I shove the plastic bag in his hands and run out the door. As soon as Lorenzo sees what I saw, he’ll understand. Mia and Rosa are running towards me.
“Giani set the fire. We need to get to the villa now.” That’s all the direction they need. We race to the house, keeping vigilant. There is no sign of life which could mean anything. If Giani were here, I’d expect to be fired upon, but there is nothing.
We approach the main door in a tactical formation. As with the fire, we’ve trained for these situations, too. I slip in first, silently looking for any movement. When I’m sure there is none, I signal for the others to enter. Directing Rosa and Mia to the ground floor rooms, Toni and I creep up the stairs. We take our time to check each room. Kelley and Pete’s bedrooms are empty, which I expected.
What I didn’t expect was to find them unconscious on my bedroom floor. Pete has blood coming from his head and Kelley has a nasty gash on her cheek. I want to run to them, but we need to clear the room first. Toni checks the bathroom and signals it’s clear.
My heart drops. Bonnie isn’t here. Giani has taken her. I promised to keep her safe and I’ve failed. Again.
Toni drops to his knees and scoops up Kelley. Rosa and Mia join us and set about helping Pete. I’m rooted to the floor, staring at my now empty bed.
Molten rage fills my body from the tips of my toes. He finally crossed the line. Giani has no clue what’s coming for him. I will gut him for this, personally. By the time I am finished, the Arellos will be nothing but a stain on my shoe. I’ll burn everything Giani loves to the ground.
Taking out my phone, I send a group message. It’s only polite to warn the other families of the carnage I’m about to unleash on that man. I return the phone to my pocket and hand Toni’s gun back to him.
“Be ready to leave in ten,” I say with steel in my voice.
Stripping off my clothes, I shower and change into black combat pants and a T-shirt. Taking my gun from the safe, I insert a full magazine and send the slide forward, taking a moment to verify I have a round in the chamber. Putting the weapon on “safe”, I holster it and add an extra magazine to my belt. Things are going to get messy.
I close my eyes and bring Giani to the forefront of my mind.
You wanted a war. You’ve got one. I’m going to tear your family apart.
27
Bonnie
Ohcrap,ohcrap,oh crap…
Not a helpful train of thought, but it’s the only train in my brain station that generally describes my state of mind. Describing my brain as a train station shows the level I’m at right now. I can’t think straight—or at all. The bag over my head blocks all the light, and the stench of old cigarettes is nauseating. Add that to the enormous headache gripping my skull and it’s no wonder I can’t think of anything other thanOh Crap!
Everything happened so fast. One minute I was sitting on the bed with Kelley and Pete, freaking out over the fire, and the next minute the bedroom door was being kicked in. Kelley screamed. Pete jumped off the bed and tried to fight three men off, but got hit. Kelley was ripped off the bed by her hair and I was socked right in the face. Things went black and stayed that way. I only know I’m awake now because of the sound and smell overwhelming me.
They must have shoved me in the back of a van because I’m rolling about with every bump and turn. I can hear a low-pitched voice, presumably giving instructions now and then, but I don’t recognise it. Damn, I wish I could speak Italian. Two years of mediocre French at school is the extent of my linguistic abilities. I don’t think screaming,Ciao, Bellaat the top of my lungs will do any good. It’s literally the only Italian I know.
My face really flippin’ hurts. Oh, God, I hope Kelley and Pete are alright. And my dads! My heart plummets when I think of Allegra. Was the fire a trap or a ruse? Did they hurt her? Does she know I’ve been taken?
Please find me, Allegra.
I plead to the universe she hears me. If anyone can get me back, it’s her. And God help whoever gets in her way.
The van, or big car, slows down. I can feel the road is rough through the tyres. Gravel, maybe? It will be somewhere remote. They always take hostages to an abandoned building or something. InMob’s Seduction,it was an old pig farm. The villain had one of his prized pigs placed in a pen. He was known as Benny the Pork, which, along with the book’s title, is stupid—but I digress, Benny would torture his victims and then feed them to his pig.
It’s times like this I wish I hadn’t finished the book. I wouldn’t have if Allegra hadn’t downloaded it. It was a bad idea, especially when I’m the hostage. Oh, fuck, fuckity, fuck. Giani’s going to feed me to his pig or something.
The brakes squeak as we stop. It’s not a smooth manoeuvre and I slam into something hard. A voice next to me makes me jump and recoil. I didn’t know there was someone here with me. He shouts in Italian and gets a mouthful in return from one of the men in the front.
A door opens, and then I hear the side panel door slide on rusty rails.
Definitely in a van.
I bet it’s one of those small panel vans serial killers use. How many bodies have they thrown in the back of this one? The thought makes my tummy roll.
Strong hands grip my shoulders, and with little effort, haul me to the rough ground. The air is thick with heat and I can still smell smoke. They can’t have taken me that far then, right?
I strain to hear anything past the pounding in my ears. I hit the gravel hard and knock my head. There’s a slapping sound, and the man with the low-pitched voice rages in Italian. The goon who had me by the shoulders hisses and lets go of me. I think he got the slap.
No sooner do I sit up than I’m dragged to my feet and hiked over a broad shoulder. The pungent smell of expensive cologne makes my eyes sting.
