I slapped her across the cheek. Her head whipped to the side from the blow, and her shocked eyes turned to me. “You hit me!” She cried.
“Where is he, Andi?” I seethed and stepped closer. Will wrapped a hand around my upper arm, holding me back.
“No,” Andi mumbled, “you don’t get to have him. He’s mine.”
I lost it. I jumped, fighting against Will’s hold, and scratched Andi’s face. Yelling obscenities at her, demanding answers. If Rome was alive, I needed to know where he was. I needed to get to him, and bring him back home to his family.
Will wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me off of Andi, who was still being held by Malachi.
“Let me go,” I argued with Will.
Will held me tightly, “We need answers, and I think she’s had enough.”
Andi looked rough for the wear. Her hair was a mess, and she was sobbing in Malachi’s arms, holding on to him as if he were alife raft. She had a scratch down her cheek from my nails, which was now bleeding.
“Where is he?” I yelled again.
She cowered with a whimper and I pushed against Will’s hold.
“I’m going to kill her.” I seethed through gritted teeth.
A voice broke my focus on Andi, causing gasps to spill from the mouths of those around me. “You’ve got quite the swing on you, sweetheart.”
I turned towards the voice. The voice I never thought I would hear again.
“Rome.”
Chapter Thirty-One
ROME
Three Months Ago, October 3rd
Ihad been knocked unconscious enough times that I was starting to wonder if I was the issue. At least I had a hard head. A normal person would have brain damage at this point.Hell, maybe I did have brain damage. That would explain many of my choices… and my personality.
I racked my memories, trying to understand how I had gotten here. Or where here was. My brain felt foggy as I tried to focus on the tasks in front of me. I peeked an eye open. Having not heard any footsteps or breathing in the ten minutes I was awake, I was assuming I was alone.
It seemed I was right. My arms and legs were tied, and I was lying on the floor of what looked to be a utility van. My head ached, but not in any spot in particular, just a general headache. That gave me hope that I had been unconscious because of a drug or something. Good, maybe I wouldn’t get brain damage. Well…morebrain damage.
The van was empty, and little light streamed through the windshield. Based on my limited view from my spot on the floor, we were in an enclosed space. A warehouse, maybe? Potentially a parking garage?
God, I was too tired to think things through thoroughly. Why was I so tired?
Shit, I was supposed to try and remember how I had gotten here. The problem was that my mind was blank. I was in the elevator with Andi as she rambled about the difference between foundation and concealer… and then nothing. I wasn’t sure if I had left the elevator or had been attacked there. Had Andi been with me? She was 100 pounds soaking wet, and I had a feeling she wouldn’t do well under these circumstances. I couldn’t even look her directly in the eyes without making her flustered, so being drugged and kidnapped had to be out of her wheelhouse.
God, my back hurt sitting like this. I was far too old to be finding myself in these scenarios.
I sat up silently, keeping a groan from falling past my lips. My head pounded, the little light that was filtering through the windshield stinging my eyes.
“Yep, drugged,” I mumbled. "Definitely drugged.”
Both of my holsters were empty, but I did have one trick up my sleeve. Well, not literally, it was in my waistband, technically. The idea to sew the knife in Bec’s purse lining didn’t come from nowhere. My time as a Ranger had taught me to be overprepared. With my hands still tied behind my back, I found the small switchblade carefully stitched into the waistband of my suit pants, just under the tag.
“Off the rack junk my ass,” I mumbled and popped the small pocket open. The switchblade was tiny, but exactly what I needed to cut through my bindings. They were zipties, so it wouldn’t be hard to saw through. If I didn’t cut myself. Damn, I wondered what they gave me. My mind was swimming.
I should have been more on edge, or at least a bit afraid, but it was as though the drug they had given me calmed my anxieties. It was rather pleasant—the drug, not being hog-tied in the back of a van.Thatwas uncomfortable.
I managed to saw through the zip ties binding my hands. I rubbed my raw wrists and proceeded to untie my ankles. Damn, they took my shoes. They were the ones Bec had given me for our first event together. I loved those things.
