Chapter 31 London #2
"It's funny, you know. The same man that helped me get away, is the man who thinks you're dead.
" She hits my face with the gun again and I wish like hell I could get free of these confines so I could shove the barrel in her mouth and pull the trigger, ending her life once and for all.
Twenty minutes ago, I would have been glad to see her alive, but now, now I'm fucking pissed.
"You're boring me, Madison." I sigh. "Get to the point or shoot me and get it over with."
"You think I won't? Is that it?" She drags the cold metal across my face, pressing it on my forehead.
I lean into it. "Get it over with, bitch."
Madison pulls her arm back, hitting me across the face with the gun, my lip splitting open, blood filling my mouth.
I smile, red coating my teeth. "Is that all you got?" I spit again. "You forget who my father was, Madison. You can't fucking hurt me."
"You talk a lot of shit for someone tied to a chair." Madison taps her toe, clearly getting annoyed that I can't be bothered.
I stare up at her, raising my brows, daring her to fucking try me. "Either tell me what this is about or put me out of my misery. Why are you here? Why now? What's the connection to Vito? Stop beating around the bush, it's not cute. You don't do the whole hostage thing well, babe, sorry."
Madison huffs. "I'm here because you pissed off the man I owe a favor.
It's funny, really, because you might have gotten away with it.
You were this close." She holds her fingers up, showing what little space she can make between them.
"I hear Ricardo is dead, so I come out of hiding.
I pay Vito a visit, thank him for helping me escape, and he tells me Ricardo made a deal with him before his downfall, that you were to be his bride, but you had succumbed to your injuries.
And I mean…" Madison brings the gun to her chest, pressing her fingers to her heart.
"I was saddened to hear the news. I always felt a sort of kinship with you.
I hated to hear that Ricardo took you with him. "
I watch her feign sadness and hope she spits out the point to this story before she bores me to death.
"I'm not sure if you know this, but Archer and I have a history.
So it was truly shocking when I did a little research to find out how he was doing, that I saw you in the photos the private investigator sent me.
It was like seeing a ghost. A beautiful gold mine of a ghost." Madison tilts her head, smiling at me.
"I thought it was going to take me years and years to pay off the favor I owed Vito, and here you are, landing right in my lap.
Perhaps it was fate that brought us together after all.
Of course, I had to come take a look myself, I had to be sure. I couldn't get his hopes up."
Madison kneels in front of me, resting the gun on my thigh, pointing it at me, her finger on the trigger.
"What do you want, Madison?" I ask her, understanding the connection now but not the point.
"I want what you want, London girl. I want my freedom, and I want Archer."
I clench my jaw and try to figure out which part makes me more furious, the fact that she keeps using the nickname my father gave me, or the fact that she thinks she's going to walk away from this with Archer at her side.
As tortured as he was, he'd never forgive her for what she did, and considering the way he looks at me now, there's no way he'd come to terms with her killing me.
Hell, I'm not positive he'll ever be able to look past me being Ricardo's daughter, the man who supposedly killed the love of his life.
"He'll never love you," I tell her.
"What makes you so sure?" Madison drags her bottom lip into her mouth.
"I can be quite convincing." She smiles, a sadistic grin.
"I'll tell him I was forced into hiding, that it was all against my will, that the only thing that got me through each day was the thought of him.
" She bats her lashes. "What do you think? "
"Ask him yourself," I say.
Madison furrows her brow. "Oh, you doubt me?"
"Not at all." I shake my head. "I'm just sure he'll be here any second."
"What?" Her dark eyes meet mine, a hint of genuine concern lining them.
"Archer, when you two were together, did he not have OCD?
Did he not put trackers on you? Did he not follow your every move?
Oh, just me? Must mean he cares more about me than he did you.
" This time, the smile is on my face, not hers, satisfaction rolling through me at unsettling her despite having no idea whether Archer is on his way or not.
I hear the gun before I feel it, the sound rattling in my ears, my torso, my entire body. I'm warm and cold all at once and when I lower my head, I realize Madison pulled the trigger, and when I meet her gaze, I see she's just as shocked as I am. "You shot me," I mutter.
Madison rises to her feet, gawking at the gun in her hand like it went off itself and she had nothing to do with it. "This isn't over," she tells me as she backs away. "This isn't fucking over."
Blood pools around my shirt as Madison continues to back her way toward the door and slipping through it.
"You're just going to fucking leave me here?
" I shout after her, but it's no use, she continues until I hear the door slam shut.
"Fuck," I blurt out and scan the room to find anything to get me out of this.
Telling her Archer was on his way was severely useful in getting under her skin, but I didn't think she was going to fucking shoot me.
And since Archer didn't show up during my date, I highly doubt he'd be watching me now.
I'm in this alone, and if I don't do something quick, I might die here.
That's when I spot my phone sitting on a table across the room.
"Hey, Siri," I speak into the space, waiting for her to respond.
A long pause leads to more silence. I must not be close enough, loud enough, clear enough, for the phone to pick up what I'm saying.
"Hey, Siri," I say louder this time, holding my breath in anticipation.
Nothing.
I take in the way my arms are secured to the chair, tugging harder than I had before, not making progress on freeing myself.
I could attempt to slam backward and break the wooden chair, but if I don't get it exactly right, I'd end up more stuck than I already am, ensuring that I die here.
I do the only thing I can think of, lift my body into the air and try to scoot even a fraction of an inch toward the door.
I grunt, the pain in my side growing by the minute, but I muster every bit of it into a rage that carries me, slowly, in the direction I need to be. Pausing, only a few inches away from where I started, I even my breathing to call out once more, "Hey, Siri."
Nothing.
With everything in me, I force the chair to move and my body to cooperate. I once hated myself for what I allowed to happen to Madison, and now I hate her for what she's done to me. Funny how the tables have turned in a split second.
"Hey, Siri," I say, my vision blurring, my eyes welling.
"Mmhm?" she responds like an angel answering my prayers.
I do the one thing I shouldn't but the only thing that might get me out of here. "Call Archer."
It only rings one time before his voice comes through the other end. "London?"
"I've been shot," I say, not sure how much time I have left.
"I'm on my way, hang on, I'm on my way." His voice cracks. "Stay with me, little tornado. I'm coming."