27. Cian
Chapter 27
Cian
As soon as we’re alone, I tell Finn about the De Luca cronies in Hawaii. I don’t want to give him the chance to ask me any questions, so I figure going straight into work is the best bet.
We’re sitting a few tables away from Riley and Harper while the girls reconnect. Close enough to keep watch on them, but far enough away to give them some privacy. They seem happy to see each other. Harper gets up to run to the bathroom, a wide smile on her face.
I thought the promise of seeing her sister again rekindled Harper’s spark. Their reunion reminded me of one of those sappy, made-for-tv movies. But seeing Riley isn’t a reason for her to slide her fingers through mine when we’re alone. Or fall asleep with her head against my shoulder. And it doesn’t explain why she kissed me like that on the plane before we landed. Or after.
Like she doesn’t want our time together to end.
And what’s the point in taking her back anyway? It’s not like Finn’s waiting to marry her. With the De Lucas still after her, she needs protection, but that doesn’t have to happen in New York.
We could go anywhere.
I mean she . She could go anywhere.
Damn it.
Harper—relying on me, trusting me, drawing near to me—makes me so…possessive and aroused and insane with happiness all at the same time. The signs are too obvious to miss, but owning up to reality has been too much for me to do.
I’m starting to think that Finn was right. This crazy obsession I have for Harper might actually be more, and that’s a big fucking problem.
My gaze flicks to the table, but she hasn’t returned.
What the hell is taking her so long?
I glance over toward the bathrooms, and the ground sways beneath my feet.
In front of the women’s restroom, a neon yellow sign announces closed for cleaning . That sign wasn’t there when Harper went in, and the janitorial staff wouldn’t set the sign up yet if people were still inside.
Fuck!
I leap from the booth and ignore other travelers’ stares as I sprint across the walkway to charge into the bathroom.
Apart from a woman mopping in the corner, it’s empty.
The ground disappears from under my feet when I spot red streaks on the white floor by a row of sinks.
Blood splatters.
And Harper is nowhere to be found.
Harper
There’s something pounding on the back of my skull, and my mouth tastes like stuffy, stale air.
I wince when I fully wake, an aching soreness pulling at my arms. As I squirm around, I realize they’re bound behind something firm pressed against my back.
My ears throb and ring. Though it hurts like hell, I slowly manage to peel my eyes open and lift my head to investigate my surroundings.
Even with a sluggish brain, I can tell I’m sitting in a murder cabin, the type you see in so many slasher flicks.
Dirty, rotted wood comprises the floor, ceiling, and walls. I spot a grimy window to my left. Through the filthy, opaque glass—I feel as though I need a tetanus shot just looking at it—I can make out the copse of tall trees standing beyond the frame.
The shack is empty. I’m alone.
Abandoned and confined.
In the past, being alone in a cabin in the woods has been a peaceful, almost romantic idea. But now, with the blood drying in my hair, I’m doused with fear.
How many abductions is this for me over the last few days? Two? Three?
Unfortunately, this one may be my last.
I don’t know what day it is, how long I’ve been out, or what happened to…Riley, Finn.
Cian.
I just barely manage to keep the tears from streaming down my cheeks when a door behind me flies open. I freeze.
The light from the doorway brings the gruesome dilapidation of this place into full focus, and a huge shadow looms up the opposite wall.
Oh, god, who is it?
Sandpaper in my throat. Hands clenched into fists. Heart tolling like an ancient cathedral bell in my chest.
The door squeals shut hard enough to make the foundation of this prehistoric shack creak and shudder.
“Did I wake you?” A menacing voice wraps around a sweet question.
I don’t recognize it, but the way my skin crawls when I hear the voice has me wondering whether my body knows something about this man that I don’t.
Heavy, deliberate footfalls approach the back of my chair.
My muscles flex, aching to whip around to face my captor and back as far away from him as possible. The floorboards beneath me creak when I strain against the restraints.
“Come on.” Meaty, greedy fingers latch onto my right shoulder. It’s about as comfortable as a snake coiling around my neck. “I told them not to gag you because I wanted to hear your pretty voice.”
Slime drizzles down my spinal cord. My stomach roils.
I’ve heard perversion in a man’s voice plenty of times, but this is the worst. The clawing, painfully immediate urge to flee nearly chokes me.
My mouth remains clamped shut as this horrible man gives my shoulder a little squeeze and says, “Sing for me, little canary. Hmm?”
His fingers disappear, allowing me to release the breath I’ve been holding.
The man saunters around in front of me. In the dimness of the window’s dying light, I see him. An expensive, three-piece suit and Italian leather shoes aren’t enough to distract from the shiny, round, owl-like eyes of a murderous predator and a pensive, pouting mouth. He wears a strong, musky cologne that cuts through the aroma of old wood and fresh pine.
This man is no foot soldier. Not an enforcer either.
No clue what the hell he is, but a maniac would be my first guess.
“My name is Enzo De Luca.” He draws a fat cigar from his vest pocket. “I expect you’ve heard of me.”
Terror melts my spine into a gelatinous-like substance.
Like a faraway dream, I remember what Cian told me. The De Luca Mafia is after Finn over some old beef and being his fiancée for a few months somehow entangled me in all of it. And now, even though we’re no longer engaged, I’m still a target.
Hoarse and run through with fear, my voice is unfamiliar to my ear. “You’ve got the wrong person.” It’s the weakest bluff I’ve ever made, but it’s all I have.
“Do I?” Enzo lights his cigar. “I’m looking for Harper Brennan.”
I try not to react, but my name in this man’s mouth destroys me. I already regret asking, but my mouth has a mind of its own. “ Why ?”
“Until recently, she was the fiancée of a person of interest.” Enzo shrugs a little, exhaling a train of acrid cigar smoke. I cough as the cloud floats my way. “But I heard Harper went missing, and she got replaced as a bride. That makes her fair game.”
Terror wires my jaw shut.
Cian was wrong. I don’t think it’s leverage this man’s after.
A lewd grin spreads Enzo’s face wide, showing off a killer’s teeth. “I’ve been in the market for a second wife, so it’s perfect timing. Don’t you agree?”
Shit , shit, freaking shit .
Enzo waves a hand, giving a signal to someone I can’t see, and the door to this shack squeals open yet again. I’m quivering, fear shuddering through every molecule of my being.
“My first was such a disappointment.”
Ignoring Enzo, I crane my head left and right, trying to glimpse what’s going on behind my back. I hear metal clanging and wheels squeaking closer.
“You’re not going to ask me why this time?” Enzo simpers, smug.
Panic rises through me like flood water.
A horrified noise rips out of me when Enzo’s rough fingertips suddenly take hold of my chin, yanking my face toward him.
“Give me your attention when I ask for it.” His abrasive, knife-like voice grates my skin, his repulsive scent nauseating me to the point of gagging.
“What do you want from me?”
“My engagement present.” His wicked face petrifies me so much that I don’t feel the shift in the air until a sharp, burning prick of pain slices through my thigh.
A syringe juts out of my right leg. The person who stuck me stands over my shoulder next to a stretcher.
“No—” My desperate protest dies beneath the power of the chemicals they just injected in me. Consciousness slipping sideways, I lose myself under the watch of Enzo’s triumphant, ravenous eye.
He and his accomplice maneuver my limp body onto the stretcher while I sink, helplessly disconnected from my body.
For the second time in my life, I’ve been torn away from my friends and family.
Only this time, no gorgeous enforcer with a secretly sweet heart will come take me home.
This time, I know I’ll never see any of them again.