Chapter Thirty-Two
Sarah
The windows on the warehouse were boarded up and the grass outside was overgrown. Vines creeped up the side of the building, and the streetlights were all broken nearby. Since the sun was setting as I parked in front of the building, this made the atmosphere particularly ominous.
But I was sure things were about to get worse.
“Get out of the car, bitch,” Gina said, waving her gun at me again.
I was terrified that the thing would accidentally go off if she kept doing that. Cutting off the engine, I got out. Gina did the same, and the moment she looked away from me, I took my one chance to get away.
Without allowing myself to hesitate, I took off running away from the building.
We were in a bad neighborhood, with other closed-up businesses and some poorly maintained residential homes down the block.
That was the direction I headed, hoping I could get access to someone’s home to hide and make a phone call.
I knew I would be okay if I could just get Dmitri here. He’d save me. I believed that.
I hadn’t even made it half a block when the deafening sound of a gunshot rang out. It echoed off the buildings around us, and I instinctively ducked, even though I logically knew I couldn’t dodge a bullet.
The movement made me stumble, and I struggled to regain my footing as another shot rang out.
“Get back here!” Gina called out.
I didn’t dare look back at her, starting to run faster in a desperate attempt to get away. At least Gina was obviously a terrible shot. And she was wearing heels.
Maybe I could actually get away.
As soon as I had that thought, a figure stepped out of the shadows and into my path. I couldn’t stop myself in time and collided with what turned out to be a man’s solid form. He was tall and big, and I bounced off of him, barely catching myself before falling.
I was panting from the exertion of running, and I didn’t get a chance to say a word before another gun was produced, this one pressed to my forehead, and I shuddered.
“P-please,” I whimpered, “don’t hurt me.”
“Do you know who I am?”
I frowned. “No.”
His smile was enough to freeze the blood in my veins. “Luca Baldoni.”
My mind raced. The way he said his name made me think I was supposed to recognize it, and it was familiar.
Then it hit me.
I was looking into the eyes of the man who had organized the murder of my boss and framed Dmitri for the crime. He had his men corner me in that parking lot and threaten me and my daughter. He was responsible for Dmitri being hit by a car and shot.
And I was at his mercy.
The sound of heels clicking on the asphalt behind me announced the arrival of Gina.
“Sorry about that, Luca, honey. She surprised me,” she said in a sultry voice that made me feel sick.
Coming to stand beside me, she yanked on the hem of her shirt, revealing more of her cleavage.
Just in case he somehow missed it, she also arched in back in a painfully awkward way, thrusting her chest toward him.
She wasn’t just betraying the Bratva with this guy, she was obviously trying to screw him.
What an opportunistic bitch.
“We’re going inside,” Luca said in a curt tone. He didn’t seem to be interested in the goods she had on display, and it would have been satisfying to see her face fall if I wasn’t so petrified by the gun still pressed to my forehead. “Keep ahold of her this time.”
Gina’s grip on my arm was stronger this time, her terrible fake nails actually breaking my skin. But Baldoni lowered the gun, and I let out a long breath that I’d been holding.
Walking as between Baldoni and Gina into the warehouse, I saw that the inside wasn’t nearly as run down as the outside.
The ceiling was high and the floor was made of concrete. It was a clean, open space. There were tables filled with cash and drugs, and a box truck with the back open to reveal several crates.
Milling around the warehouse, I counted seven armed men.
That meant I was being held captive by at least eight men when I included Baldoni. Maybe more outside that I didn’t see. And Gina, of course.
I’m screwed.
“Tie her up,” Baldoni ordered, and a bald man with a creepy smile came forward, forcing me into a chair and binding me to it with rope that chafed my skin.
“Didn’t I do good, Luca?” Gina asked with a whiny tone of voice that made me flinch.
“It would’ve been better if you’d brought the kid too.”
My lungs seized at the thought of that. I never would have thought I’d be grateful to have been kidnapped, but now that I knew my child could’ve been here with me, I was so damn glad to be here alone I could have cried.
“I couldn’t get to her. Dmitri would have noticed,” Gina said defensively. “You should really thank me for getting this one here. She’s been up Dmitri’s ass constantly, but I had the great idea to get ahold of her while Dmitri was distracted with that little brat.”
