Just as I think he's really going to end my life and choke me to death, he lets go. My feet stumble against the hard ground and I nearly roll my ankle, heaving air into my lungs. My hands feel around my throat as I land hard on my knees. I let my body sag to the ground and just breathe.
It's only then that I realize I'm crying hysterically. My face is hot and wet from the tears.
I see him bend down, his worn, dark wash jeans just an inch from me and I fall back on my butt and kick away, scrambling backward as fast as I can until I hit the wall. I restrain the scream crawling up my throat and wait as still as I can.
He's still in a squatted position, his hands resting on his knees as he looks back at me as though contemplating what to do with me. The need to fight is suppressed for now. Attempting to run would be useless. All I have left is to try and beg for mercy.
“Please let me go,” I plead with him. My words are slurred. My head spins slightly as I feel the full weight of my body. I’m not okay.
“Not until I know everything you saw.” His words confuse me. I don’t know what he’s talking about.
I shake my head violently. "I didn't see anything."
A cocky smirk graces his lips. "Sorry sweetheart, but lying isn't going to get you anywhere with me. You remembered my name."
“What did you give me?” The question comes out slower than I intend as I move my arms sluggishly and realize my motor function is off. My body heats with anxiety.
“It’s a heavy sleeping pill.” My head shakes. Liar.
“A roofie?” I ask accusingly. I remember someone saying it earlier. He drugged me. Betrayal washes through my body once again.
“It’s similar to Rohypnol.” He doesn’t even have the decency to look away as he admits that they drugged me.
“Why?” I ask, in a small voice that I hope expresses my hurt.
“You saw something after we were in here, and I didn’t have much choice.” His jaw clenches and he faces the wall for a moment before his gaze focuses back on me. “It was the best option at the time.”
“I don’t remember anything, I swear.” My breath and voice both hitch in my throat. If only he’d believe me.
He sighs heavily. “It’s gonna take more than that, Elle.” My lips tremble and my throat dries up.
“What do I have to do?” I ask, my voice shaky.
“You need to come with me.”
“Am I even going to remember this?” The thought occurs to me as I really think about what a roofie does.
“I don’t know,” he answers calmly. “I hope not, 'cause that would really fuck this plan up. You should still be asleep.”
"I won't tell anyone." The words fly out of my mouth. I whisper hoarsely, "I swear to God, I won't." I don’t care that he drugged me; I just want to get the hell out of here.
His eyes are full of remorse. "That's something we just can't risk."
"Who are you?”
He answers easily. "The mob, sweetheart." My blood chills at his confession. "You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." His eyes narrow and turn angry. "You should’ve waited for me." His words have a tone of accusation, but I don’t even know what he’s referring to.
Even with the fear from his threat still hanging over me, I manage to spit out a response in disbelief. "What did I do to deserve this?" I slam my mouth shut at the pissed off look on his face.
"That mouth, sweetheart, that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble."
I close my eyes and pretend it's all a dream. "Please, just let me go," I whisper. After a moment, I open my eyes and find him standing, looking down at me. His broad shoulders and air of power make him the epitome of intimidation and domination. This man owns me. I am completely at his mercy.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I really am." He presses his lips into a straight line and shakes his head slowly. "But I'm not letting you go."
"What are you going to do with me?" My heart thuds against my chest, yet my lungs seem to freeze as I wait for his answer. He walks around the desk with his back turned to me. The sinewy muscles of his arms ripple with his movements.
He opens a drawer, and my eyes widen as I whimper and shove my body even harder into the wall. I want to look at the door. I want to search for an escape. Instead, my eyes are zeroed in on him, waiting to see what he's pulling out of the desk. I'm assuming it's a gun. I fully expect for him to shoot me.
I don't expect him to pull out thin, twined rope. It's the coarse kind that's used in kitchens. “You're going to listen to me, Elle. And I promise if you do, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."
