Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 87(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 87(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
“No, I…”
Bang.
Bang.
What the fuck? A piercing, searing pain shoots through my body. I am looking, searching for where the shots came from, not yet comprehending that the I am the one who was shot. Gina runs from Caterina back to me, and suddenly, a black van pulls up, rags over our mouths and nothing. Darkness.
Shit. Fuck that hurts. Any movement from my left side is like a damn blade being slid up and down over and over. My shirt is soaked with blood and so are my pants. What the hell? Blinking, I am trying to squint, see what is happening in front of me, but everything is too bright, and my throat is dry.
Trying a few more times, my vision finally clears a little and that is when I see her, Gina. Chained to a bed in the corner. “Gina.” I am trying not to yell, but I need her to hear me. “Gina. Are you ok?” Her head turns and she starts sobbing.
“Ana. Ana, help me, please.” I scan her body and see her clothes are still intact thank God, but with these monsters, who knows for how long. My hands are bound by my side but in a way that I can move them and feel around. I am praying they didn’t find my knife in my thigh. “Ana. Ana please.” She continues to sob, and she is getting louder.
“Gina, I need you to calm down and be quiet. Okay. Can you do that for me?” she nods, but I know it is only a matter of time before she breaks. “Yes!” I say to myself when I feel my weapon.
“Well, look what we have here. Both of them are awake, fellas.” Stinky, fat fucks.
“Let me see.” Another man walks in, and I recognize him immediately as Romeo DeSantis. The lone surviving brother who put all of this in motion. Fucking pigs. “Yum. Young meat.” I fucking vomit in my throat. His gaze lands on Gina and urgency fills my body. I know what he is thinking. I have seen it. Grew up around it. She is too innocent for this. I keep chanting that in my head over and over. Discreetly, I am trying to get my hand into my pocket without them realizing it. “Untie the one on the bed and bring her to me.” Some fucking Romeo he is.
He walks into the other room and Artyom walks over to the bed. Gina begins to buck, crying, begging for him to stop. The other men are distracted, laughing, watching her struggle against him and I use it to my advantage. The moment he walks past me, dragging her by her hair, kicking and screaming, my hand flicks out and my knife sticks into his leg. He screams and falls to the floor, blood gushing from his flesh. “Fucking cunt cut me,” he says, trying to stop the bleeding.
“You didn’t check her pockets?” Romeo yells back at him. He looks at me, his eyes hold so much fear though he is trying to be brave. I smile and wink at him letting him know he is not phasing me. We will see how brave you are when it is your turn,” he sneers.
“I'm not worried. Your dick is too small to do any real damage.” This pisses him off. His hand comes flying at my face and as it makes impact, I hear my jaw snap, but I refuse to flinch or cry out. Blood is dripping down my nose and I simply smile again and wink at him. This is going to be fun.
TWELVE
TICIANO
I can feel my heart breaking into a million little pieces as that van speeds away from the scene. I have this horrible, sinking feeling that I’ll never get to tell her how much I love her. How much I need her in my life. “No!” I roar my pain into the air. Running after the van would be futile so I do the only thing I can think of. I dig my phone out of my pocket and find the number that I never thought I’d have to call. Aurora DeSantis, Ana’s boss.
“Are you hit, cousin?” Benny asks, coming up beside me, his hand on my shoulder. Only now do I remember that a bullet struck me. I reach for the arm. My suit jacket and shirt are torn, and my arm is bleeding, but no permanent damage is done.
“I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound, but they got my girl, Benny. My fucking girl.” My whole fucking world is gone, and it pisses me off to no end. As long as whoever did this doesn’t physically scan her for a tracker, they won’t find it and I’ll be able to find her.
“Hello?” a breathless female voice answers the line. “Stop, Rocco, please,” she whispers, pissing me off even more.