“So, did you guys bring me something to wear because I’m not sure this outfit screams club night,” I say pointing at my jeans and black band t-shirt.
“Of fucking course,” Sierra giggles from the bathroom. I swear this bitch is trying to get me killed or worse, and yet I welcome the challenge. Maybe one day I won’t have to hide who I am inside. One day I’ll be able to go to the club freely without the feeling of being trapped. Mika stands and grabs a few different dresses from the closet and places them on the standard queen-size bed. My eyes focus on a slim fitting blood red dress with a V neck that would end right above my belly button, putting every curve and asset of my body on display.
“This is perfect,” I gasp, gliding my fingers on the fabric of the smooth silk material.
“Perfecto!” Mika says, “I have mine too.” She grabs a similar mini black dress with thin straps around the neckline, the material looks thicker than the one I chose.
Sierra walks out of the bathroom, already dressed in a beautiful one-piece romper with a sheer see-through material from her waistline down her long legs. The black top has a small strap at the shoulders. Her hair is placed in a ponytail without a strand out of place and her makeup is just as flawless like she was ready to walk down the runway.
It’s at this moment that I am glad I made the decision to make an escape. At this moment I don’t feel as alone. I have friends, and I have my freedom even if it won’t last past the night. It’s been a few hours since Mika pulled into the hotel parking garage. I know Enzo must have been notified as soon as Rocco noticed I was gone. They’re probably all searching for me already, but until then I’m free.
I’ll accept my punishment when the time comes.
Chapter 11
“Please! I don’t know anything,” screams the man currently restrained in the basement of some random warehouse. His arms are tied and attached to a hook on the ceiling, his feet barely touching the ground. Blood drips off his body as Kai and I alternate using him like a punching bag. We found him sneaking around by the house with a camera in hand. We quickly realized that he'd been hired to take pictures of Catalina when we saw the amount of photos he already had of her.
“Who hired you!” I growl. My patience is running thin. We know he’s one of the Columbians, his tattoos confirmed it. What I don’t understand is why the family of the man Catalina is promised to is having her watched knowing full well that she’s protected until the day of her wedding.
Her brothers decided to stay out of the room for the time being. They refused to start a war with their future-in-laws in case he came out alive, which is highly unlikely. They’ll all be dead soon enough anyways.
“Nothing to say?” Kai punches him again and again. His cries are the only thing to fill the silence of the room.
“E..Eduardo,” he trembles through the blood, snot, and tears that cover his face.
Before I get the chance to ask why, a skull-faced masked man comes barging inside the room. The knife in his hand gives him away immediately. The knife is Julian’s favorite weapon because it’s more personal. It allows him to be close enough to watch as their life slowly leaves their body. He plunges the knife right into our victim’s kneecap. The screeches of his cries bring me back to the place I’ve tried to run from, back to all the death that was wrongfully done by my hand. Jesus, he’s fucking insane. Julian pulls the knife out and goes for the other leg, twisting it a little more than the first making sure to inflict as much pain as possible.
“He wanted to be sure she was still a virgin, that she wasn't whoring around, he..,” he cries, “her father… promised she was.”
Julian pauses. The blood drips from the deadly weapon down his hand, his grip tightening on the handle as he removes it from the man's leg and plunges it into his heart killing him almost instantly.
Julian removes his mask, and tosses it on the floor in a fit of rage. His brothers run inside the room preparing themselves to contain him, but he doesn’t allow them the chance to stop the anger boiling inside. He grasps the knife and rapidly takes out his frustration stabbing the corpse hanging from the ceiling over and over. Blood splatters everywhere while his body swings in slow circular motions.
“Motherfucker. Marcelo, we can’t let her marry him!” he yells. “You know the Columbians are rumored to sell women. What if that’s what he has planned for Lina? I’ll fucking rip those motherfuckers’ goddamn eyes out.”
I’m holding myself back. Holding myself from yelling at her brother for allowing this to happen, for promising her to a man that is willing to sell her. I’m holding myself back from killing them all for not defending her like she should be. I should win a goddamn award for the self-restraint I’ve had this entire time. This fury continues to build deep inside me, readying itself to explode and go on a bloody rampage.
“We don’t know that,” Marcelo argues like he’s hoping that his father wouldn’t sell his own daughter, knowing full well that he absolutely would.
“Well, do they sell women? Is it just virgins they are after? What happens if she's not?” The questions slips from my lips before I can stop myself. Their eyes shoot back at me, like they’re ready to shoot me on the spot for daring to ask such a personal question about their sister.
“Well, I’m not familiar with how the Columbians work.” I push, trying to make it seem that I’m not really invested in the fact that she could potentially be a virgin when I really want to fucking know. Maybe it could save her.
“She’s not,” Julian replies, a scowl on his face as he glares at me. Marcelo punches Julian, like he had kept that a secret all this time. Julian steps forward, readying himself to throw punches at Marcelo. They both are pissing me the fuck off. We all need to stop this wedding and fast while trying to avoid a war. Not that I’m afraid to start one over her.
“This isn’t going to help her. We can only assume that Eduardo wants to know this information to betray your family. Do we know for a fact that they do business with the Russians? Would they sell her? Your father orchestrated this fucking deal, and I doubt he’ll just go back on his word. So, we need to fucking plan and strategize to save your goddamn sister.” I spit with all the rage that is pushing to be freed. They refrain from punching each other more, nodding their heads in understanding.
“Look, Rocco has family in Italy. I can have him see if we can get in touch with the Cosa Nostra. I don’t know if he has family in this life, but we can find out. In the meantime, we stall the wedding but allow it to continue. Sounds good?” Talking over Cartel issues like I was made for it not only feels fucking fantastic, but it puts a fear of God in me on how fucking too easy it was.
Rocco’s ringtone on my phone blares, as we discuss the plan in more detail. Choosing to ignore the call, we all agree to give Rafa time to call upon his cleaners to get rid of the body that swings lightly against the restraints. Julian and Marcelo left moments before we walked out of the building to go home. Kai and I are entering the car when Rocco’s ringtone sounds again.
“What,” I yell, already irritated at this whole fucking situation.
“I lost her.” Rocco says defeatedly.
I pause hoping I misheard the bastard. “What the fuck do you mean you fucking lost her?”
“Well, I got distracted while she went to the bathroom and when I went to check on her, she was gone. Sierra too. I checked the cameras, but they went dark around that time. I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find her. Her phone is still here.”
