CHAPTER 23
CARA
I tried hard to focus on where we were going as we drove, but I had no idea where we were.
I didn’t know the streets of London, and it was dark out.
I tried to memorise the names of stores we passed and place names I read on road signs.
Thankfully, Jase stopped talking to me, and I got the chance I needed to try and settle my terrified mind so I could focus.
I wasn’t doing so well with it, as my fears triggered memories of my past, of hits I had taken, and kicks, of the violence, and of the things those perverted men had done to me whenever they got me alone, powerless beneath them, or in their grip as they used me however they wished.
My Mum’s temper as she lashed out at me over and over, and her dismembered body flashed up intermittently in my thoughts too, as I imagined myself ending up just the same way.
“This is it. I’ll do what I can, but just do as they say, okay? Do everything they tell you to do and I’ll get men back here to rescue you, as fast as I can,” Jase told me, and I didn’t believe him.
There was something off about the things he said, and the way he said them.
He wasn’t nervous, and he hadn’t even tried to come up with a way to save Gia and me, which I was sure a loyal man who worked for Rafe would have.
Maybe it wasn’t feasible, but he could have at least tried to think of something.
But he didn’t. I was almost sure he was in on whatever was going on.
I just wondered if his claim about dating Gia was true, or just a ruse so I would go with him.
It seemed likely he could have used Gia to gain valuable information, like the best way to exit the house quietly, and who would be where, when.
If that were the case, he had used her. I just hoped she hadn’t been too attached to him, because one thing was for sure – Rafe would kill him if he was a traitor.
“Don’t worry about me. Please, just get Gia out and somewhere safe,” I told him.
I hoped maybe he would do that to keep up his ruse with Rafe.
Afterall, he didn’t know I had left Rafe that message tipping him off about Jase.
He also was banking on me disappearing after this in one way or another, so he might get Gia out of there so he could play the hero with my brother.
If not, then I would just have to find a way to get Gia out of there myself. That was my number one priority.
“I will,” he agreed.
We both got out of the car on a quiet back road.
It looked like it contained businesses mainly, all of which were in darkness at this time of the evening.
I couldn’t see any houses nearby, but there was a main road which I could hear, so it had to be nearby, somewhere.
If Gia could get free, she could run for the road and flag a car down at least.
We walked over to the car repair shop, which had been on the address I was sent, and Jase knocked on a small doorway, set into the closed garage doors.
Seconds later it was opened by a short, but bulky guy, dressed in a black suit with a cream roll neck sweater beneath.
He looked over Jase and I with dark, beady eyes, then stepped aside, waving us in without a word.
“CARA!” I heard Gia scream, and when I turned to look around, I saw her in the back corner of the dirty garage, curled up on the floor, her hands bound, her shoes gone and dried blood staining one side of her face. Her eyes were red and she was crying as she reached her bound hands toward me.
I started to run to her, but was grabbed from the side by a huge meaty hand, wrenching me back so hard and fast I had to fight to remain on my feet.
When I felt steady I fought my instinct to try and slip the hold, and instead looked up to the face of the man holding me.
He was tall, and built, dressed in dark jeans and a black t-shirt.
He glared hard at me and I wondered how old he was.
He looked like a kid, barely older than Gia.
But his presence and hold on me made me think straight again, and I forced myself to calm down and look around me. The garage was one wide open space, with a small office at the back. The lights were on throughout and the office looked empty.
In front of me, against the opposite wall, there were two other men, both dressed in dark colours and watching me with nothing but threat in their cold eyes.
The small, burly guy, who had allowed us entrance, still stood by the door, and other than the guy holding me, there was just one other stood off to my left.
He was in a suit with a pressed shirt underneath.
He looked to be in his forties maybe, and he was what I would describe as an average Joe – dark hair cut short, handsome face, but nothing striking.
He was average height and he didn’t look as fit or muscular as the other men with him.
He was, however, watching me like a hawk.
“I’m here! Let Gia go now!” I demanded as calmly and cooly as I could. One thing I knew, was that I looked weak when, or if, I let my fear show, and that was what men like these men – predators - liked most. I could not allow any weakness to show.
“Cara, no! Why did you even come here? I told you not to!” Gia cried, and when I glanced over to her, she had her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
“It’s okay, Gia. I’ll be fine, but I need you to leave, okay? You have to get out of here,” I told her.
“Shut the fuck up!” the guy holding me hissed, as he shook me violently by the arm he held.
“Hey! She did what you said. Now let her sister go!” Jase snapped, surprising me. Had I got him all wrong? Was he actually going to get Gia out of this?
“Just tell us what you want. My brother will do anything to get us back...please…,just let us go!” Gia cried and she squeaked in pain when one of the guys across the room moved closer to her and kicked her leg hard.
“Gia, just stay quiet honey, please!” I called to her through my tight throat.
Tears filled my eyes but I blinked furiously to stop them falling.
Seeing her hurt and so afraid terrified me.
I was starting to realise I was in way over my head right then.
“Everything will be…” my words were cut off as, what I thought was the butt of a gun, crashed into the back of my head so hard that everything went black.
I don’t think I was out for long, but when I opened my eyes, I was laid out on the floor, my head throbbing so hard it made me feel nauseous.
I managed to push myself up and lean to the side just in time to throw up all over the floor.
“Fucking bitch!” I looked up as I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my sweater, and found the average Joe guy stood so close to me I had gotten vomit on his shoes.
He lifted his foot and kicked my shoulder hard.
I screamed as something inside popped loudly from the impact, and I fell down on to my front instantly as my arm just gave beneath my weight.
I landed hard against the floor and in my own vomit with another agonised cry.
I was pretty sure that sonofabitch had just dislocated my left shoulder.
“Stop! Please. Leave her alone!” Gia wailed. I tried to lift myself up to see where she was, but I still felt dizzy and nauseous, and I couldn’t seem to make my brain and body work in tandem.
“Let her go,” I uttered weakly. “You have me. I’m not going anywhere now.
” I turned my face away from my vomit and tried to breathe through the pain and fog that had filled my head.
I needed to get control of the situation, or at least keep it calm until my text sent and Rafe came for us.
I had no doubts that he would come for us.
I felt someone kick my side, but I didn’t even move. My eyes were closed and I just stayed like that, still, biding my time as I tried to come up with something to get Gia out of there. It hurt so much to move and I had to conserve some energy.
“Has she passed out?” A strange voice asked.
“Looks like it,” a voice closer to me replied. Good. I could try to make a plan if they weren’t concentrated on me. “We need to get her out of here in case she was followed. Take the other girl back and be the hero. Make sure De Santis trusts you.”
“I fucking know what I’m doing!” I heard Jase snap. “What the fuck are you doing with her?”
“Taking her to the boss. He’s got a right hard on for her for some reason,” the strange voice close to me replied.
So I knew for sure Jase was a traitor, but at least it sounded like he planned to take Gia home.
I wondered if she could hear them talking.
They were quiet, but not that quiet. Maybe she would hear enough to know what was going on and alert Rafe about just how much of a traitor Jase really was.
Surely my mention of him in that message would at least make Rafe look into him?
I didn’t want Rafe or any of his family put in danger by Jase still working for them.
“Just get her out of here fast! I’ll get Gia back to the house,” Jase concluded.
There was some movement around me, then I heard Gia’s voice, coming towards me.
“Jase? Where are you taking me?” she asked, sounding calmer now. Maybe she felt safe with Jase. She didn’t know what a two faced fuck he was yet. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too heart broken when she found out.
“Home,” he answered flatly. Gia said something else but the voices disappeared and I felt the cool breeze drift in, the door to the street obviously having been opened.