Chapter 35
A slight tap comes at the door, and I freeze.
I was so deep in my investigation that the noise jolts me.
“Sloane, it’s Romeo, let me in.” His voice sends warmth over me, calming my anxiety instantly.
Fucking finally, one of them is back.
I was beginning to worry.
I rush over to the door and swing it open.
He moves into the office, closing the door behind him.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, wondering where Reef and Onyx are.
“Sure, doll face,” he says, the words tight and strained, a tension underlying his casual tone.
“The problem is dealt with. I’m sure they will be back soon. Onyx suggests I take you home and they will follow us out.” Something about him makes me feel uneasy all of a sudden.
Why would Onyx let him take me home?
I tilt my head to the side, taking him in properly.
His suit is messed up, but that’s to be expected if he’s just moved a body.
Is it the research I was doing on his family, have I put this idea in my head, or is it more than that?
Something’s off, I’m sure of it.
“Romeo, what is it, is there something I need to worry about?”
“I’ll let the boys know you’re coming with me.” He removes his phone from his pocket, typing out a message.
As he’s doing it, all the motherfucking lights go out.
“Not tonight. Are you kidding me?” I mutter under my breath.
My heart kicks up a beat, the darkness of my office only broken by the light shining off his phone.
His expression shifts, a fleeting glimpse of something unreadable in his eyes.
“Come on, doll face, let’s get out of here,” he mutters, his voice low, almost threatening.
I take a shaky step away from him, not sure what is going on, but knowing something is not right.
This event is just as important to him as it is to me, or at least I thought it was.
“We need to get the lights back on or our event will be ruined,” I snap back at him.
He closes the gap with one large stride, placing his phone down; its soft glow illuminates his face, allowing me to see him clearly.
His hands come to my body, one firmly holding my ass while the other comes to my neck carefully as he inhales deeply.
“Your safety is my top priority.”
Anxiety swirling through my mind prevents me from relaxing enough to truly connect with him.
I push against his chest, the muscles hard beneath my palms, but he doesn’t move an inch.
His gaze is intense as he peers down at me.
“Don’t fret about your precious club, doll face. We have other plans for tonight, ones that don’t involve some sadistic piece of shit getting his hands on you. One of the girls can handle it for you, right?”
I shove at his chest, my hands stinging against the hard, unyielding surface.
It’s like trying to move a solid brick wall.
“What the hell are you going on about, Romeo?”
A wave of darkness washes over him.
“The only thing that’s important tonight is getting you to safety,” his voice growls out, angry and frustrated.
Like I have tipped him over the edge.
My pulse quickens, a frantic drum against my ribs, as a cold dread settles in my stomach.
What the hell isn’t he saying right now?
“W…what? What happened out there?” I stutter.
“Why must you fight me on everything? Can’t you just trust that I’m doing all I can to protect you? You can either come with me easily and walk out of this place hand in hand or we can do it the hard way and I carry out your unconscious body. Either way, you’re leaving here with me tonight.”
I slap him harder, trying to get some leverage on him, some space.
“I don’t know what fucking game you’re playing tonight, Romeo, but this shit isn’t going to fly. I get that you want to keep me safe, but fuck, the club needs its power back on or all the girls we have working here won’t be safe. It’s my duty to make sure they get home to their families first. Get your gun and we can head out back and check the meter.”
His large hands firmly encircle my wrist, his touch jarring as he scoops them up in a firm hold.
“Sorry, doll face, I’m the one dishing out orders tonight, not you. We don’t have time to play around.”
I stare back at him, dumbfounded.
I don’t know what the hell has gotten into him tonight, but I’m not standing for this shit.
He’s gone way too far.
“Get off me, fucker.” I bring my knee up, aiming for his balls, but he anticipates me and moves just in time, spinning me around to face the wall.
As I struggle against him, he captures my hands behind my back and clamps something hard and cold over my wrist. “A little present from Reef. I knew you wouldn’t come easily,” he whispers in my ear, sending goosebumps over my skin.
“You never like to make things easy, do you, doll face, fighting me over every damn thing.”
He pins me to the wall, his weight pressing down, and I feel him pull something else from his pocket.
From the flash of his phone light, I see a syringe.
Oh, fuck, he really is going to knock me out.
I break into a cold sweat.
I try to think quickly.
If I’m out of it, I’m fucked and have no chance of fixing anything.
“I’m sorry, Romeo, I was just messing around. I know how much you like to play games, it was just a bit of fun. I’ll go with you now, if that’s what you want,” I lie, trying to get him back on my side.
