Wood creaked as the iron chair dislodged from the door.I sprinted towards the door and positioned myselfnearthe threshold. The doorswungopen.Abulky manraised hisguntowards my temple.
Before he could properly aim,I squeezed down on the top of the hairspray bottle. The extra hold liquid sprayed straight from the nozzle into hisalerteyes.
His eyes turned bright red, and I released my grip on the spray bottle. With my now free hand I reached forhisgun. At the same time, his meaty hand clenched around my throat. His hand tightened as he raised me up in the air.
I tried tograspfor the gun, but he tucked it into his waistband just out of my reach. Instead of flailing for it, I smashed the heavy heel against his head.
“Fucking bitch,” he spit.
Istartedto bringthe heel down again, but he slammedthe side of my head against the doorframe. Stars sprung up in front of my eyes, but I stillswungthe heel downblindly.
It connected, and his hand released my throat. Unable to see anything, I chucked the shoe in his general direction as my body dropped to the floor. A meaty thunk sounded. But I wasn’t able to celebrate before myheadthudded againstthe wood floor.I tried to blinkthroughthe starsoverwhelmingmy vision.
His calloused hand grippedmy ankle, and I tried to kick my other leg in that direction. My free foot connected against hard muscles, and I heard him grunt.
I blinked, andmy visionfinallycleared.
He was snapping some sort of metal bracelet around my ankle. Istruggledagainst his grip, but hishandwas firm around my ankle.
I tried kicking hishand again. But before it could connect, the bracelet clicked into place. Heimmediately released me and jumped to his feet.
“Don’t move, or I’ll shoot you.” He glared at me, his gun now in his hand. With his free hand, he massaged a lump forming on his shaved head.
I stayed sprawled on the floor, but uncurled my middle finger slowly.
“Is that too much movement?” I smirked. He responded by clicking the safety off.
Maybe, I could kick him in the balls before he could get the shot off. But what was that bracelet snapped on my ankle?I seriously doubted he had gone through all that trouble to give me a piece of jewelry.
“It’s handled,” he called over his shoulder.Or maybe I could goad him into shooting me if it looked like Luca was about to take me to his basement.
Footsteps soundeddown the hallway, and three angry faces appeared behind him. Luca was sporting adarkeningbruise on his throat. His eyes seared onto me. An older man with slicked back, receding grey hair had a tight grip on Sebastian’s shoulder.
“What thefuck is this thing?” Igrowled, straightening my shoulders despite my crumpled place on the ground.
Luca stepped forward, rubbing at thepurplebruise on his neck.
“The only thing you need to know is that if you disobeyme,Iwill hurt you,” he said.
Luca’sfinger tightened on something in his pocket.I felt a stinging pain around my ankle. “What-“
Theirfaces becameblurry. I tried to force out the words, “What did-“
Everything went black.
Chapter 32
When I cameto, everythingwas fuzzy. A fuzzy shadow of a person standing over me. A fuzzy shadow of a fan spinning overhead.
I blinked untilthe worldcame back into focus. The memories of what occurred before Iblacked outarrivedalongwith my clear vision.
Sebastianleaned against the door. His arms were crossed casually across his chest, but his stiffened muscles revealed his tension. I looked around for the other men, but the room was empty save for Sebastian.
“What the fuck did you do to me?” I asked.
He took a step towards me.“How are you feeling?”
“What didyoudoto me?” I growled, glaring up at him from the ground.
