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He's almost as bad as Thalia, who thinks it's perfectly acceptable to write entire messages consisting purely of emojis and gifs. I know it pisses Salvatore off immensely, but she just laughs when he loses his shit because he can't figure out what she's trying to tell him.
I'm still chuckling to myself when a nondescript black van with tinted windows pulls up. It looks like a workman's van, except there's no logo on the side. I glance around, wondering ifsome student's dad or boyfriend has come to collect them, but there's nobody here apart from me.
A guy jumps out of the passenger side of the door and comes bounding over in my direction. He's twitchy as fuck with long, greasy brown hair scraped back into a ponytail. I can smell the acrid stench of sweat from several feet away and it makes me gag. Ugh. This guy needs a fucking shower.
"Are you Cara?" he barks at me. He has a strong East European accent, which is even stranger given I don't know anyone with an accent like that.
"Err, yeah?" Maybe he's one of Christiano's guys, although they all seem to drive fancy cars, not shitty vans.
Sweat man grabs me by the arm. Before I can protest, he clamps a hand over my mouth and hauls me over to the van. I can't scream but I can fight back with everything I have, which includes my feet and fists. The guy curses when I elbow him in the stomach, unfortunately missing his balls.
"Chertova suka!" he hisses before I'm thrown unceremoniously into the back of the van. I attempt to scream but a second guy shoves a gag in my mouth and a bag over my head. Then he hits my temple with something hard. There's a blinding flash of pain and I lose consciousness.
Chapter 14
Christiano
Romano is pissing me off. He and I are going to have words soon because I'm sick of his poor work ethic. Thanks to him, I'm now running late, despite promising to pick up Cara from college. I could have sent one of the guys, but I planned to collect her in the Lambo and then take her to my favorite seafood restaurant on the beach.
By the time I pull up near the main entrance of the Fine Art building, there's no sign of her. A few students are wandering around, but none with distinctive blue hair.
I frown and pull out my phone.
I'm here, where are you?
The message sends but isn't read. I know she has her phone with her, as she replied to all my other messages, including the one that told her I was running late. I hit call but she doesn't pick up.
Fuck this. She must be inside the building. Perhaps she's talking to someone, a member of the faculty. Ignoring the large 'no parking' signs, I dump the car and stride across the forecourt in the direction of the main entrance. Then a blue bag abandoned on the floor near a bench catches my eye. It looks a lot like the bag Cara carried when I dropped her off earlier, so I head over.
The contents of the bag have half-spilled out and I spot an old iPhone with a scuffed sticker on the back. The lock screen shows a missed call from me as well as the message I sent, unread.
Something's wrong. There's no way Cara left her bag like this. Her purse is still in it, as well as her apartment keys. If nothing else, she wouldn't abandon that damn cat she adores so much.
Panic threatens to obliterate any sensible thoughts in my head. I suck in a shaky breath. I'm not going to find her if I panic. My fists clench and I taste blood. Whoever took Cara is going to suffer when I find them, and they'll wish their father wore a fucking condom.
"Hey, is that Cara's bag?" A girl with bright red hair looks at me and the bag I'm holding. She frowns. "Why do you have Cara's bag and where is she?" I watch as she takes a big step back and pulls her phone out. The last thing I need is this girl getting involved.
I smile at her with all the charm I can muster. "She's gone to the bathroom. I'm her boyfriend. Just waiting for her to come back and then we're going out for dinner."
The redhead glances between me and the car. "Is that your car?"
"Yeah."
"You do realize you're killing the environment, right?" She sneers before tossing her hair.
I don't have time for this shit or a fucking lecture from some random girl. "If you'll excuse me," I fake smile. "I have a phone call to make."
Redhead sniffs and strolls off. Thank fuck. I call Romano the moment she's out of earshot.
"Has Cara dumped your sorry ass already,fratello?That's a record even for you!"
"She's been taken," I growl. She's clearly not here so I jog over to my car and jump in.
"What do you mean she's been taken?" Romano says, the teasing tone gone.
"I mean she's been fucking taken! I got here and I found her bag dumped on the floor, all her shit falling out, and no sign of her. Check the fucking cameras around here, there must be something!"
"Fuck. Calm down, I'll start looking now. Get your ass back here and we'll put a plan together. The fact this has happened so soon after the gun shipment was targeted is too much of a coincidence."
