Chapter 40
ROMI
Igroan, and my head feels foggy. My body aches, and my eyes are slow to open. At first, I see nothing but blurry light, but then my vision slowly creeps back in, revealing what appears to be an empty warehouse. What the fuck?
Memories trickle in, and I’m confused as to how I got here. Lily’s hunched over beside me, her hands bound behind her back. I try to reach for her, but I can’t move. Fuck, my hands are bound behind my back as well. I jerk against the restraints, testing their strength.
“Wow, the drug didn’t last as long as I expected, but I suppose you hadn’t drunk too much.” Shaun’s voice comes from my left, and I focus my attention on him. The room is dimly lit. The only illumination comes from the streetlights shining through the dingy windows, making the room eerily dark.
I jerk, trying to release my hands again. I then try to awkwardly stand, but it’s all futile. “What the fuck, Shaun?”
He circles around two chairs across from us and takes one, as if we're about to have a reasonable, mundane discussion. “I must confess, I never actually thought you’d become useful, but I’m glad I stuck around.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Untie me,” I demand, and look back over at Lily, who mumbles something and slowly raises her head.
“We’re okay,” I whisper to her. There’s a moment of panic in her gaze as she tugs at her own restraints, but when she looks at me, there isn’t fear like I expected. She blows her bangs from her face, her hair a mess and half fallen out of the clip it was held back with.
“Well, this is new,” she says quietly.
Her nonchalant response fills me with confidence. She’s changed so much since being with Lorenzo. She’s no longer the coddled woman I used to know, and a part of me is relieved, proud even. No, we’re not damsels in distress. And if this asshole thinks that, then he has another thing coming.
I take a deep breath and lock eyes with Shaun, who, up until a day ago, I thought was just a normal fucking bartender.
“How manly of you to tie two women up. Scared we’ll beat the shit out of you?”
He makes a point to pull out a gun and let it casually hang in his hand as he sits, feet spread wide. “Be careful, Romi dear, that smart mouth of yours isn’t appreciated here.”
I stare at the gun. Fuck.
But he continues. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for an opportunity like this?
Do you know how difficult it is singling out one of Luca Armani’s men, let alone the chance for two?
I knew Armani’s woman would be his weakness.
So, I had to find Arabella Armani’s. Don’t take it personally, Romi, but you were the easiest of her friends to get to.
Your self-destructive nature made you predictable and easy to track.
And, my God, it was so easy to get into your apartment.
I must confess, your friends' random appearance saved you once.” I furrow my eyebrows, confused as to what he’s even talking about.
“And then everything was going perfectly until that Moretti asshole moved in with you and ruined our plans.”
"So we waited for an opportunity that would be too good to resist. I never thought you’d actually have it in you to make him fall to his knees. You did all the hard work for me. And I do thank you for bringing Lily Taylor to my bar. Two pieces of bait are always better than one.”
This guy is out of his mind. It’s nothing like the Shaun I know from the bar, who is often charismatic and is always silently watching. No, this version of him has a lot to say.
I stare him down, furious that I got myself into this situation. Okay, maybe not entirely on my own, but I won't be the reason he draws out one of my friends.
“It’s just a waiting game now,” a familiar woman’s voice announces as she steps from the shadows, and it’s unnerving that I didn’t sense her presence before. My eyes widen when I recognize her.
It’s one of the women I slept with months ago, but what is she doing here? I remember her bright-red hair and freckled face. I still can’t remember her name, but wasn’t this the one my friends had caught trying to steal one of my lamps?
“Did I say you could speak?” Shaun interjects furiously, and she winces as she fades back into the shadows. Okay, what the motherfuck is actually happening right now?
But I have the good sense to keep my temper for Lily’s sake at least.
“I'll be honest, I was hoping for Luca’s head first. That’s really who I’m trying to get to. But you know, baby steps. I don’t have the manpower as he does, and using his wife wasn’t an option, since she’s too tightly protected at the moment.”
“You’re sick!” I explode, but he makes a point to raise the gun again, with a crazed smile. He then pulls a small device from his pocket. “If I were you, I’d be very careful in how you speak to me, because if you haven’t noticed yet, you’re kind of strapped in for a good time.”
I look down, and that’s when I notice the little black box strapped to my chest. I then look at Lily, and she has a box of her own attached to her. Are these bombs?
My heart begins pounding as a cold dread runs through me. Fear chokes me with the very real possibility that we may not come out of this alive.
Stop, this won’t help our situation. I refuse to hide from the fight any longer. Even if I am out of my depth on this one. I’m quick to shake off the panic, in hopes it offers Lily the same strength.
“What do you want?” I carefully ask, and he seems surprised at my question.
“Oh, nothing from you, Romi. Now, we just wait. I’ll give it a few days to really let the terror strike their tiny little hearts, then I'll send a ransom demand to your apartment. It’s all pretty straightforward, really. They exchange themselves for you and Ms. Taylor.
"See, I was waiting for my chance to use you, but I waited too long, and that was my mistake. I tried to be methodical instead of taking immediate action. And I couldn’t quite get to you after your involvement with Dante Moretti.
He was everywhere, always buzzing around you.
But instead, today, you came back to me.
” He laughs as if bewildered by his luck.
“I was only ever expecting to use you, but it’s a bonus that Lily made an unexpected return to Manhattan, because I can also wipe out that piece of shit Lorenzo as well. An eye for an eye, you see.”
“And what might that eye be?” Lorenzo’s voice booms from the doorway. Shaun jumps to his feet, the gun swinging in Lorenzo's direction.
My heart picks up when I spot Dante standing beside him, his dark-brown gaze immediately locked on me, and I suddenly understand that everything is going to be okay.
“Hello, Cattivella. Seems you’ve found yourself in trouble once again,” he says with a smirk that doesn’t reach his eyes, especially when he locks them on Shaun.