Chapter 2
Two
Harper
Kicking and screaming did absolutely nothing and with the duct tape secured across my mouth, a black bag over my head, I have no idea where I am.
Time doesn’t feel as though it passes; it stretches on forever and stalls, like Father Time is a cruel trickster playing a joke.
It’s complete and utter darkness. The vehicle hums and roars, twisting through mountainous roads and then slows to a crawl.
Has it been minutes or hours?
Are we there?
The engine doesn’t shut off. We stall.
Are we stuck in traffic or waiting for something? I don’t hear the engine of a train, but we could be back several car lengths if we’re stuck waiting for one to pass.
The vehicle roars again, the driver heavy on the gas as I’m thrown around the backseat.
Time seems to stretch and expand, snap and bend.
My heart pounds wildly in my chest as I listen to the sounds; it feels like we’re on gravel and we finally pull to an abrupt halt.
The doors open and close and then I feel myself being dragged out of the vehicle and escorted up several steps.
I can’t speak. Can’t scream.
Fighting is useless with my arms secured behind my back, my vision blind, my mouth silenced.
Steps up.
Five.
Then hard flooring.
No plush carpet under my feet.
I try to take in every detail.
“Watch your step.” It’s the same male voice, the one I heard who abducted me.
The man from the bar.
Jayden.
What does he want with me? Does he work for Santino DeLuca or Dante?
He drags me down several stairs. Fourteen, to be exact, and then removes the bag from my head.
A single bulb illuminates the darkened cellar.
“Don’t scream,” he warns and removes the tape from my mouth.
I reach out to bite him, and he smacks me across the face.
Wincing, the burn stings, and he shoves me into a metal folding chair, my arms still bound behind my back.
“I was really hoping we didn’t have to do this the hard way, Harper.”
“Who do you work for?” I stare up at him, hatred in my eyes as I try to take in my surroundings. There’s one exit door, two egress windows. The windows aren’t the most easily accessible, but I could probably slide out of them if he leaves me alone. I’d just have to climb to reach them.
Already, I’m plotting my escape.
Jayden laughs and smiles down at me, not the least bit tense. “I don’t work for anyone. I’m here to help you.”
I snort at his offer of help. “You could start by taking off the restraints.”
He retrieves a pocketknife and gestures for me to turn around. Within seconds, he unbinds my hands. I pull them forward around myself and rub at my wrists, the pain searing from being too tight.
“I apologize for the theatrics, but we had to make it look like you were kidnapped.”
I huff and fold my arms across my chest. “You did kidnap me!” I shout at him, loud enough that if we’re not alone, someone else will hear me.
“I borrowed you,” Jayden says and smiles. “Harper McKenna.”
“It’s Harper Ricci,” I correct him. I’m not sure why I do; maybe I should have pretended that I wasn’t married. It’s not like I wear my wedding band at the bar. The tips are better when I leave it off.
A sly smile spreads across Jayden’s face. “I know. We did a background check on you, thoroughly vetted every detail of your life. You’re married to Luca Ricci. You also have a son, Zeke.”
I inhale sharply as I stare up at Jayden. It’s just the two of us. Perhaps I can convince him to let me go or overpower him.
“If you so much as lay a finger on my husband or my son—”
“Relax,” Jayden is all smiles, which only infuriates me further, “I’m here to offer you help. You wanted out of the mafia, away from your father-in-law, Dante, is that correct?”
I stare at him, perplexed.
How could he know that?
At least, I had wanted help months ago. Even weeks ago, I’d have been happy to turn on Dante, but not now. Not after what happened with Santino.
I’d be putting Luca and myself in danger.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Mafia?” I ask, giving him a look of disbelief as I play dumb. “You’re the monster from what I can tell, abducting a woman from her job. You really should let me go before you spend the rest of your miserable life behind bars.”
Jayden runs a hand through his short-cropped dark hair. His eyes blend into the darkness of the basement he’s keeping me in. “Come on, you work for Dante Ricci. You’re his daughter-in-law. You have to know he’s mafia.”
“You’re mafia,” I retort, like a teenager shooting insults. I refuse to acknowledge Dante is mafia, because it would be incriminating myself.
His eyes wince and I see the worry lines appear on his forehead.
Did he really think I’d flip on Dante after he abducted me?
“You met Jaxson’s daughter; you were at the police station—”
I hold his stare, unwilling to so much as flinch. “You’re mistaken. You kidnapped the wrong girl.”
