Chapter 1 #2
“Cover me, I’ll go help her out.” The same man with the blue eyes darts towards me.
The battle continues and with what I can make out with my half-conscious mind, the fight seems to be coming to its end.
The people from the other gang seem to be retreating and the Dragona gang members shoot out some final shots.
The mysterious mafia man approaches me swiftly, his movements efficient and his focus razor-sharp.
“Are you alright? Can you hear me?” he asks, his voice low and commanding.
I shake my head, retreating further under the table.
He pulls his mask down and I look at his rugged, handsome face. He has a scar running across his left eyebrow.
I blink my eyes and look at his seemingly concerned expression.
Why is he looking at me like this? Is he going to kill me?
“Don’t worry, I’ll take you with me,” he snaps, crouching down and grabbing my uninjured arm. His grip is firm, but not cruel.
“It’s not safe here, I’ll be taking her with us,” he announces to the other men he’s with.
“Are you out of your mind, Hunter?” the one with the jet-black hair protests.
Hunter. So that’s his name. It’s quite apt for someone who’s part of a gang.
“Let her go, Hunter. Someone else will take care of her,” the rich-looking one tries to reason.
“No, I can’t leave her… I can’t.” He takes me in his arms, gripping my wound to reduce the bleeding. “She’s also got something from the Armadas. I saw her pick it up.”
The blonde one gives him a weird look before looking at me. “What have you got and where is it?”
“I don't have anything,” I lie to him, fear creeping up my spine.
“Guess I’ll have to look myself.”
While the other Dragona men continue fighting, he begins patting me down, checking my pockets. When he feels something, he flashes a daringly charming smirk at me. He pulls out the flash drive, looking at it intently.
“What have we got here?”
“James, we have no time for this. Come on, let’s take her. We need to get out.” Hunter urges him.
So, the blonde, preppy looking boy is James.
James puts the flash drive in his pocket, and Hunter gets ready to leave… with me in tow.
“What’re you doing? Let me go!” I protest with the bare minimum strength left in me.
“No can do, sweetheart,” he says, nodding toward the rival gang.
Hunter stands up, my arm clutched in his hand, and darts towards the door.
Ignoring my protests, he practically sweeps me off my feet and carries me toward the vehicle. I kick and squirm, panic overtaking reason.
“Of all the women, this guy finds someone who’s as good as dead to dote on,” the more rigid one of them complains.
Before I can resist further, he motions to the other two men, who are already retreating toward a sleek black car parked nearby.
“You’re gonna get us fucked,” one of them grumbles.
“Whatever, Callum, we’ll run out. You bring the car to the front,” the rich-looking man orders.
“Shut up and stay still,” Hunter growls as I squirm in his arms. I have barely any energy, and I can tell I’m about to pass out at any moment now.
The other men—Callum included—rush out of the restaurant, looking out for any leftover enemies. He and their other lackeys look out and dart towards their SUVs parked in the corner.
In a few moments, the cars are right in front of the restaurant. Hunter covers his face with his mask and loads me into the car like I’m some sack of potatoes.
The man with sandy-blonde hair and golden eyes glances back. “Hunter, we need to move. Now!”
“Just a second, her arm is injured. I don’t wanna hurt her further,” Hunter replies, shoving me into the backseat before climbing in after me.
The blonde man jumps inside after him, and the rest of the men after him, shutting the door with a loud thud.
The four of us and two other men get into one car, while the other five get into the other SUV.
The cars speed off, tires screeching, as I press myself against the door, clutching my injured arm. The pain is unbearable, but the fear is worse.
“Who—who are you people?” I manage, barely whispering.
The man in the driver's seat, silent and brooding with disheveled black hair, glances at me briefly in the rearview mirror before looking forward.
“We aren’t an animal shelter that picks up any stray puppies we find, Hunter,” Callum broods.
“Doesn’t matter,” Hunter says, his tone clipped. “She’s safer with us than back there.”
“Safe?” I choke out a laugh. “You injured me! You kidnapped me! In what world is that safe?”
None of them answer. They remain silent. But it’s not because they don’t have an answer—it's because they don’t care enough to.
The car hurtles down the dark streets, the city lights blurring past. My mind races, trying to piece together what just happened.
The silence in the car is suffocating but broken only by the occasional crackle of the radio.
Eventually, the adrenaline starts to fade, replaced by exhaustion and pain. I slump against the door, my breaths coming in shallow gasps.
I feel my eyes closing. That is when Hunter pulls out a small first aid kit from under the seat.
“Your arm,” Hunter says, his voice softer now.
I don’t respond.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he continues. “But you need to trust me.”
Trust? The word feels hollow.
He pulls my arm and I wince a little. With his strong, muscular arms, he tears my sleeves apart, revealing the wound in my arm. It’s still bleeding, with some of the blood now dried around it.
He takes something from the pocket of the car seat. “This might hurt a little.”
Before I know it, he’s pressing down on the wound with a piece of cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol and tears well up in my eyes as I let out a piercing scream. The pain is unbearable, but he grips my hand—not to make me still, but rather to comfort me.
“It’s going to be alright,” he whispers as I let out a groan.
He cleans up the blood and holds the cloth over the wound, applying pressure. I bite my lip, my throat aching, making any more screaming unbearable.
“I feel like Hunter is right. She seems to be injured because of our carelessness. It’s only fair that we tend to her,” James says. “Besides, if she’s taken something from the Armadas, she could be in danger. And they could be looking for her.”
A mafia gang… looking for me. The sound of it nearly knocks the breath out of me.
“James, it’s not about that. Bringing in an outsider means exposing ourselves and our men to danger. She can be tracked, she can be traced back to our locations,” Callum rambles on.
Meanwhile, James, without warning, shoves his hand into my pants pocket, pulling out my wallet and cellphone.
He rolls down the window and tosses the phone without a second glance.
"Wha—" I try to speak, but Hunter tightens the bandage harder.
"It's for everyone's safety... Lina Moretti," James says, checking my driver’s license in my wallet and reading my name aloud.
The windows are tinted, but I can make out that we're heading far from the city. Just as Hunter finishes bandaging me up, my adrenaline gives out. I collapse against Hunter’s shoulder, passing out for a while, no longer aware of where we’re going or if I'll escape their clutches anytime soon.
After what feels like a long ride, the car comes to a sudden stop. I blink my eyes open and glance out the window. The view is breathtaking.
A sprawling mansion looms before us, its dark silhouette towering against the night sky.
“Where are we?” I whisper, dread curling in my stomach.
“This is the Dragona Mansion,” Hunter says simply.
The men step out of the car, and Hunter opens my door, lifting me into his arms.
“You’ll stay here now,” he says firmly.
Callum scoffs, while James strides ahead without a word.
With no other option, I surrender to Hunter’s hold on my body as he takes me into the mansion. I can’t shake the feeling that my life has just taken a turn I’ll never escape from.