Chapter 28 Rachel #2
“That’s better,” he mutters as we reach top of the embankment. Their cars are parked along the side of the road. Despite having rammed them into my van, they don’t look to have much damage. My poor van is definitely totaled.
I look around to see if Vena’s SUV has also stopped, but there’s no sign of Vena or my brothers, which causes a mixture of relief and fear.
Did Vena know I was following him? Did he have his brother run me off the road to abduct me?
Has he decided to torture me before killing me? I need information.
“Where are my brothers?” I ask, not caring about the consequences.
“They’re no longer your concern,” Vinnie grumbles. He reaches the first sedan and places me into the backseat, then climbs in next to me. “The best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut.”
Lawrence appears at the window. Vinnie lowers the glass. “What do you want?”
“You have the girl,” Lawrence states. “What assurance do I have that you’ll keep your end of the agreement?” Vinnie tenses beside me. His hand sliding into his coat. Lawrence notices the movement and raises his hands into a surrender position.
“Don’t disrespect me or my boss by insinuating that he won’t honor the deal,” Vinnie growl, angrily.
“Look, I’ve stuck my neck out here,” Lawrence insists, which surprises me.
I’m about to shit my pants from the pissed off vibes Vinnie is giving off.
Lawrence must have balls of steel, or he’s a complete idiot.
I’m leaning toward the latter. “Vena wants her dead. I’m the one he’ll come after if he finds out I let you know where to find her. ”
“Vena knows my boss has been hunting for her,” Vinnie replies, sounding disinterested.
“He doesn’t have to know where we got the intel.
For all Vena will know, we were simply monitoring his activities, as we’ve done for years.
In the process, we happened to find the woman trailing him.
Nicolai wants what was promised to him.”
Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Nicolai Caprice has found me. This is bad, so, so bad.
“He will convince Vena that we’ve done him a favor,” Vinnie continues, “when in reality, he should execute Vena for not turning her over the moment he knew where she was. Vena should count himself lucky Nicolai is going to let him live.”
Lawrence pales and nods. I guess those balls aren’t made of steel after all. I should have listened to the Robertsons and kept my ass at Luke’s until they’d worked out a plan of rescue. It’s too late now for would’ves, could’ves, should’ves. How in the hell am I going to get out of this?
“I’ll be in touch once I’ve delivered the woman.” Vinnie glances briefly at Lawrence before the window slides up to close. “Let’s go!” Vinnie exclaims as another man slides into the driver’s seat. Within seconds, the car is flying down the interstate.
“I want to see my brothers,” I demand after a few minutes of silence. Vinnie turns his head to scowl at me.
“I told you. They are no longer any of your concern, Amelia.” I shiver with pure, unadulterated fear when he says my real name. Do I know this man?
I take a good look at him. He is much taller than me, likely 6’ 4” or more.
His has short, dark brown hair has a bit of a wave to it on top.
He has a strong jaw, high cheek bones, a slightly crooked nose, and piercing, light blue eyes.
If he wasn’t an evil, mafia thug, he’d be an attractive man, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Rosco.
My heart aches when I think of him. I miss him so much more than I’d expected. Will I ever see him again?
“What do you mean?” I ask as the man’s words sink in. “They’re my brothers. They will always be my concern.” The man turns his head and smirks at me. His eyes are as cold as the artic circle.
“You’re only concern from now on will be keeping my boss happy,” Vinnie growls, sounding angry.
“Your stepfather got his sons back. He wanted you gone from their lives. He’d planned to kill you, but he’d promised you to my boss many years ago.
No one backs out of a promise to Nicolai.
” My mouth drops open as my eyes widen dramatically.
“What? You thought you could take his sons away and not be punished? Or did you not know about the arrangement Vena made for you to marry Nicolai?” I’m still staring at him like he’d just grown an extra head. I could never marry anyone other than Rosco.
“You’re damn lucky you have a pussy and are nice to look at.
Otherwise you’d be tortured and killed for taking those boys on the run.
As it stands, you are getting off easy. Being fucked by the boss won’t be so bad.
You’ll be dressed in the finest clothing and have anything your heart desires as long as you do as you’re told. ”
I’m shocked at his harsh words. We continue down the road in silence as my mind scrambles to comprehend what I’ve gotten myself into. At last, I find my voice, although I’m probably better off being tongue-tied.
“I saved my brothers from a life of crime and likely death. I don’t regret what I did for one second. You can tell your boss to go to hell. I’d rather die than be his whore.”
Bright lights flash in my eyes as Vinnie’s fist connects to my jaw. My head flies to the side. Surprisingly I don’t feel any pain, not at first. A wave of nausea and dizziness hits me. It’s probably not a good idea to be hit after having hit my head in the crash.
“You will regret saying that, bitch!” Vinnie growls in my ear. His rancid breath making me gag. He shakes me forcefully. I just know he’s about to hit me again, but then, he just pats my face none too gently. “Don’t worry, Nicolai will teach you some respect.”
I wisely keep my mouth shut after that. No need to make this situation any worse than it already is. Although how it can get worse, I don’t know. I turn my head away from Vinnie to stare out the other window, but the fast-moving scenery increases my nausea.
I close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat, refusing to cry, even when my jaw throbs in time with my head. My whole body is beginning to hurt as the adrenaline rush from the accident wears off.
