Chapter Thirty-Four
Jakob
Of fucking course, Liam bailed. I swear I’m firing that asshole the next time I see him.
I’m deep into the storage room that keeps our supply of liquor.
Music floods the room, and all the doors are locked.
It’s just me, a clipboard, and the bottles today, I guess.
I like to take inventory manually before plugging all the data into the iPad and sending in what we need to the distributor.
I sent Declan a text, letting him know where to find me when he gets here, but I’m not sure if it even sent since the service in this room is so spotty.
My body craved him earlier, that’s the only excuse I have for dropping by his office like that.
He obviously didn’t mind, and I’ve felt some distance between us over the past week.
He’s been so stressed about everything that’s sitting on his shoulders right now that I feel like we’ve fallen into this complacent role fairly quickly.
It was nice knowing he still wants to fuck me, and I’m still what he wants.
Where I’m usually self assured and confident, there’s always a little doubt in my mind about Declan.
He’s everything I’ve wanted for so long that now I’m worried he’ll slip through my fingers.
We haven’t heard from Natasha in so long that I think it’s safe to assume she’s slunk back into the shadows to lick her wounds.
Declan told me what he did to Mikhail a few weeks ago.
He was keeping it quiet but finally cracked.
I don’t know if he thought I was going to be mad or what?
But I was so proud of him for getting his revenge.
Make no mistake, I’m not mafia in any sense of the word, but I’ll turn this entire city to ash just to find her so that he can get his retribution.
The things that have been done to him are enough to make me know that my first kills will be worth it, because if he can’t do it, I gladly will.
It’s going to be her and the man who didn’t see a problem with sexually assaulting the man that my heart beats for.
I feel like I’ve been in here for hours, but I’m actually not sure how long it’s been.
My smart watch died not long after I got in here, and my phone’s at the front of the room.
I’m singing along to The Fray when the door to the closet closes and the lights cut out abruptly, leaving me in absolute darkness.
Awareness pricks at the back of my neck as a cold sweat rolls down my back.
Sweat beads at my temples as my hairs stand on end in awareness that I’m not alone.
I’m frozen in place, worried that the slightest movement will alert my new visitor to exactly where I am.
The gun that I keep on me when I’m in here alone is the only thing keeping me from losing my shit right now.
As silently as I can, I pivot my body so my back is against the far wall.
My eyes are still adjusting to the darkness, but that does nothing but heighten all of my other senses.
The sound of a shirt rubbing past a box makes my breath stutter in my lungs.
My body prickles with awareness right before the scent of sandalwood and leather hits me square in the chest. When an arm reaches out to grab me, I dodge it and punch my offender in the chest.
“You’re a fucking asshole.” I shove him away as I stalk past a now doubled over in pain Declan to go turn the light back on.
He’s laughing through the gasps for breath, “Well, that was supposed to be way sexier before you tried to stop my heart with your fist. You know that could kill someone?”
“If only we were so lucky, prick.” I flip on the light switch and turn back to where I left him. “Why are you here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be at work still?”
He stands to his full height, brow furrowed, while rubbing his chest. “I told you I’d be done in a few hours.”
“How long have I been here?” I exclaim. Having no idea I was in here for hours.
“Chaos, you left my office four hours ago. I see you still zone out when taking inventory.”
“Yeah, some things never change. Sorry, Liam bailed on me and I lost track of time.”
Declan saunters over to me and presses his lips to mine quickly, “So, are we making good on our deal from earlier or what?”
“You literally just made me think I was being serial killed, and you’re going to ask me that?” I glare at him. I’m not actually pissed, but he doesn’t need to know that yet.
His laugh is loud and carefree. “Come on, baby boy. Don’t be like that.” His eyes hood with desire as his hand slowly skates down my chest to my belt.
“You’re a prick.” I grumble with no real malice but take his hand in mine and lead him to the door anyway.
I turn the handle but quickly realize it’s locked. “You locked us in here, Declan!” Now I’m actually mad.