His face reddens, and I can’t tell if it’s anger or irritation. Either way, he’s pissed. He curses under his breath. “This is not how I saw this going,” Jayden mutters under his breath.
“Yeah, this isn’t how I saw my shift going, either. Take me back to the bar before anyone notices I’m missing.”
I forgot to wear my watch today and my damn phone is still at the bar. There’s no clock and it’s dark outside, giving zero indication of the hour.
Jayden retrieves his phone from his pocket and scratches the back of his neck. He looks nervous and flustered. “Yeah, it’s a bit late for that.”
Relief floods through me. If Dante knows I’m missing, then he’ll come for me. His men won’t let Jayden keep me locked up in his basement forever.
He sighs and grabs a chair, sitting across from me. “Listen, I thought I was doing you a favor, trying to help you get out of the family. I saw you were a new employee for Dante, when I asked around and realized who you were—I was just trying to help.”
“You have a funny way of helping. Let me go. We can all put this behind us.”
“Can we?” Jayden asks, glancing me over. “I don’t want any trouble with Dante.”
His phone buzzes in his hand, and I glance at the screen as the name Jaxson Monroe is calling.
“My boss,” he says, pressing his lips together. He silences the call. “We don’t have much time. I swear on my life, I thought I was doing the right thing, Harper.”
“Abducting me? Are you insane?”
He laughs and hangs his head. “Maybe I am. My niece was taken when she was younger. I guess I just want to be the hero.”
“Heroes don’t kidnap people!” I shout at him.
Jayden scoots back, the chair scraping against the concrete floor. “You’re right. But if I let you go, and you go back to your father-in-law and tell him I’m involved, it’s going to get messy.”
“You’re worried he’ll kill you.” I pin him with my stare.
Jayden merely nods. “I was trying to do good. Not that Dante would see it that way. I don’t have any issue with him.”
Could have fooled me.
“Everyone knows Dante is mafia. If you don’t know that, well, you’re kidding yourself or they’re good at hiding it,” Jayden says.
He stares at me, his eyes two dark pools luring me in.
“I’ve heard chatter, I know my boss has been involved in some shady shit recently, helping Dante.
It’s all—a bit strange.” He seems to be talking to himself more than to me.
Like he’s trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Makes two of us.
Dante keeps me out of a lot of his shit.
“You ever hear about Dante trafficking women and children?” Jayden asks and stands.
My shoulders straighten as I shake my head.
“He wouldn’t do that.” I don’t deceive him or myself, pretending Dante is a good man, but DeLuca is the monster and Jayden, I’m not sure.
Maybe he’s trying to help, or maybe he’s working for DeLuca in secret.
I can’t help but worry that Jayden is pressing me for information for some other reason.
But the concern laced on his face is genuine.
“Someone has been trafficking them through town. My boss helped reunite the girls with their families, the ones who had disappeared. But some of those girls, sending them home would have been a death sentence or worse…” his voice trails off.
“Maybe your boss is the bad guy.”
Jayden paces the length of the cellar. “No, Jaxson is straight as an arrow when it comes to right and wrong. There is no morally gray with him.”
“Yet he was involved with the trafficking operation,” I point out what Jayden just told me.
He shakes his head in utter denial. “Absolutely not!” He stops pacing and glares at me, stepping closer, into my personal space. Jayden leans down, meeting my stare. He’s fueled by anger and coldness that scares me. “Jaxson is a saint compared to these men.”
“These men who don’t have a name,” I point out.
“It has to be Dante.” Jayden pushes off his heels and paces the room again.
I glance behind myself briefly, toward the door, my only escape with Jayden blocking the egress windows, not that I could easily climb out with him in the room.
“Dante wouldn’t kidnap…”
I press my lips together, knowing full well that he did abduct a child. But an entire human trafficking ring. Absolutely not.
He had kidnapped that child to stop that type of behavior from a man who was involved in hurting children. I rub my forehead, knowing full-well that DeLuca is the man or the mafia family that Jayden should be after.
But do I tell him?
Jayden’s phone rings again, and he silences it again, ignoring the caller.
“Aren’t you going to answer that? It seems kind of important if he keeps calling you,” I say, keeping my voice soft, feminine, unsuspecting.
Jayden sighs and heads for the stairs, retrieving his phone from his pocket.
“Hello?” he says, halfway up the stairs.
“Help! Jayden’s kidnapped me! I’m in a dark basement!” I scream at the top of my lungs, praying that Jaxson, the man on the other end of the phone, will hear me and come help.