Rage rushed through me at that, and I struggled against the tight ropes, wanting to get to her despite the fact that I wouldn’t be able to do anything with all these men standing around.
“Watch your tone,” one of the men snapped at her.
Gina turned her glare on him. “Fuck off, Angelo. I don’t answer to you.”
Her attention shifted back to Luca, who was typing something on his phone and paying no attention to her. Probably not used to being ignored, she moved in close and placed a hand on his chest as she pressed her breasts against his side.
“You know, I took a big risk doing this, Luca,” she purred. “I think I deserve a reward.”
Luca scoffed and shoved her away from him with one hand without even looking away from his phone. The men around us laughed, and I felt a rush of second-hand embarrassment for her, even though I hated this woman right now.
The smart thing to do would have been to take a hint and back off, but I had a feeling Gina was too spoiled for that. She was used to getting her way.
“Don’t push me,” she snapped. “I won’t stand for being treated like that.”
Suddenly, all of the laughter died. Danger was thick in the air as Luca finally looked up. Gina didn’t back down, even when his hard eyes focused on her.
Didn’t she see the disdain on his face?
I suddenly had a bad feeling about this. It worked to my advantage that Gina was the center of attention instead of me, but I didn’t think it was good for her. She was just too obtuse to notice.
“You won’t stand for it?” he asked, and the slow smile that curved his lips was utterly terrifying. And who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m… I’m your informant. I mean, I’ve been helping you for months…”
Finally, there was some dawning fear in her eyes, but I had a feeling it was too late. She’d already mouthed off to the wrong man.
I was afraid that I was about to see something horrible happen.
“You think that makes you special?” Baldoni asked, advancing on her with a slow, calculated movement that reminded me of a predator. “You think that being a snitch gives you the right to touch me? That it should allow you to have some kind of special attention?”
“I was just…” She backed up a step, but he followed, and my heart dropped when I realized he was reaching for the gun in the holster at his side. Gina didn’t notice because she was staring into his angry eyes. “I thought that we could be—”
His cold laughter cut her off, and he raised his hand with the gun, pointing it at her chest. “We’ll never be anything. You’ve fulfilled your usefulness, and I’m done with you.”
Gina didn’t get a chance to say another word.
Baldoni pulled the trigger, and there was once again a deafening bang that made my ears ring.
I flinched, then watched as Gina fell to the ground, a hole blown in the center of her chest. Blood spread out beneath her, and her open eyes stared up at nothing. She was dead.
I screamed, the horror of what I just witnessed escaping me before I could even attempt to rein it in. I thrashed against my bindings, desperate than ever to get away, but it was no use.
“Please,” I begged, tears streaming down my face. “Please just let me go. Oh God, I don’t want to die. I don’t want—”
A slap on my cheek made my head snap to the right, and I bit my tongue. Pain radiated from the impact, and it just made me cry harder.
“Pathetic,” Baldoni sneered, his voice calm. As if he didn’t just murder a woman in cold blood right in front of me.
“Shut up,” someone else snapped at me.
I didn’t even look to see who it was. My eyes were closed as I whimpered and sobbed.
“I have an idea of something we can put in her mouth so we won’t have to listen to this shit,” another man said.
I thought I’d reached the limit of how scared I could be, but the slimy insinuation in those words proved me wrong. I suddenly felt dizzy and struggled to catch my breath.
It had to be a panic attack. While I hated being so weak in front of these men, a part of me hoped I would end up passing out. It could be the only mercy I would get here.
“No,” Baldoni said, sounding almost bored. “No one touches her for now. I have plans for Dmitri’s whore, but they’ll have to wait until I return. I’m meeting with Carmichael about the girls he’s shipping in tonight.”
Girls? Was he trafficking women?
“Angelo, Enzo, you’re with me,” Baldoni said. “The rest of you, stay here and unload the product.”
He gestured to the box truck, and there was a murmur of agreement. I barely paid attention to what was going on as I tried to calm myself down. All I knew was that he’d ordered me to be untouched. For now.
But what would happen later, when he returned?