Panic seeps into my bones as the two beside me glance at me with vicious eyes and crawly hands ready to pounce.
“I don’t think so, pretty girl,” the guy in the passenger seat says before he grabs my throat. “If you can’t pay us for taking you with us, you’ll be the perfect plaything on the way there.”
MATTEO
I race as fastas I can out of the gates that surround my property, taking a right turn down the road. I told Franco to take one of my other cars and go left, so we’re split equally in the hopes of finding her walking down the streets.
I don’t know where she went, but I assume she’s looking for the nearest road to hitchhike her way to the city. She could stay in the forest, but not too long. She wouldn’t survive without food and water, let alone a place to sleep. Besides, she was wearing a bathrobe the last time I saw her, and if she didn’t dress before she left, she’s bound to get cold. If she stays outside, she could freeze to death.
Goddammit.
I can’t believe she actually escaped, and that I let it happen right underneath my nose.
How did she even manage to do that through that tiny window inthe bathroom?
I never thought she’d actually try. I’d assumed the window was too narrow for her to fit through, but I guess I was wrong. I’m surprised she managed to open it, though. She’s more conniving and resourceful than I thought.
I hit the gas while I look everywhere for her, scanning the line of the forest where the road meets the trees, but I don’t see her anywhere. The more time passes, the more the unease begins to bubble to the surface.
What if I never find her again? What if she ends up in Lucio’s hands and he hurts her?
My nostrils flare, and I run my fingers through my hair, impatiently driving over the speed limit in an attempt to curtail my anger, but it doesn’t help.
Dammit, I should have blocked off that window in her bathroom too.
I glance at the forest where one of my men is searching with two of our dogs that can sniff anyone out, just in case she’s still there, but I doubt it. While I was busy showering, she had a head start, and I have no clue where she’s going.
Suddenly, I spot a car driving up ahead, veering from side to side. It looks like the driver isn’t really paying attention to the road. Loud music blasts through their closed windows, but it’s the ruckus in the back of the car that makes me do a double take. Something fishy is going on there, and I’m going to find out what.
I drive closer, pushing my car to the limit. As I drive right beside them and peer inside, the driver sings along tothe music while having a smoke, but his passengers are fighting with something on the back seat … or someone. One of them attempts to take off his pants, and his ass is visible through the window on the back seat.
But then there’s a familiar scream.
Stella.
Without thinking, I roll down my window, and the driver’s eyes connect with mine in sheer panic as I pull out a gun and point it right at him.
BANG!
The window shatters.
BANG!
His head splatters open like a watermelon with too many rubber bands around it.
The guy in the passenger seat squeals like a pig as the car begins to swerve off the road, and he grabs the steering wheel in an attempt to keep the car steady. I drive so close that our cars are bumping into each other, and the metal begins to screech, but I do not give a flying fuck as I wreck both of our cars, driving us into the ditch.
I shoot at the passenger, but he narrowly avoids the bullet.
“Watch out!” he screams at me.
The car slams into a tree trunk at a quarter speed, destroying the engine completely. Everyone in the car is thrown about from the crash.
God, I hope she’s okay.
I hit the brakes, and my car comes to a stop right behindtheirs. I immediately jump out, ready to face them. No one steals myTesoroand gets away with it.
Stella