It’s like he has flipped a crazy switch.
Maybe he is more like his papa than he let on.
Or maybe the sight out there in the streets was too much to take, knowing the threat that I’m next.
He freezes, the harsh glow of his phone illuminating his face as he studies me.
“Good girl.” His gaze lingers on me as he pulls back slightly, making me feel vulnerable.
Then he delicately removes my bracelet, dropping it to my desk.
“What are you doing?” I stutter.
“It was sweet of Onyx to have you tracked at all times, but where we’re going, you won’t need his gift.”
I stare back at him, my heart thumping, feeling the loss of my gift already.
Onyx was tracking me with that bracelet?
Romeo wraps an arm around my waist, directing me through my office, and I wish with every damn thing inside of me that I didn’t place my gun on my desk and instead it was still strapped to my thigh.
“We might just leave these on for safekeeping.” He tugs on the handcuffs.
“Don’t want you getting away, not now that I finally have my hands on you.” His lips press into the side of my face with a soft kiss that sends my pulse into overdrive.
What the hell did he mean by that?
He’s had his hands on me all week.
As we push out into the hallway, I can hear the chaos going on inside the other spaces of the club with the lights out.
Fuck, I should be in there helping them fix this mess.
I try to fight against him, knowing now is my chance to make a run for it.
“Don’t try it.” His large arm crushes me to his body.
I hadn’t realized before how damn strong he is, but it’s like trying to fight against a raging bull.
No movement at all. He directs me away from the noise and down toward the back exit.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” I whisper cry, frustration taking over .
When we get into the parking lot, I see my back door security guard crumpled on the asphalt with a bullet in his head.
I cast a quick glance back to Romeo, his face a mask of silence.
“Shit got real here tonight, doll face,” he mutters dryly, and I know I’m totally fucked.
When he comes to a blue Maserati, he stops moving, popping open the trunk with his fob.
“I’d love to have you riding up front with me, but can’t really trust you to behave, can I, trouble?”
The way he says Onyx’s nickname for me makes me feel sick to the stomach.
Where the hell is Onyx?
He should be following me by now.
I steal a quick glance over my shoulder, but the alleyway is empty, and I know I’m alone.
So much for all the added security and the boys watching my every damn move.
When I need them, they are nowhere to be seen, and that in itself is suspicious as hell.
With one sharp shove, he forces me into the trunk.
Without my hands to catch me, I topple in, my head hitting the bottom with a thud that makes my head ache.
I stare back up at him, wondering where the man I have gotten to know has disappeared to.
“I’ll be good, you can trust me,” I try pleading with him, but all I get is a menacing smile, then he slams the trunk closed, locking me inside.
My heart hammers against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat in the suffocating silence of my confinement.
I shut my eyes up tight, trying not to let the fear take over.
I don’t have time for a panic attack.
The car kicks into gear, and my body hits the back of the car as he starts to drive away.
I don’t bother screaming for help, I know no one can hear me, and I need to conserve my energy for when the fucker lets me out again.
I knew I couldn’t fucking trust him.
I got swept up in his charm.
It was him who was after me all along.
He drives for what feels like forever, and I try to calm my breathing, focusing on the handcuffs and trying to make my hands small so they can slip free, but it’s no use.
It’s so hard when they’re at my back.
I wiggle onto my side and slip my hands under my ass, then bring my knees up so I can skip my hands under my feet.
It’s almost impossible in the confined space of the car trunk, but I just slip them free.
My chest heaves, gasping for air, a desperate need for oxygen filling my lungs.
It’s so hot in here, and my head is clogged with fear.
Knowing I have no choice, I move my hands up to my hair, thanking God I wore my hair in a bun today and I have bobby pins in.
I locate one and pull it free.
I shift my hands to the side and tinker away at the lock, having no idea what I’m doing, but knowing this is my only hope to escape.
If I can get my hands free, then at least I will have a fighting chance to escape him.
If not, he has the upper hand, and I’m screwed.
Then the car comes to a stop, and my heart leaps into my throat, knowing I have run out of time.
Desperately I keep twisting the bobby pin in the lock, not giving up.
I can hear Romeo talking to someone else, another male voice, one I don’t recognize.
Their voices are muffled, but I think I make out “When do we set off?” from Romeo.
“Now,” the other dude says.
Set off where? Where the hell is he taking me?
I can’t think about all the fucked-up scenarios.
I keep twisting at the cuffs, digging the bobby pin in the lock, and finally the thing pops open.
