tied.
I’m staring down Bianchi who has a smug look on his face.
“You know,” he begins, leaning back in his seat. One arm is draped over the back of the seat, his legs spread out to get comfortable. “This was really easy. I’m disappointed,” he frowns. “I expected more. I knew he’d keep you locked away like a little princess. I never expected to follow my three-day rule. I wanted to make him sweat. I wanted him to worry. And then I wanted him to let his guard down. Milazzo seems like a nice guy, too nice for this business. His brother would have never allowed this to happen. To make it in this world, you have to be more like me.” He leans forward, his long boney fingers wrapping around my ankle. “Kindness isn’t what makes the world go round.” He jerks me toward him, and his fingers slide up my leg causing me to shiver in disgust. “It’s power that makes the world spin. Ari wants peace but peace doesn’t come easy when there is another king playing the game.” He drifts his hand up my leg and I flinch, turning away from him.
“Look at me!” he roars, forcing me to look at him by jerking my chin into his direction.
I try to rip myself from his grasp, but his fingers clutch onto me so tight, I can feel them biting into my teeth under my cheeks.
His other hand comes up and his knuckles drift across my flesh. I jerk away from his touch, bile clawing its way up my throat from the feel of his cold fingers.
“I can see his obsession with you,” he says, marveling at me. “You are beautiful.”
“Fuck you,” I try to yell through the gag shoved in my mouth, but it comes out muffled.
He can still understand me though because he backhands me. The force has the momentums carrying my body to the right and I smash the side of my head against the van.
“I’ll do that and more if you aren’t careful,” he warns, snagging me by the throat.
He crushes my windpipe until I’m struggling to breathe, then lets me go. I fall down onto my back with a hard thud. I’m staring up at the ceiling and my vision blurs from how hard I smacked my head and I close my eyes, succumbing to the darkness.
***
A pain radiates in my cheek which jolts me awake. My skin stings and I blink away the haze that overcomes me. I glance around, not recognizing where I am. I’m in a basement of some sort, but it’s old and abandoned. The floor beneath my feet is dirty and the only window allowing light in is too small to fit out of. I try to move my arms only to find I’m bound. It’s the same with my legs.
Each ankle is strapped to the leg of the chair and my arms are behind me, wrists bound together.
He slaps me again and this time blood rushes into my mouth. Yanking me back by my head, I wince as my scalp burns as my hair fights not to get ripped from the root. His breath reeks of cigarette smoke and his eyes are hollow. They are sunken in, reminding me of someone who doesn’t eat enough or doesn’t go outside. He’s frail.
“I’m not here to play nice with you, bitch,” he sneers, pulling on my hair even harder. “I know you have the gem. Your brother left a mess in his attempt, and it might have taken me longer to find out, but I did. My men got every image taken from the cameras in this city and we traced him from the club to your little store. After that, it didn’t take long to find out about you. You came into my club and killed one of my men to avenge your brother.” He places a hand on his heart, feigning warmth. “And I find that so admirable that you’re so protective and while I don’t know where the little brat is, I know he wouldn’t take the gem with him. You’re too smart for that. You didn’t want him to get caught with it.”
I’ll never admit how right he is. He figured it all out.
“I’m not sure how Ari fits into this. Maybe you owe him too and in order to pay him back you give him a piece of your ass. I don’t know,” he shrugs, grabbing the armrests to the chairs, leaning forward. “I can see how tempting that is. You are stunning. Maybe I’ll keep you to myself after this. What do you think? Maybe I’ll send your husband videos of us.” He runs his nose down my neck and I pull as far away as I can. His tongue flicks out, licking the sweat dribbling down my throat. “You’ll scream my name. I’ll keep you locked away so he can never find you and when you’re pregnant with my heir, I’ll send him videos of that too. I’ll fuck you from the side so he can watch me take you and see how round your belly gets with my child.”
The thought of having his baby makes me sick. My stomach turns and my mind thinks back to all the times when I could have gotten pregnant already.
“Sorry,” I chuckle. “You’re too late. I’m already pregnant.” I lie in hopes he believes me, so he knows his threat is useless.
The long rub of metal sounds as he yanks a knife from its holder and drags it against my stomach.
“Do you think I care?” He bends down to whisper in my ear, “I’ll cut it out of you if I have to.”
I inhale a sharp breath, pulling and twisting to try to get out of the ropes binding my wrists.
“But I won’t as long as you tell me where the gem is,” he says with a big bright smile. He places the very tip of the knife between his teeth and begins to clean them. “Sounds like a good deal to me.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I shout, gathering saliva and blood before leaning my head to launch a wad of it in his face.
He turns his head, tightening his lips as the blood drips down his jaw. He lifts two fingers and rubs them through it, then brings them in front of his face. The sick fuck sucks them into his mouth and moans.
“You’re going to have to do a lot better than that. You forget,” he pushes my hair back with the knife and I tremble. “I already know I’ll like the taste of you.”
My entire body is quaking at this point with adrenaline and fear. The room is cold too and all I can think about is Ari. If I only would have stayed with him, none of this would have happened.
“I’ll ask you one more time. Where is the stone?”
“I don’t know. I don’t’ know what the hell you’re talking about!” I scream, but as much as I try not to, the words end in a broken sob. “I don’t know. I don’t know what my brother was up to, but I swear, I had nothing to do with it.”
His knife rips through my shirt and the threat of the blade touching my skin has me holding my breath. He rips it down the middle and the two other men in the room step forward from the darkened corner. The knife digs into the button of my pants and with a pop, it flings through the air. He unzips my jeans, and he motions to come closer.
“Take her clothes off and search her body for the gem.”
“What! I don’t have it. Get your fucking hands off. Get off!” I rear my head back and smash my forehead against the nose of one of my captors.
“Bitch!” he backhands me which causes my eyes to roll to the back of my head.
My ears ring and it gives them the opportunity to undress me until I’m in nothing but my bra and panties. A fresh wave of fear washes over me.
Ari is so much kinder than this man. I didn’t give him enough credit.
“Well, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Bianchi praises.
“Her pockets are clean.”
One guy rubs his hand down my chest and squeezes my breasts. “Nothing is hidden in her bra.” His fingertips trail down my stomach until they get to the waistband of my panties.
“I wouldn’t shove anything up my pussy to hide it, you idiot. Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Don’t,” Bianchi orders. “She doesn’t have it on her, but it doesn’t mean her stay here will be easy.” He comes forward, straddling my lap before sitting down, bushing his fingers through my hair. “I do like it when your hair is straight.”
“I don’t care what you like,” I whisper.
“You’re full of fire. I like that.” He stands. “But we will break you and I don’t care what we have to do to make that happen. You need to know I need that gem. If you tell me, I won’t hurt you, but if you don’t, you’re useless. We’ll be back later.”
They leave me alone, slamming the door behind them and a shaky breath escapes me while I freeze from not being clothed.
I’ll die before I give up that gem and it isn’t because I want it.
It’s because I know if Ari has it, he’ll make damn sure Bianchi never sees it again, and that’s what I truly want.
