I swing my gun at the side of his face, cracking his jaw.
“Ahh! You sonofabitch!”
“Tell me where he is!” I scream into his now-bloody face.
His black eyes glint like marbles in the dim light, his expression demonic. “You’re gonna have to get a little wet if you wanna find him.” He laughs, a low, rumbling sound that makes my teeth grit.
“The boat,” Dante says. “Goddammit!”
“And once he’s gone, you’ll never find him again,” the man says in his gravelly voice. A sudden jerk knocks me to the side, and a searing pain explodes into my side as he jams a knife into my flesh. He pulls out the blade and thrusts his arm into my chest.
“Vince, get the fuck out of the way!”
Crack!
His arm drops like a limp noodle, the knife clattering to the floor as the guy’s head explodes against the concrete.
I sit back for a second, twisting around to look at Dante. He winks at me. “I bet right now you’re damn glad I showed up, yeah?”
I nod, trying to catch my breath as I leap to my feet. I clutch a hand to my side, gritting my teeth. “I’m going after that boat,” I rasp. “Alek, make a call and get the cops down here to blow this place open. You guys need to get these women out of here and someplace safe.”
“I’m going, too.” Dante edges closer to me. “Just in case you get stabbed again. I’ll be your backup.”
“Great,” I grunt. “Then, let’s go.”
“Hey, no way in hell you’re leaving me out, bro,” Tommy says, twisting one of his butcher knives between his fingers. “You’re a suck ass swimmer, anyway. You need me, ya know, just in case you go overboard.”
I stare at him for a second, then nod. “You’re right. I do. I realize that now. I need all of you guys, headaches and all.”
“Admit it, we keep things pretty damn interesting.”
I grab his arm and rush him toward the front of the warehouse where all hell is breaking loose, and panicked men and women tear through the place. “Fuck interesting. Right now, I want you to keep yourselves alive.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Aria
“Take your fucking hands off of me!” I scream at the top of my lungs, kicking my legs straight out in an attempt to impale the thug with the narrow stilettos of my high-heeled shoes. My wrists are bound with some kind of silk scarf that’s so tightly wrapped, it’s making my fingertips numb.
It took four of Nikola’s men to drag me out of the warehouse and onto this boat.
Two started the job, and then I bit the ear off of one of them.
So two others ran over to pick up the slack.
I can still taste metal in my mouth.
Although that may be because the dumbass fired a shot at my jaw right afterward.
And Nikola, the sadistic fuck that he is, evidently still has some degree of sentimentality even in his maniacal state. So when he stormed onto the boat, pulled out a gun and shot the guy dead, it shocked the hell out of me.
But after he kicked the guy into the sea, he was back in control, like the demonic soul-sucking brute he’s proven himself to be over and over. He’s only lost control a few times, and his type of personal takes on a new level of vicious when the fury grabs hold.
The one saving grace is that he gets so blinded by rage that I may be able to battle those blinders if push comes to shove.
But first I need to get myself out of this chair!
The whole place is decorated in light colors, ironic because the souls and hearts of the people scattered around the boat are black as night.
And I’d very much like to cut out each and every beating heart on this boat.
I saw other girls being carried out of the warehouse, although most of them were near-comatose. If I hadn’t bitten off that guy’s ear, I might resemble a limp piece of linguini, too.
“Give her another dose,” a second man dressed in a black suit advises. “The boss won’t like it if she gives him a hard time.”
“Hard time?” I let out a maniacal laugh. “Come closer with that needle and I’ll show you a hard time, you assholes!”
The guy I tried to stick with my shoe lifts an eyebrow as he regards me in my semi-hysterical state. My pulse thunders against my neck, my fingers twitching. I am near helpless right now, so how the hell did I think I could escape that needle and whatever it will inject into my veins?
Think, Aria!
But the guy with the needle still hasn’t approached. He stands down until the other starts goading him. “She’s tied up, you pussy! Give her the drug! We need her agreeable! Do you really want to have your dick cut off by the boss if you don’t follow his instructions?”
My breaths come in short, sharp gasps. If he sticks that needle into my arm, it’s over. I can’t fight if I’m unconscious and tied to a goddamn chair!
Nikola disappeared after shooting the dipshit who thought he could violate ‘protocol’. Idiot. It served him right. I mean, you come to a place to buy kidnapped women. Do you not know that you’re dealing with the scourge of the Earth? And that they have demonstrated no regard for human life at all?
I swallow hard past the lump in my throat. He said Vince was no longer a threat and refused to give me details when I demanded to know what he’d done.
“You’re not in a position to make demands, Aria,” Nikola hisses. “But I’m going to put you in plenty of positions where you will beg and plead.” He leans over me as I flounder on the makeshift bed. “You’re mine now. And I will have you any way I want you. Forever. You will stay by my side and obey me, or I will kill you.”
“I’d rather be dead than have to look at you for a single second more!” I yell, struggling against the ties cinched around my wrists.
“You may feel that way now, but in time, you will learn your place.”
Those were his final scathing words, the expression on his face pure madness, a stark contrast to his calm and steady voice.
