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“By the way, it’s not lost on me that this is the first time since—” He stops suddenly. “This is the first time in a long, long time that you’ve taken notice of a female.”
I shoot him a glare, knowing that if he had finished his first sentence, I would have punched him in the face. “I have not taken notice of that girl,” I snarl. “I’m simply trying to protect her because she’s an innocent bystander.”
“Right,” he utters. “Sure you are.”
For someone who has been in plenty of scary situations before—from administering Narcan to her own parents, to running away from sketchy men who showed up at my house to collect debts owed from my mom and dad, to starving to the point of barely functioning—I’m not a baby when it comes to shit being thrown my way. But this right now is on a whole other level of crappiness.
There is nowhere to run. And there isn’t a place I could hide where he wouldn’t find me. I’m helpless. And I can’t stand to feel like this.
Enzo drives toward his place—way too fast. He hasn’t spoken one word since we left the meeting and he basically yanked me into his car.
I’m not a person who gets scared very often. I’ve made it this far in life by being strong and trying to conquer the monsters under my bed. But even I’ll admit … I’m afraid of what’s to come.
He’s going to rape me—I know it. He’s going to force me to do things that I don’t want to do. And if I say no, he’ll likely kill me. And I really, really don’t want to die at the hands of this lunatic.
I consider telling him I have my period in hopes he’s one of those men who is disgusted by that sort of thing. But what if he learns that I don’t actually have it? So, instead, I just hope and pray that, once again, fate is on my side and throws something his way to distract him.
In the rearview, I see Hudson and Rossi in their SUV, hot on our tail. They can’t save me from Enzo though. Even though a part of me wonders if they wish they could. Who am I kidding? Rossi might seem nice, but just like Hudson and every other man here … he’s heartless.
Quickly turning the car into a driveway, he pulls in front of a gate before it opens and speeds through. We drive down the long road before a house—no, a mansion—comes into view.
“What the fuck?!” he barks out.
When I squint my eyes, I notice a few front windows have been busted out. Hitting the gas, he speeds up until we’re directly in front of the building. He slams the car into park and quickly jumps out.
Without permission, I leap from the car, too, my heart pounding in my chest with fear. But not from whoever broke the windows. No. My fear is from the monster whose house this is—and knowing that I was so close to being alone with him. Again.
Within seconds, Rossi and Hudson are out of their SUV and rushing around the perimeter of the house. Guns drawn as they search for whoever did this.
Meanwhile, I’m silently thanking the person who did because they might have just saved me from whatever I was going to have to endure inside that house.
Hudson heads toward Enzo. “You and Ms. James should wait in the car. Just in case whoever did this is still on the property.” His tone is icy as his gaze remains on Enzo, never looking my way.
Turning quickly, Enzo grabs my arm so tight that I know I’ll have a bruise. Marching toward the SUV, he flings the door open and shoves me inside with so much force that I fall into the back seat, smashing the side of my head off of the window.
“I don’t give a fuck if you get shot right now and bleed in front of me. But if you die on my watch, sweet Uncle Beckett would probably stop working with my family. So, count your lucky stars for that man,” he hisses before slamming the door shut.
My head aches, and a bruise instantly begins to form on my arm as I look out the window and watch the search continue. In my mind, I picture someone jumping out of the house and shooting Enzo in the chest, killing him instantly before Hudson and Rossi shoot the perpetrator.
But in the midst of all of that, I can’t help but wonder about the deal my uncle made with this man.
And what it means for me.
Half an hour later, I’m in the back of the SUV as we pull out of my fiancé’s house. Luckily, he isn’t in the car because, apparently, he called an emergency meeting with most of his crew to take down whoever had attacked his house, and he instructed Rossi and Hudson to take me back to the crew complex and keep watch for anything out of the ordinary.
Rossi and Hudson had searched and combed every inch of Enzo’s house, but found nothing.
A security camera showed a man with a ski mask, dressed in black, approaching the house and busting out the windows. But from what I learned from eavesdropping was that, one, no one could have gotten through the gate. And, two, no car was ever shown on any surrounding cameras either.
Rossi talks in a hushed voice in the passenger seat, and I can only make out every other word now, as they seem to be discussing something they don’t want me to know about. I’ve been here for weeks, and I’ve learned nothing about what sort of awful things my uncle is involved in. I came here, planning to be Nancy fucking Drew, and instead, I’m a scared baby bird.
Hudson pulls in front of the large gate and looks at the camera. Within a few seconds, the gate slowly opens, and he drives toward the crew complex. Once he parks the SUV, he and Rossi get out.
Pushing my own door open, I watch Rossi start toward the house.
“I’ll head in and make sure everything in here seems fine,” he calls over his shoulder.
Before I can climb out, Hudson stands between the car and the door, looking me over as his eyes narrow slightly. When he reaches for my arm, I involuntarily flinch, pulling away from him.