A mix of emotions washes over me as he pulls out more rope and wraps it around his wrist. Surprisingly, confusion is one of the strongest ones I'm currently feeling. "Why?" I can't help asking the question. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Vince pauses his movements as his eyes find mine. His cold gaze keeps my eyes locked on his although I desperately want to look away. He responds after a long moment of silence. "Trust me, Elle. It’s better this way." For the briefest second, some sick part of me does trust him. But then I quickly come to my senses.
I don’t trust him. I won’t.
Chapter 4: Vince
What the fuck am I doing? I run my hand down my face as I hear her bang against the trunk. Again. I keep hearing her muffled screams and it’s pissing me off. She doesn’t listen for shit. The cold sweat that I can’t kick runs through my body as I gently move the car through the intersection, past the familiar weathered stop sign. She can keep kicking and screaming for all I care. These back roads are deserted this time of day. No one is going to come save her. For now, she’s mine. And that means no one’s going to hurt her either.
I’ll take her to the safe house in the country. It’s a good 30 minutes away from here, and at least a 10 minute drive to civilization. I used to go there to hunt. Back when I thought I’d like that shit, anyway. Turns out waking up before the crack of dawn is not my thing. So now it’s the familia’s. Only Dom and Pops know about it though. She’ll be safe there. I run my hands through my hair and let out a heavy sigh. I’ll keep her there until I know what to do about this. Until I know for sure I can save both our asses.
I wish she hadn’t woken up. If she’d just stayed asleep it would’ve been so much better. I would’ve been alone, maybe told her she hit her head. I have no idea. I’ve never been in this situation. But I wasn’t going to let them kill her. It was my fault. My fuck up. And I’m going to fix this.
The memory from earlier flashes before my eyes. Her shrill scream as she saw my cousins Anthony and Tommy hovering over the brutalized body. Blood covered nearly every inch of that poor bastard’s exposed skin.
My grip tightens on the steering wheel, and suddenly her relentless banging is more annoying than it was before.
I grind my teeth remembering how they came in to the office while I was trying to calm her down.
I drag her back to the room, her small body pushing against mine. Her feet barely touch the ground as I lift her squirming body to hold her tighter to my chest. Her nails dig into the skin of my forearm that’s pressed hard against her chest, until I can pin her up against the back wall in the office. Her breathing is heavy and so is mine. Adrenaline courses through my blood. One hand covers her mouth to keep her screams muffled.
Fuck! I grit my teeth and keep my voice low as I speak through clenched teeth. “Stop. Screaming.” She doesn’t listen. She keeps it up as though I haven’t said a damn thing. I slam my body up against hers, then move my hand to her throat and squeeze.
“Listen real good, you had better fucking stop.” That gets her attention, but then the office door opens and two sets of heavy, even strides are heard in the silence. The door closes and locks with a loud click.
“I thought it was locked, Vince.” Anthony speaks, but I don’t turn around. I keep my eyes on hers as they dart to my cousins behind me.
“You want me to do it quick, Vince?” Anthony
asks. “I’ll make it painless.”
My blood chills as I watch her eyes widen in fear. My poor sweetheart. I can’t. I can’t let that happen.
“No.” It’s the only word I can say. I don’t want to explain it to them. Because I’m their boss, I should know what to do, but I haven’t got a clue.
“You need her to talk or something, Vince?” I can hear the confusion in Anthony’s voice. She should be dead by now. I shouldn’t be toying with her like this. Thing is though, I don’t want her dead. She whimpers and her eyes finally meet mine. I know I must look like a cold-blooded killer. My jaw is clenched and my eyes are hard.
She struggles again in my grasp and then I remember my forearm on her neck. Her head is pushed back in an unnatural way and she’s taking in ragged breaths. I let up on my grip.
I place my lips at her ear and whisper, “Don’t you make a fucking sound.”
“Vince?” At Anthony’s question, I turn my shoulder to Elle. And she acts like a fucking idiot and takes off behind me. My hand reaches out to snatch her but I miss. Tommy’s right fucking there, though. Did she really think she’d make it? Watching Tommy wrap an arm around her waist, bringing her body up against his pisses me off.