“No, I didn’t. I made sure it was unlocked.” He moves in front of me and tries the handle like I forgot how to work it or something. Declan turns around and winces as he smirks at me. “So, uh.. It seems that the door is locked.”
“Interesting, who would have ever thought?” I gently shove his head against the door while I turn around and begin looking for something to unlock it with.
It takes him about ten seconds before his hands are full of my hips and his teeth nibble on the nape of my neck.
I’m so annoyed with him, but dammit does his mouth feel good.
My head slumps until my chin hits my chest, and I’m no better than putty in his hands.
His lips trail over to my neck, causing my head to roll and give him more access.
My dick thickens as I feel his doing the same as it presses into the top of my ass.
“It’s not the bar, but this room will work for what I had planned.” He half groans into my ear right before he shoves my upper body down until I’m bent over a stack of boxes of unopened scotch.
“Do your worst, Beast.” I taunt him.
The sound of his zipper being yanked down sends a zip of electricity soaring down my spine. I take a deep breath to steady myself for what’s to come next, and that’s when I smell it.
“Do you smell smoke?” My eyes widen as I push up to my full height and turn to him, seeing the panic that I feel reflecting in his eyes.
The smell of wood burning is becoming so prominent I’d think it was happening in this room if I didn’t know better.
Declan tries to push me behind himself, but I’m not having that shit.
So I grab the back of his shirt in my fist and drag us both back from the door, further into this windowless room filled with accelerators. Yeah, not my finest idea.
Grabbing my phone, my fingers fly over the screen only to be reminded that I have no service here. Dec must run into the same problem because once his phone is out, he taps for a few seconds before roaring out in frustration.
“Fuck! We can’t sit here until the fire fucking catches us. We have to get out of here.” The panic in his voice does nothing to calm the anxiety buzzing through my body.
Without another word, I start looking around frantically for something, anything, to get the damn door open.
I’m searching the small area when I look over my shoulder and see Declan by the door.
It takes me a moment to realize he has a knife out and is picking the lock.
He’s not acting like the doorknob is burning his hand, which tells me the fire isn’t right outside of the door.
However, the way we’re both coughing tells me we’re breathing in too much smoke.
Declan pops the lock and shoves the door open. “Come on, Jakob. Now!”
The roar of the fire is way more prominent now that the door is open.
I don’t have time to take in the way that the angry flames eat up what I’ve worked so hard for.
My hand takes hold of Declan’s, and without a word my feet lead us out of the back door.
No sooner than the back door closes do I hear the explosion.
Just a second after that I feel the power of the heat at my back propel me forward.
My hand separates from Declan’s, and the next thing I know I’m skidding across the asphalt right before everything goes black.
* * *
The pounding in my head is what brings me back to consciousness.
I try to move but quickly realize that my legs and hands are bound.
Panic claws at my throat as I work to stay calm.
This is the shit my Papa shielded us from my entire life, just for me to fall in love with a fucking mafia prince and end up kidnapped anyway.
Is it called kidnapping when you’re thirty? Is it adult-napping?
I shake the ridiculous thoughts from my head.
It doesn’t matter what the hell it’s called.
Right now It’s called ‘I’m rolling around with my eyes covered and my limbs bound’.
Staying quiet, I listen for anything that will give me the slightest hint of who has me and where they’re taking me.
Whoever is driving is silent. There’s no way only one person grabbed me.
I’m six foot four and two hundred and fifteen pounds of pure muscle, for God’s sake. That rules out Natasha at least.
Honestly, I don’t know if I’d prefer it to be her or not. She’s a vile cunt, but at least I’ve been dealing with her for years. If someone who’s pissed at Dec has taken me, I’m completely in uncharted waters.
I don’t know how long I silently lay here, but eventually the vehicle stops. Waiting for the doors to open, I decide to play dead until I’m out, and then I’m fighting as hard as I can. Restraints be damned. Only before any doors open, I feel a sharp pinch in the side of my neck.
Motherfucker.
As I start fading out, I hear a guy’s voice speaking what sounds like Dutch. Goddammit, this isn’t about Kieran. It’s about my Papa.