Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Die?” Aria shook her head but even that hurt.
Lidia sat up in bed.
“We’re in the old abandoned hotel, Aria,” she said.
She couldn’t recall a time she had seen her friend look so afraid. “Lidia, what’s going on?”
“The man that came. He didn’t tell me his name but he said if Grant didn’t do as he asked, if he tried to act foolishly, then you and I were going to pay the price. This building is set to burn.”
“What?”
Aria tried to get off the bed to walk, to move, to do anything, but the cuffs kept her on the bed. There was not enough give in them. She let out a scream. The scent of mold and decay hung heavy in the air.
“This can’t be happening.” She sat on the bed and tried to take deep breaths.
“What does Grant have to do?”
“I don’t know,” Aria said. “I know the club was in trouble and that was why I had to stay at the clubhouse but … I don’t know. He came to see me tonight. He said something was going down.” She rubbed at her temples trying to think of what it could be, but nothing was there. Not a damn thing.
Lidia sniffled.
“I don’t understand,” Aria said. “Grant and I are not together.”
“Come on, Aria, you and I both know the rumor about Isabella and Grant had to have been spread on purpose,” Lidia said. “He must have been trying to protect you.”
“Why?” Aria asked.
“Look around you. This is clearly club business. He was trying to save you from it.”
Aria felt tears fill her eyes. “My dogs.”
“What?”
“Before I was knocked out, I heard a gunshot. My dogs.” She knew it probably wasn’t the right time to be thinking about her dogs, but she didn’t want anything to happen to them.
“Aria, we need to get out of here.”
Staring down at the cuffs on her hands, she tried to pull her wrists through, letting out a yelp as the metal cut into her wrists. She whimpered.
“I’ve tried that.” Lidia held up her wrists. “I ended up cutting myself. Ankles too. Also, the chains have been cemented to the beds.”
“What?”
“Yeah, tried to lift the beds. It’s not working.”
“So we’re trapped here.”
“Yeah, we’re trapped.”
Aria sat on the bed and took several deep breaths. “Grant will come,” she said.
“Does he even know you’ve been taken?”
“He will.”
“Aria, you know that Grant is not … he’s…”
“You don’t know him like I do. He will come for us. He’ll save us.” Aria knew he would.
“How can he come when he doesn’t know we’re here?”
“I know him. He’ll come. He will.” Aria kept nodding her head at the same time trying to pull the cuffs from her wrist.
Tears filled her eyes. This was a nightmare. She loved Grant so damn much. Her heart raced.
“Aria, do you smell that?” Lidia asked.
Yes, she did, but she wasn’t going to let her friend worry. “Smell what?”
“Aria, don’t lie to me.”
“I don’t smell anything.”
She did. The scent of smoke. The fire had already started. What did that mean? Did they have minutes?
This hotel was falling down. She couldn’t remember if it had been condemned or not. It wouldn’t take long for fire to travel, so they didn’t have long.
Aria felt the tears falling down her face. “Isabella invited me for Christmas.”
“That’s good. What about your mom?”
“She’s not invited but Isabella looked really excited about making dinner. Everything, the works.”
“Sounds great.”
“I lied,” Aria said.
“I know.”
“I smell the smoke.”
“I know.” Lidia let out a whimper.
“It’s fine. We’re going to be fine.”
Aria sat on the mattress but she couldn’t allow herself to just wait. Spinning on the bed, she saw there were metal bars. There was enough give for her to be able to reach up with both hands. She grabbed onto the bars and pulled.
The beds were quite flimsy from years of rusting, not being used, exposed to different weather. She held on tightly. Her arms ached but she couldn’t give up. The smoke had started to push through the bottom of the door. They had to get out.
Prying the bar off the bed, it bent forward just a little. Aria laughed. This didn’t bode well. If she could pull it off the bed, all she needed was to be able to slide between the cuffs and create enough give for her to wriggle out of them. The metal pole was too big.
“No. No. No. No!” She screamed.
“Aria?”
“It’s fine. It’s totally fine.”
It wasn’t.
Grant would come for them but it would be too late.
With the smoke filling the room, Aria tried tugging at her wrists and ankles, hoping to find some weakness within the cuffs, some design fault. Anything that would allow her to get out and get free. Lidia did the same. Why did they have to take her best friend as well?
“Aria, it’s not working,” Lidia said, sobbing. “There’s no use.”