He speaks clearly, and I can hear the remorse in his voice as he says, “I’m sorry, I really am.”
I know exactly what he’s gonna do. He’s planning on snapping her neck. Quick, painless, but it’s not going to fucking happen. I take three strides and I’m on him. I land my fist on his jaw like a fucking asshole. He doesn’t see it coming, and it sends him flying into the wall. His shoulder blade hits the drywall, leaving a large dent. Elle tumbles to the ground and I step over her, fuming with rage.
“No one touches her. No one!” I scream so loud I know they all hear it. Everyone in this place. But I don’t give a fuck. It’s not going down like this. I know the rules, just like I know I’m breaking them right now. But I don’t care. I’m not going to allow anyone to hurt her.
I hear her shriek, and I turn to see Anthony holding her just like Tommy was. But he’s quick to respond. “Just keeping her from running, boss.” I give him a quick nod and turn back to Tommy. He’s looking up at me with equal amounts of shock and aggression.
I reach down and offer my hand and help him up. His eyes stay on me, waiting.
“I don’t want her dead, Tommy.” He looks at me for a moment and then nods.
“One second, boss.” I don’t know what he has planned. But I do know this is all fucked.
It’s all my fault. All of it.
What the hell was I doing letting her leave on her own? Fucking careless. I was sloppy. I’m not fucking sloppy. Never. That’s not how Valettis do business. I grind my teeth and look out of the window as we finally leave the outskirts of the city. Pops is going to be pissed.
Just the thought of his disappointment makes my heart sink. I don’t really give too much of a shit what anyone thinks of me, except for Pops and Ma. Sometimes my brother Dom and sister Clara. But my father's opinion matters the most. He’s always been proud of me. But this shit I’ve gotten us into--this is not good. He’s not going to fucking like that I risked the family to get my dick wet at our place of business.
I don’t know what it is about this broad that has me making poor decisions left and right. I don’t know if it’s her curves, that little pout she has that shows me she’s hurting, or that snappy little attitude that comes out of nowhere.
I fucking love the spitfire my sweetheart is. I can’t fucking wait for her to go off on me again so I can spank that ass of hers. Next thing I know my dick's hard, pressing against my zipper. I let my head fall back, but keep my eyes on the road. And then I hear her thumping away in the back. What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m never getting in that pussy again. I’m the fucking enemy now.
She probably doesn’t even remember that hot as fuck pregaming session we had. Shit. She'd better not. She'd better not remember anything more than my name. I shift uncomfortably in my seat and let out a deep sigh. This is so fucked.
At that thought I realize I have no fucking clue what I’m gonna do with her now. I could bring her to my room and pretend we had a one-night stand. That makes sense. I took her out to the bar, we got drunk, had a great night together. Boom, it’s done and over with. My chest pains at the thought. I don’t want it to be over with. I don’t like that option. But I’m sure as shit not bringing her around the family after this. Tommy and Anthony are the only ones that know. They know better than to tell Pops. That’s my job. My responsibility.
I look down at the watch and see it’s been two hours since she woke up. That means she’s gonna need another dose soon. She shouldn’t remember any of this shit with that drug in her system.
Calling it a sleeping aid was a shit thing to do. It wasn't a blatant lie, but it’s not like I’m gonna tell her I roofied her. I don’t want to give her the impression that we do that kind of shit on vulnerable women, 'cause we don’t. It comes in handy when you wanna take out someone high up though. It's much easier to take a knocked out fucker to the pits than having to fight him on his own territory. Of course she didn’t get the same dose we use for that kind of thing. It’s hard to know how much even got into her system though. Tommy just shoved it in her mouth, and as a result she nearly bit his finger off.
My stomach knots and twists. I’m kidnapping and drugging this woman. What a fucking low point in my life. I really hope this fucking works. Anthony swore by it. He’s real fucking good at getting information from people, and when he asks what happened right before he drugged them and they still don’t know even after spending an hour on his table, then they really have no fucking clue. And that means the drug works. It had better work. But she remembered my name. Tomorrow morning, I need to determine everything she remembers.