A couple of hours later, we exit the interstate and pull over at a truck stop.
We are approaching Richmond and traffic has picked up.
There are more than a few witnesses around.
I briefly wonder if I should attempt to escape, but I know how brutal these men can be.
I would be putting all these innocent people at risk by trying to get away.
“I’m going to take you inside so you can use the facilities,” Vinnie informs me as the driver exits to pump gas. “Don’t try anything stupid, because believe me when I tell you, you will regret it.” His hand bands around my upper arm as he drags me out of the car.
I look around for any sign of my brothers, even though they’re likely far away by now. Relief floods me when I see them getting out of the SUV I’d been following. Vena is between them with two other large goons on either side. He hasn’t noticed me yet as he’s talking to the goons.
Ricky looks up and catches my gaze. I step toward him, but Vinnie jerks me to his side and pulls me toward the truck stop. I keep looking back over my shoulder. Ricky keeps his eyes on me and shakes his head, letting me know he doesn’t want me to try anything that will get me hurt.
Nicky has his head down, looking defeated. It hurts my heart, knowing he must be so frightened. Vinnie leads me toward the bathrooms. The driver comes up behind us, and Vinnie glances at him.
“Keep an eye on her while I clear the bathroom.” The man nods and places his hand on my upper arm in place of Vinnie’s. The driver is much gentler. He has a firm hold, but it’s not painful.
Frightened looking women come flooding out of the bathroom, throwing nervous glances over their shoulders as they go.
Then Vinnie is back and motions to the driver who urges me into the bathroom.
I’m allowed into a stall by myself, but both men are standing just outside.
It takes me a while to pee. I’ve never had a shy bladder, but this is a situation unlike any I’ve ever been in before.
“Hurry it up!” Vinnie barks after a couple of minutes of me sitting there with no results.
Finally I manage to pee. When I’m finished, I flush the toilet only after I’ve pulled up my pants.
There is no way I want this jerk to see me with my pants down.
He drags me from the stall and over to the sinks.
I’m surprised he is letting me wash my hands.
Once I’m finished, we leave the bathroom and run into my brothers exiting the men’s room.
“Ricky! Nicky!” I cry, pulling away from Vinnie to hug the boys. “Are you okay?” I ask, throwing an arm around each of them. They hug me back, but it’s short lived. Vinnie jerks me away while Vena does the same to my brothers.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Vena asks, his face covered in shock. He makes eye contact with Vinnie, and his eyes narrow.
“We’re all right, Rachel,” Ricky says, glaring over at his father. “Are you?” I nod. There is so much I need to say, but I don’t want these assholes to overhear our conversation.
“Time to go, the family reunion is over,” Vinnie says with a sneer and tries to drag me away, but I’m not ready to lose them, yet. I throw an elbow back as hard as I can. It lands in his mid-stomach. Vinnie doubles forward with a grunt, loosening his hold on me.
I break free to reach my brothers again and hold them close.
I whisper so only they can hear me, “Rosco and his brothers will come for us. We just have to hold on until they can find us.” I’ve barely managed to say these few words when large meaty hands grip my shoulders, jerking me backward. “I love you!”
“Bitch!” Vinnie bellows. He spins me around and lands a hard backhand to the left side of my face.
My lip splits and sends blood flying from the impact.
Clutching my hand to my face, I hear a scuffle behind me, flesh hitting flesh.
I try to see what is happening to my brothers, but Vinnie is dragging me outside toward the car.
Surely someone in this place will call the police. Won’t they? To my utter horror, everyone is watching, but no one moves to intervene. I guess they’ve seen the guns and realize how deadly it would be to try to stop these men.
“You’re going to regret that little stunt,” Vinnie growls as he shoves me into the back seat and crawls in behind me. I catch a glimpse of the boys being shoved into the SUV just as Vinnie slams our door shut. The driver jumps in, and we are on the move again.
Vinnie keeps looking over his shoulder behind us as we speed down the interstate. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I turn to look, too, but I don’t see any sign of the SUV.
“Where are my brothers?” I demand after we’ve been on the road for a several minutes and there’s still no sign of the SUV. Vinnie ignores me by getting on his phone to send a text.
Getting no reply, I ask again. Still I’m ignored which only serves to piss me off. I should keep my mouth shut, but I’ve rarely done what I should do. I have nothing left to lose.
“Answer me asshole!” Another slap to the face is my answer.
Eventually he says, “You’d better learn some restraint before we get to Mr. Caprice, because he won’t be as easy on you as I am.” I roll my eyes, as I let out a derisive snort, because let’s face it, he isn’t being kind to me at all.
“Last warning!” he seethes. “Keep your mouth shut or else.”
Fuck! Doing my best to hide my fear, I consider my situation. No one knows where I am or that I’ve been taken by Nicolai’s men. Goosebumps rise on my skin as I close my eyes and attempt to breathe through the panic as that realization hits. What in the hell am I going to do?
My nausea increases as I remember details about Nicolai Caprice, head of the Russian mafia in Chicago and possibly all of the United States. He is well-known for his brutal deeds, that include torture, kidnapping, and murder, just to name a few, if rumors are to be believed.
It is paramount I figure something out. I won’t be forced to marry this monster, nor will I allow the boys to be forced into a life of crime. I’m not going to let all the years on the run be for nothing. One way or another, I will get us out of this.