Chapter 24 Collateral
Pain dragged me back to consciousness slowly, stubbornly, like my body was being pulled out of deep water against its will.
It bloomed behind my eyes first until I sucked in a sharp breath, the beginnings of a migraine crashing over me.
Instinctively, I tried to lift my arm to shield my face, and that was when metal snapped tight around my wrist, cold and unforgiving.
I froze, breath caught halfway in. I started noticing a chain and a cuff, bolted to the leg of the bed.
My heart slammed so hard it knocked the air from my lungs as I followed the chain with my eyes, my pulse roaring in my ears until the room finally came into focus. Bare walls. No windows. A single dim bulb humming overhead like it was barely holding on.
Sitting across from me, on another narrow bed, was Lyra.
Her wrists were cuffed too, chain stretched taut as she sat rigid with fury, her hair tangled, her jaw clenched so tightly it looked like it might crack. When she noticed my eyes were open, a crooked, bitter smile tugged at her mouth.
"Oh," she said flatly, "the princess finally decided to wake up."
My throat felt like sandpaper. "What happened?" I asked, my voice hoarse. "Where are we?"
She rolled her eyes as if I'd just asked her something unbelievably stupid. Leaning back against the wall, she exhaled sharply and fixed me with a hard stare.
"Listen," she said. "I'm fucking pregnant. I am not doing this." Her voice cracked, not with fear but irritation. "So when Rossi comes in, you tell him to let me go. You tell him to keep you and release me because you'll give him the money. Arlo and Andrew have more than enough to cover it."
I stared at her, trying to process what she was saying. "What are you even talking about?"
"Oh my God," she snapped. "Wake the fuck up."
She leaned forward now, chains clinking as she moved. "Rossi has us because he found out you all went to the police.'' She let out a short, sharp laugh. "You're all idiots."
My stomach dropped.
"He found me first," she continued, eyes glittering.
"He wants his money back. I don't have it anymore, so he figured kidnapping me would force Arlo and Andrew to pay up.
" Her lips curled slightly. "But after our little confrontation, I told him you matter more to Arlo, you will be a better leverage, so he should probably take you instead and leave me alone. "
The room tilted. Something hot and violent surged in my chest. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. "Why would you say that?"
Her expression hardened instantly. "Because otherwise he would kill me," she shot back. "And trust me, he wouldn't give a shit that I'm carrying his kid."
The words hit me like a slap.
"So," I said slowly, my voice shaking despite myself, "you decided it would be better if he killed me instead?"
"He won't," she said too quickly. "Not once Arlo and Andrew bring the money."
"How much?" I asked. "How much money are we talking about that even Andrew doesn't have it lying around?"
She hesitated, just for a second, but it was enough.
"I...I don't know," she stammered. "A lot, okay?"
My blood ran cold. "What did you even do with that much money?"
She looked away. "That's none of your business."
I laughed then, short and bitter, disbelief twisting in my chest as I lifted my wrist and let the chain rattle loudly in the silence.
''Actually, Lyra,'' I said, meeting her eyes, ''it kind of is.'' I sighed. ''My God, Lyra, you're like a virus, infecting everyone who comes across you.''
Before she could answer, footsteps echoed down the hall, heavy and unhurried, cutting through the moment. Then the door finally opened.
The man who kidnapped me, Rossi I guess, walked in first, his presence immediately swallowing the room.
He was terrifying in a way that went beyond size or strength; there was something cold about him, something empty.
Two men followed behind him, just as intimidating, their expressions blank, bodies positioned like weapons waiting to be used.
Lyra burst into tears the moment she saw him.
"Okay, Rossi," Lyra rushed out between sobs. "She's here now. I did what you asked, I called you immediately once she was alone, so why am I still in chains? I'm pregnant, for God's sake."
He looked at her then, smiling in a way that made my skin crawl. "Oh, sweetie, because I know you," he said calmly. "And I know you'd stab me in the back the second I let you loose."
"I wouldn't," she snapped.
"Yes, you would," he replied easily. "I mean, come on. We were a team once." His smile faded. "Now you don't go anywhere until I have all my money back."
He then turned his attention to me.
"Well," he said with a crooked smile, "welcome back, dear February, and seriously, what kind of shit name is that?" He laughed low and mocking as he took a few slow steps closer. "Anyway, it's been a long day. Sorry, sweetheart. You're just collateral damage."
His gaze locked onto mine. I closed my eyes. "Hey," he added, "look at me."
I forced myself to do it, even though every instinct screamed not to. Up close, he was worse, his eyes empty of anything resembling empathy, his expression relaxed in a way that made it clear this was not a stressful situation for him.
"I don't care about you," he said calmly. "I don't even care about her or the baby." He gestured vaguely between us, as if we were objects in the room rather than people. "All I care about is my money, and both of your men are going to give it to me."
My heart pounded violently against my ribs as he continued, his voice almost conversational. "They already know you're here, and now they have one day to get me what I'm owed, since you were stupid enough to go to the police."
Lyra sucked in a broken breath and looked up at him through her tears. "And after that?" she asked, her voice shaking so badly it barely sounded like words.
Rossi smiled at her, slow and familiar, like a man indulging a question he had been waiting for. "Come on, baby. You already know." He said softly.
She began to cry harder, shaking her head, her chains rattling as her body trembled. He watched her for a moment before speaking again.
"You stole from me sweetie, you know what happens to those. I mean you were there sometimes."
I gasped, panic surging uncontrollably. "Please, Rossi," Lyra said, her voice breaking. "I'm pregnant."
He laughed, openly amused.
"Oh, Look at that," he replied dismissively. "Arlo is already here."