I put my hand on the seat of my Audi just like normal, and that’s when I realize Rigs isn’t with me.
Fuck. I look into the rear-view mirror and there’s no one there. I can’t risk going back to my place with her in the trunk though. I’ll have to go back later to pick up my dog. I’ll drop her off at the safe house, and then I’ll go back to my place in the city to pick up his furry little ass. I sure as hell can’t leave him at my place by himself. He’d probably chew up the coffee table just to spite me. I really hope he didn’t shit in my house though. I swear puppies are worse than babies. They have to be. Dom’s little one just chews on the toys they give him and he can’t move, like a little sack of potatoes.
A small grin kicks my lips up, but it vanishes when I hear another bang from the trunk. Fucking hell. I wish she’d calm her ass down. She’s gonna think we had some real rough sex last night and that I tied her ass up. I groan and adjust my cock as it twitches with need. I’d love to fuck this woman. I want inside her more than I’ve ever wanted anything before. But there’s no way that’s happening, not with all this shit.
I really fucked this up.
Chapter 5: Elle
My wrists burn as the rope chafes against them. But I don’t stop struggling. I won’t stop. I know if I can just get my hands free then I’ll be able to untie my legs. There’s enough room for me to wiggle around and search for the latch. There’s always a latch in these cars.
I take a deep, extremely unsteady breath and focus on loosening the knot. My shoulders hurt so fucking bad. Every bump we go over sends my body bouncing and I land hard on my side. I have nothing to brace my head against either. My neck hurts from trying to brace myself every time we hit a bump.
My throat is killing me from screaming and my eyes feel raw. It’s a horrible feeling, knowing you’re going to die. I just don’t understand why he hasn’t done it yet. He’s not going to let me go. More tears prick at my eyes. My hand covers my mouth to hold back the sob. He’s keeping me. My body shivers and I pull my legs up to my chest and rock myself.
I can’t believe this is what I am now. A prisoner. He’s going to do whatever he wants with me. I’m completely at his mercy.
The tears fall down my face. I rub my cheek on my knee, to wipe the tears away, and try to steady my breath. Maybe that’s not it. Or maybe I can appeal to that side of him. A flicker of hope lights inside of me. I just need to get out of here. However I can.
I’m so god damn tired. I feel dizzy and my head is killing me. I just want to go to sleep, but I can’t. I want to fight this. I don’t want to fall asleep. I can’t just lie down and let him do whatever the fuck he wants with me. I’m going to fight as long as I can. Confusion overwhelms me again. I just don’t understand why my memory is so passionate, giving me a feeling of comfort and safety, but my reality is the exact opposite.
The brakes slow again, and this time the car stills and I hear the click of him parking the car. My heartbeat picks up to a frantic pace. I failed. I couldn’t get out of these fucking ropes or find a trunk latch anywhere. Fear cripples me as he pops open the trunk. I try to scream through the gag, but it’s useless.
“Come on sweetheart, did you really think I’d take you to somewhere you would be heard?” He looks at me like he’s disappointed. I don’t know what he expects from me. “Be a good girl for me and make things easy for us both, alright?” Is he out of his god damned mind?
I try to scoot away from him, but it’s useless. It's not like there's a ton of extra room in the trunk. I don’t even realize he’s untying the rope around my legs though until he starts massaging my calves. A moan of satisfaction leaves me. I didn’t realize how sore they were until he brought more circulation to them. His large, rough hands move to my wrists and as the ease of comfort coupled with slight pain hits me, he rubs my shoulders, bringing them back to life.
“I’m sorry about that,” he apologizes, and he sounds truly sincere. His thumbs move in small circles on my back, and then travel up to my shoulders and down my arms. “But you weren’t really cooperating.”
His Hostage: Valetti Crime Family (A Bad Boy Mafia Romance) Page 4