I break into a sweat, relief washing over me.
I did it. Now what? I feel around the car for something, anything I can get my hands on to help me when I get out.
In the side panel, I find a carpeted pouch.
It’s damn heavy, and I pull it free, wondering if this is the car’s tool kit.
Sure enough, I get my hands on a cold metal bar, one that must be used to help jack up the car when it gets a flat.
I pull it behind my back, holding it tightly, waiting for the motherfucker to open the trunk.
It feels like forever with me just waiting, my heart in my throat, sweat drenching my body.
My mind races with the possibilities of how to escape the man I thought I was falling for.
How could I have been so wrong about him?
Maybe it’s him who’s out for revenge for his brother’s death after all.
He had been prepared for this kind of situation, having undergone rigorous training.
If his family had welcomed him back after years of earning their trust, then perhaps this was his chance.
He’s going to murder me to show them his loyalty.
I hear heavy footsteps, then Romeo swings open the trunk.
Light floods in, and I blink my eyes, the bright blinding me.
When they finally focus, I find him smirking down at me.
“Hot in there, doll face?” He reaches in and wipes the matted sweat-drenched hair from my forehead tenderly.
I don’t dare move, too scared he’s about to work out I got out of the cuffs before I have time to use my freedom to my advantage.
His hands slide under my body, and he scoops me up and sets me back to standing on the solid ground beside him, my heels wobbling a little on my shaky legs.
Not giving him time to work out I’m armed, I swing the metal bar at his head, connecting with a sickening thud.
My stomach rolls knowing I have hurt him when it’s the last thing I want to do, but fuck him.
He tied me up, threatened to drug me, and locked me in the trunk of his car.
This isn’t the man I know.
Something much more sinister is going on here.
He roars in pain and grabs for me, but I’m too quick for him and take off running in the opposite direction.
I sprint as far as I can then come to an abrupt stop when I realize we’re on a shipping boat sailing out of the docks .
My heart leaps.
Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.
The shoreline of the docks recedes, a blurry line against the waves, and the cold water chills me to the bone; I can’t fucking swim.
The only thing that scares me more than Romeo catching up with me, and doing whatever it is he wants to do to me, is diving in there and attempting to swim back to shore.
“Get back here, Ava,” I hear him calling out from behind me.
Ava? My head spins, the scenery whooshing around me.
I keep moving, dashing around the front of the boat, trying to get as far away from him as possible, but there is another burly dude closing in on me.
I glance back over my shoulder and see Romeo’s not far away either.
He’s hurt, though, a gash over his right eye with blood trickling from it.
“Don’t run from me, doll face, I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe with me, I’m taking you away from the danger.”
“How can you be, you cuffed me and threw me in the back of your car,” I cry back.
“To get you out of there safely. He was coming for you tonight, and there would have been nothing your boys could have done to stop him.” He takes another step toward me, his eyes locking with mine.
I take another step back, getting dangerously close to the edge of the boat.
His lips twist up at the sides in a cruel smirk that doesn’t even look like him.
He had me so fooled, when I should have known better.
A whimper escapes me, knowing I’m fucked.
“Where are you taking me?” I cry desperately.
“The watch tower.”
I blink back at him, wondering what the hell he’s going on about.
He lunges, his fingers reaching for my arms, and in a flash, I stumble backward, plunging into the icy water.
It’s all-consuming, swallowing me and stealing away my breath in an instant .
I hear him yell for help.
Screaming to get me out of here.
But I can’t focus on him.
All I can do is try to move my arms and legs and focus on getting my head to the surface to breathe when it feels like little, tiny knives are stabbing at my skin.
I kick my feet and paddle my arms, bursting to the surface, gasping for air.
The icy water causes my lungs to constrict painfully, each breath a searing struggle.
My tight skirt clings to my legs, making it nearly impossible to kick through the water.
But I keep moving, doing everything I can to get away.
The boat’s engine cuts out with a jarring clang, bringing it to an immediate halt.
I glance back over my shoulder to see Romeo at the edge of the boat, his shoes already off.
“Throw her a flotation device, she can’t swim,” he calls frantically to the other dude as he strips off his shirt.
It’s then I realize my mistake—this isn’t Romeo at all.
There, on his lower neck and down onto his chest, is a tattoo I haven’t seen in nine years, an angel right next to what could only be a bullet wound scar.
It was hidden by his collared shirt.
Orlando Moretti is still alive, and he’s the motherfucker who’s been after me.
The end