The boat rocks gently along the waves, the engine roaring to life. I stare out the window as darkness falls around us, my mind working furiously to plan an escape.
My body tenses as the guy holding the needle takes a few tentative steps toward me. I can see the doubts etched into his dark skin, like he doesn’t know what I might do if he makes a move on me with the drugs.
He underestimated me once.
He’s going to make damn sure he doesn’t do it again.
“Come on,” I seethe. “What’s wrong? You scared of a helpless woman who’s tied up and can’t fight you off? Let me guess, you’re probably not the guy who kidnaps these women in the first place, right? I mean, if it was your pansy ass doing the heavy lifting, Nikola wouldn’t have much of a business now, would he?”
The other guy snickers as he busies himself with whatever concoction he’s mixing over by the bar. “Are you gonna let her get away with that shit, Josip?”
Blood bubbles in my veins as Josip narrows his eyes at me. “Yeah, Josip, are you gonna let me get away with that? Why don’t you move a little closer and teach me a lesson, you asshole!”
Josip grits his teeth and turns to look at his rather unhelpful partner who is about to knock back an amber-colored cocktail.
The guy smirks and tosses back the liquid. “If Nikola comes in here and finds her all fired up, it’s your ass, Josip.”
“Jebi se, Marko,” Josip mutters, creeping toward me, the needle clutched in his outstretched hand.
He’s coming. I have one chance to attack, one chance to escape.
I have only one weapon.
My knees.
It’s my best move.
And right now, it’s also my best shot at surviving.
Of course, after I pull my stunt, Marko may shoot them off, but it’s my only hope, my only out.
Marko has a gun, but my hope is that since I’m clearly Nikola’s sex pet, he won’t use it on me. He may threaten, but hell, words don’t scare me.
Josip’s mouth twis
ts into a grimace and he barrels the rest of the way toward me. I feel the slight prick of the needle in my arm, but before he can inject the drug, I drive my knee straight into his balls.
I use every sliver of strength I can muster in the launch of my groin attack, and he lets out a roar as he collapses to his knees.
“No, fuck you, Josip!” I growl.
Marko’s eyes widen, but I don’t lose a second. I stand up, still attached to the somewhat flimsy chair, and swing it into the wall with a loud grunt.
And mercifully, it breaks apart on impact.
Marko grabs his gun, but is so startled by my sudden movements that he fumbles with it before it crashes onto the carpet and out of his grip.
I only needed a second for the next part of my plan.
Thank you, butterfingers.
I rush at him as he bends to grab the gun and barrel him into the bar. I back away slightly as the bottles fall down around him and I kick out my leg, stabbing him in the gut with the heel of my shoe.
I know Nikola had a different idea in mind when he had someone stuff my feet into these ridiculous stilettos, but I’ll bet he never dreamed I’d find another use for them.
Like this.
Blood spurts from the shallow wound in Marko’s flesh and he groans, clutching his side.
My eyes dart back and forth, looking for something I can use to cut me out of this restraint. In my periphery, I can see Marko’s hand inch toward the gun, and I lance him once again with my other shoe before bending to grab the weapon. My arms are still tied behind me, but at least I can aim.
Crack! Pop!
I only prepared one version of this show, and I can’t risk a redo.
I dart over to the door and flip the lock, just in case someone gets the idea to come barging in here to investigate the noise.
I run back to the bar and scour the area, looking for anything I can use to get these restraints off.
There is a discarded orange next to Marko’s empty glass, a strip of peel…and, oh thank you, God! Some kind of a tool with a serrated edge. I saw off the fabric, my heart pumping with a crazy intensity because I know what awaits me when I open that door.
A loud pounding makes my breath still.
Fuck.
What if I can’t get out?
What if someone comes in?
More pounding and yelling follows. I grit my teeth and keep slicing at the scarf. At least it’s silk and not cotton. I feel like cotton would be a lot harder to cut through.
Finally, I’m free!
The boat lurches forward, the engine roaring.
How the hell am I going to get off of this thing?
I grab the gun and plaster myself against the wall nearest the bed. A rush of cold air blasts me, and the painful realization that I’m only wearing a lace teddy hits me. If I get thrown overboard, it’ll be a toss up as to how I will succumb…death by sharks, or hypothermia.
I clutch the gun tight in my hand as incessant shooting makes my ears ring like clanging cymbals.
Either way, I’ll still be free.
I’d rather be eaten alive by sharks, than live a life of sexual servitude with my perverse uncle.
The shooting stops, and heavy footsteps along with angry voices pummel my ears. I hold the gun tight in my hands, praying the clip is full. I only squeezed off two shots, but who knows how many more Marko fired when I wasn’t squirming around in a chair in front of him?
Two more men run into the space, heading toward Marko and Josip. They are cursing in Croatian, exchanging incredulous glances as they survey the damage I caused.
Dipshits.
They never bother to look back once.
Nikola really needs to rethink his training methods, because his so-called security guards are clearly more helpless than the women they abduct.
Pop! Crack!
They go down fast and hard, and I swing myself around the wall, tiptoeing toward the door. I poke my head out, a sudden wave of nausea crashing over me as the boat heads through some choppier waters near the pier. I clutch the doorframe and peer down the short hallway.
