Chapter 36 #2
“Are you sure you’ll be alive to see what will happen to me?
” I squat to meet his eyes. “You messed with the wrong girl.” I grab his dick, and with one move, slice through it.
He tries to scream, but he ends up choking on his own blood.
I stand above him. “Pity. You should have suffered more. I guess choking on your own blood will work,” I say before I turn to a shocked Linda.
I touch her shoulder and look her in the eyes.
“He deserved that.” Her eyes focus on mine before she nods.
“Good. We need to move,” I say and remember to go back to the man and go through his pockets.
I take his keys and phone. Bingo. It’s a burner.
Perfect. No password needed. “Let’s go!” I say to Linda, and she follows me as we exit the room.
“Stay behind me and back to the wall.”
Since I have no idea where we are, I need to be careful. I focus on my hearing as we enter the dimly lit hallway. There is only one way from here. We don’t get far when footsteps approach. I brace against the wall, Linda following suit.
“I need to see him now. I want my asset.”
Is this Anton? The man he is working with? Or someone for me? It doesn’t matter; he is also going down.
I turn to Linda. “I want you to go back and hide.”
“No, please don’t make me go back.” She clutches my hand.
“There are two men coming. I’m not sure if I can take one, much less two, and you will distract me, so go. I promise to come and get you.” She pleads with me with her eyes, but their voices are getting closer. “Go!”
She takes a step back and goes into the room. I press myself against the wall in the small gap between the pillar and the wall. I flex my fingers around the knife handle before holding still and waiting for them to come.
“Your boss better not have touched her.”
“He hasn’t. Victor, maybe you have a job for me. I want out of this place.”
Victor.
My stomach falls, realizing that this was all Victor’s work. That piece of shit. He is going to pay. The footsteps approach, mixed with a laugh from Victor. “Maybe. Let’s see how useful you are first.”
Shadows appear in front of me, and I wait until they pass me before I attack.
I aim at his neck and throw one of my knives at the guy with Victor; the knife hits his jugular, stopping him in his tracks before he stumbles.
Victor is quick to act. Turning, he aims his gun at me.
His lips spread into a smile. “Aren’t you a piece of work? Drop the knife.”
“Why? So you can kill me?” I hold my knife in front of me like it will save me from a bullet.
“As much as I would love to kill you, you’re worth more alive than dead.
” He motions to the knife. “Now, put the knife down. I need you alive, but that doesn’t mean anything.
I still can shoot you.” He lowers his gun toward my legs.
He’s right. I need to choose my battles.
“Slowly,” he warns. I do as he says. “Now, turn and walk. It’s time for the exchange. ”
I turn around and walk in front of him just as he said. “How much are you getting from this?” I ask, trying to get as much information as I can.
“A lot.”
“And where am I going?”
“To someone who paid a lot of money just to make you pay.” There is only one person who comes to my mind, but he’s behind bars. Could he have done this? He can’t have me unless I get smuggled inside.
We reach the stairs, and as I assumed, this is the basement. I climb up the stairs until I reach the top and enter the abandoned building. There’s broken glass, peeled paint, and holes in the walls.
“Keep walking,” Victor rumbles behind me.
I walk to the exit when he grabs my upper arm and packs the gun under my ribs. “There is a car out front. You will enter it without making a scene. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I say and clench my jaw.
He leads me toward the black Escalade. I hesitate a little, and he hits me with his gun in my aching ribs. Pain explodes inside me, and my breath catches.
“Walk!” he orders. The door opens from the inside, and Victor pushes me in. I slide into the white interior of a car. Victor slides in beside me and closes the door, and I become aware of my situation when I meet my buyer. It’s not the person I thought, but it's someone I never expected.
“As we agreed, alive,” Victor says.
“I see that.” My buyer assesses me.
“My money?” Victor demands.
His eyes snap to Victor. “I have it ready for you, don’t worry.”
Victor’s lips spread in a smile as he rubs his hands greedily. My eyes widen as I watch in horror at the man as he pulls out his gun and shoots Victor between the eyes.
He leans over and opens the door, pushing him outside before he addresses the man in the driving seat. “Go!”
I turn to the driver’s side, catching the profile of the man. He looks familiar too. I caught two cars before us, the same as this one. I turn to the smirking bastard in front of me.
“It's good to have a friend in prison with assets that they can’t use. As they say, an enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
I know who he’s speaking about. I knew somehow this would all catch up to me. “And what does your friend want from me?”
“He wants you to pay for making him look like a fool. For killing his father and for delivering the evidence against him. You thought he wouldn’t figure it out? Bad decision.”
Oh, I wished he would figure it out, especially after what his goons did to me.
I cock my head to the side. “And what do you get from this other than money?” I see two cars catching up with us.
He laughs. “You should know by now. Your father was responsible for the death of my parents. For my expulsion to Italy.”
I smile. “Federico. I think I can call you Federico. Your parents embezzled money from my father; that’s why they were punished.
” His eyes fill with rage. “And you, Federico Sabatini, were sent to Italy so you could learn a lesson.
Maybe be a better man than your father. I guess you're worse than him.”
“You little bitch.” He leans in to hit me, but I expected it.
I grab his hand before I lunge at him, twisting his hand behind his back.
I pull the seat belt and wrap it around his neck, making him gasp for air.
The driver moves the car to the side while driving, pointing his gun at me.
I duck down as he fires. The bullet passes me and hits the window behind me, leaving a hole in it.
Sabatini reaches for the gun as he struggles for breath.
I knee him in the back, and he loses the grip on his gun, which slips under the seat.
As I struggle with my grip on Sabatini, the driver shoots again, and the window behind me shatters.
Sabatini’s elbow lands in my ribs, and I fall to the side and forward.
My back hits the seat. He lunges at me, grabbing my throat.
I gasp for air, clawing at his hand. My training kicks in, and I pull my legs between us and use all the strength I have to push him off me.
His back lands against the door, his head smashing into the window.
I use his disorientation to attack him, hitting him in the face.
With one blow after another, I pummel his face, splitting it, breaking his nose.
The rage and adrenaline inside energize me.
I hit until all I can feel under my fist is blood.
Shots are fired around me, and the car wavers to the side, colliding with the wall, and I’m thrown off Sabatini onto the car floor.
My eyes land on the gun, and I take it and point it at the person who opens the door, and without a second thought, I shoot.