Chapter 28
“Wake up, buttercup.”
I’d been lost in a beautiful dream, lounging on a Mediterranean beach, cool waves lapping at my bare toes, when those words yanked me out of sleep.
Of course, it wasn’t the words as much as the voice saying them that made my eyes violently pop open.
I knew that voice.
Shit.
It haunted my nightmares and for good reason. Hearing it could only mean one thing.
Hollis had finally found me.
I only took a second for my eyes to adjust from the fog of sleep and focus on the man who had killed my sister standing next to the bed. His cold eyes were filled with malice.
“Surprise,” he said, his mouth twisted in a cruel perversion of a smile.
Instantly, my heart seized in my chest. Fear like I’d never felt before bubbled up in my throat, sharp and sour. I reached out in panic to Dorian’s side of the bed…but it was empty.
“Where’s Dorian?”
Hollis laughed, a bitter sound that grated against my ears. “The assassin? Were you hoping he’d save you? Is that why you’ve been fucking him? Well, I’ve got bad news. He’s not here.”
Something in Hollis’ callous tone set me off. Now, I wasn’t just scared but angry as well.
“What have you done to him?” I demanded.
“Don’t tell me you actually care about that bloodthirsty bastard.” Hollis paused, cocking his head to the side as he stared down at me assessingly. Slowly, his eyes widened. “Holy shit, you do. You actually feel something for that lowlife.”
“Where is he?” Fear and anger propelling me, I pushed myself up on the mattress. “If you hurt him, I’ll?—“
“You’ll what?” he said, cutting me off with another mocking laugh. His smile grew even more evil as my mouth clamped shut. “Finish that sentence, Kiera. Go ahead and threaten me. Please, I’m dying to hear what you’ll do.”
My hands balled into fists at my side as impotent rage burned a hole in my stomach. “I’ll kill you.”
“Threatening the life of a federal agent? Playing the whore for a mob hitman?” Hollis shook his head sadly. “Your time as a fugitive really has corrupted you, hasn’t it? Your sister would be so disappointed.”
Rage got the better of me. “Fuck you. Don’t you dare talk about Deena, you psycho son of a?—“
Before I could finish the curse, Hollis backhanded me across the face. The edge of his gold wedding ring caught my lower lip, cutting deep and instantly filling my mouth with the sharp tang of blood.
But if Hollis thought he could cow me with a single blow, he didn’t know anything about me. I’d taken much worse hits in the last year and a half and come back swinging.
I turned back toward him, my lips curled in a wide, bloody smile before I spit in his face.
“You bitch,” he snarled, wiping the dripping red mess off his cheek. “I’ll kill you for that.”
I let out a bitter laugh. As if that hadn’t been his plan all along.
“Touch me again,” I warned him, “and Dorian Marchetti will hunt you down and teach you the meaning of pain.”
Hollis didn’t look impressed. “I thought you were worried I’d killed him.”
At first, sure. But now that I was more awake, I remembered Dorian’s plan to leave early to confront Russo. Realizing he was safe eased my mind.
“You really don’t know what he’s capable of, do you?” I taunted Hollis. “The idea that someone like you could ever best Dorian Marchetti is laughable.”
Apparently, that was more mockery than Hollis could swallow.
Pride stung, he brutally raked his fingers across my scalp, grabbing a handful of my hair as he yanked me out of bed.
“That’s enough. The family reunion’s over. Time to end this.”
I hit the floor hard, my legs sprawled out beneath me. I kicked out my feet, desperate to right myself, as Hollis started for the door. Using his hold on my hair as a leash, he dragged me behind him out of the bedroom.
The whole way down the hall, I struggled and writhed, desperate to pull away. I didn’t care if I ripped every hair out of my head in the process. My system was so flooded with adrenaline that I barely registered the pain.
I bit and clawed and screamed. Raising my arms, I scratched at his wrist, digging in my nails far enough that my fingers eventually became slippery with blood. Still, Hollis’ hold on me didn’t falter. If anything, his grip only became more sadistic as my cries for help echoed off the walls.
“Shut up,” he shouted.
When I didn’t, he kicked out behind him.
The heel of his boot missed the top of my head by inches, instead landing hard against my right shoulder.
I felt an internal pop, followed by a searing flash of pain so bright that, despite all the adrenaline, it threatened to swallow me whole.
To Hollis’ disappointment, the blow didn’t shut me up, though.
If anything, now I was screaming twice as loud, even if it was in agony.
But as my arm fell away from his wrist and flopped uselessly against the floor, I realized he’d dislocated my shoulder.
Hell, with a kick that hard, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d fractured my collarbone.
Not that any of that would matter if I didn’t start landing a few hits of my own.
Clearly, Hollis wanted me dead, but I was determined that as long as there was a single spark of life inside me, I wouldn’t give up. If I had to die, then I’d go down fighting.
So, with my dominant arm out of commission, I changed tactics. Reaching out with my left, I grabbed onto Hollis’ ankle and held on with all my might.
“What the fuck?” he cursed as he stumbled, reaching out to catch himself against the wall before he fell.
Okay…clearly, that wasn’t enough.
So, I pulled myself closer before he could fully right himself and sunk my teeth into the meatiest part of his calf. I snapped my jaw shut as tight as I could, determined to make my back teeth meet.
I didn’t quite get there, but I still managed to do plenty of damage. Hot blood soaked through the fabric of his pants and ran out the cuff as Hollis fell to his knees.
“You bitch!”
Now, it was his howls of pain echoing down the hall.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t filled with a sense of righteous satisfaction at finally seeing him rolling around on the floor in agony, but sadly, there was no time to soak in the moment. Not if I wanted to live to see tomorrow.
As quick as I could, I lifted myself up to my feet. Having learned my lesson with Carlo, I didn’t even try moving past him without first planting a solid kick to his balls.
In an instant, Hollis curled up like an armadillo, both his hands protectively clutching his groin and giving me enough space to stumble by.
Even though he wasn’t down permanently, I’d bought myself some time—hopefully enough to make my escape.
Hope took root in my heart. There was no doubt that I was in bad shape, but at this point, that was nothing new. In the last eighteen months, I’d survived being shot, an FBI manhunt, head trauma, and a mob contract being put out on my life.
I hadn’t survived all that just to die here.
Especially now that the door was now only a few feet away.
Of course, I wouldn’t be home free even once I was out in the hall. I still needed to make it to the elevator. But at least I’d be out in a public space, and I figured the chances of Hollis shooting me in the back would go way down once there were curious neighbors peeking out their doors.
I let out a sigh of relief the moment my hand landed on the door…but it was short-lived.
Before I could turn the knob, a heavy hand landed on my shoulder.
I spun around, praying that I’d somehow find Dorian miraculously standing behind me, ready to whisk me off to safety.
But it wasn’t him.
Instead, my stomach plummeted as I found myself staring into the cold, beady eyes of Sal D’Angelo.