More gunfire explodes into the air, and I catch the squeal before it escapes my lips. Who else is shooting up the place right now? I run down the hallway, firing off a shot at the man who is clutching a television remote in his hand.
Really?
What, is he going to kick back and watch some Netflix as this boat makes off with a gaggle of stolen women?
The boat moves slowly, gliding over the waves, moving farther and farther away from the pier.
My safety. My security. My future.
All of it lies in the growing distance, hanging in the balance.
Tears sting my eyes.
I let this happen! I am here on this boat because I fucked up! Again! All because I couldn’t follow a simple instruction from Vince! Now I’m on a boat headed back to the blustering of hell I thought I’d managed to evade forever.
No, no, no!
I’ve lost too much.
I can’t bear the thought that my bad judgment caused any more pain to Vince, his family, or mine.
An icy chill slithers over my prickled skin.
I have to find Nikola.
Destroying him is the only way to end this nightmare…not just for me, but for every woman he has tortured and tormented in the past.
Stopping him is the only way to ensure that he can’t hurt anyone else.
I take a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart before stepping onto the plush carpet. After using my heels as the good little weapons they were, I tossed them.
I’ve got a gun now and steel will to keep me alive now.
Another set of footsteps sends me scurrying behind a sofa. I duck down low, curling myself into a ball so my feet are hidden. With a hammering heart, I try to calm my breathing so I can actually hear what’s happening.
Male voices float into the air, and they speak rapidly in a language I don’t understand.
Shit.
I never actually saw Nikola get onto the boat…
What if he’s not onboard after all?
What if we’re not going to Croatia?
Bile rises in my throat.
I can’t exactly cower here, waiting to find out how he thinks he sealed my fate.
I need to seal it myself.
I crawl around the edge of the couch, pointing my gun at the two men talking. They wave their guns around, eyes moving wildly about the cabin. They’re waving their hands around, pointing…
At the room I broke out of.
And it’s safe to say they’re panicked.
I slowly straighten up as they retreat, their footsteps moving away from my hiding spot.
Goosebumps shoot up my arms and down my bare legs.
It could be from the cold….
“Zdravo, Aria.”
I gasp, stumbling backward into a tall, hulking body.
Or maybe it’s because the frozen black soul of Satan himself has captured me.
With a swift twist, I fling myself away from the couch and hold out my arm. “I’ve waited for a long time to see you, Nikola,” I hiss, steadying the gun in my hands. “But now it’s time for you to die!”
Crack!
“Ahh!” Searing pain explodes into my arm as I stagger into a wall. The gun drops to the floor like an anchor as I clutch my arm to my chest. Blood pools under my feet, courtesy of my brand-new bullet wound. I fall to the left and the right as the boat bounces over some choppy waves.
Nikola nods his head at a thug next to me. I hadn’t seen or heard him approach.
And I was clearly too fucking slow to pull my own trigger!
“I didn’t want to kill you, Aria,” Nikola says with a sinister smirk. “Not yet, anyway.”
“Where are you taking me?” I rasp, still holding my arm and fighting tears of pain and rage.
“Does it really matter? We’ll be together. That’s what you should focus on instead.” He steps closer to me, his eyes so dark t
hey actually make the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.
“I’d rather be dead!” I shriek.
“Oh, trust me,” he seethes, stepping toward me. “You’ll wish you were. I will make very certain of that. And you’ll learn not to speak out or defy me again. Your father never learned that lesson. He pawned you off on me so that I’d discipline you, but he never took that job on himself. If he had, maybe you’d have been more obedient. And maybe your mother would still be alive, too.”
“Fuck you!” I scream, launching my fist at his smug ass face. But he blocks the punch, grabbing my wrist and twisting it behind my back just to prove he can snap it off if he wanted to.
My eyes fall to the gun a few feet away from me, but now there are three goons with guns pointed at me.
A small part of me wants to lunge for it, just so they’d shoot me in the head and end my misery.
The rest of me decides that I fought too damn hard to get to this point in the first place, and there’s no way I’d ever give in to their sick and twisted games.
If it’s one thing this whole miserable situation proved to me, it’s that I play to win, not just survive.
Although, looking around at the obstacles surrounding me, I may fare better being tossed overboard into a school of sharks.
But since when do I back away from a challenge?
I just have to bide my time, just like I always do.
He nods toward his crew, spouting out instructions for where to put me and how to dress my wound.
A woozy feeling blankets my mind for a few moments and then clears. I stare at the blood seeping into the carpet below me and grab a corner of the wall.
That’s a lot of blood to lose in such a short time.
I can hear a crack of thunder in the distance, and a few seconds later, the sky lights up. A storm. Great. I clutch my stomach, swaying left and right as my vision blurs again. The voices are now muffled and I can’t make out Nikola’s instructions, for better or worse.
Before I can protest, my feet are swept off of the carpet and I’m being carried over the shoulder of one of his men. I try to swing my one working arm into the muscular back of the guy, barely making contact with it. My arm is listless, just like that of a rag doll.
Fallen: A Dark Italian Mafia Romance (Men of Mayhem Book 4) Page 22
