“I don’t know what you mean, Henry, but if I were you, I wouldn’t speak about a mob boss’s daughter like that. It won’t end well.”
He smirks and laughs. “So, youarescrewing around with her. Well, when you get bored, pass that little bitch off to me so I can get rid of her.”
“Get rid?”
The need to protect Isabella at all costs is damn near overwhelming, which I don’t totally love.
But I’m not going to letthiscontinue either.
“Many people are after her, Dominic. Surely you know that. As the daughter of Genovese of course people want her dead. But that’s not the only reason she’s wanted. Some want to have their wicked way with her, me included, so don’t be selfish and keep her all to yourself, okay?”
I should keep myself in check.
I should keep control of my own nerves.
But I don’t know if I can.
Deep breath.
Nope, not going to happen.
I swing my fist back and slam it so hard into Henry’s donkey-ass face that I nearly knock him off his chair.
Good, that fucker deserves as much.
I know we’re about to get kicked out of here, but that isn’t about to stop me. Even as Henry fights back, I continue slamming my fists into his face, trying to make sure he can’t say another God damn stupid word.
His nose is bleeding.
Idiot.
Now I have to wash my hands.
“Fuck you, Henry,” I growl breathlessly while still throwing punches and dodging as many of his as I can. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, but you need to learn to keep your trap shut.”
Wasted as he is, Henry puts up a good fight until we’re pulled apart.
I’m sent out of the club first so we can’t continue brawling.
I could wait for Henry to put an end to this once and for all, but I don’t think I want to.
This whole thing has been a fucking nightmare, and if I’m totally honest with myself, I just want to be back at home with Isabella.
“Oh shit.”
As I pull out my cell phone to check on it, I realize that it’s been going mental in my pocket, letting me know that not all is good in the cabin.
Fuck.
I need to get back, and I need to get there now.
ISABELLA
“Come on, come on.”
Urgh, this is so frustrating, but it’s also the longest that I’ve been left alone, and I need to take advantage of that.
I’m pretty sure if I keep jiggling this a little more, I can get this stupid monitor off my ankle.
Dominic has been gone all night long, and I don’t know when he’s coming back. At this point, I’ve gone past worried… I’m just angry.
How dare he leave me all alone like this?
How dare he keep me here at all?
“Ah, shit!”
It’s loosened, just a little. Just one of the screws, but it’s a start. My heart dances with excitement as a new surge of positivity ricochets through me.
I can do this.
I Will Do this.
I shake my leg hard before starting on the next screws. If I can just release myself from this, then I might not get shocked when trying to leave the house. If I can get through that stupid front door, then I’m gone.
I don’t know where we are.
I don’t know where this God damn cabin is.
But I don’t care.
I’ll just run until I can’t run any longer.
I squeeze my leg, slowly edging it through the monitor. It scrapes and hurts like hell. I even cut my ankle a little but the blood kinda works for me. It helps me to slip the stupid thing off.
“Ah!” I cry out in joy as the device clatters to the floor. “I’m free!”
I almost can’t believe it.
As I leap to my feet, it’s like a giant weight has been lifted from me. I feel amazing, like I could sprint a damn marathon.
I’m sure all hell is not thinking about Dominic as I race through the cabin’s front door, half expecting the worst.
“Oh my God!”
But no zap comes.
Nothing knocks me back on my ass.
I really am free!
It’s such a shock that I don’t know what to do for a moment. I dart my eyes left and right, trying to adjust to the weird dawn light, trying to figure out which way to go.
It doesn’t matter, I remind myself rapidly. Just run.
I take off through the trees, my heart thundering so hard against my rib cage that I fear it might burst free, but even that doesn’t matter. I justgo.
I’m on a mission to find human life, anyone who can save me, and that’s all that matters.
“Fuck!”
My blurry eyes and screwed sense of direction means I’m not as focused on the floor as I should be.
At least not until my toes get caught under a tree root which is protruding from the floor and sends me flying forwards.
I smack my hands hard on the ground, scraping my palms on the stones, hitting my chin as well.
“Shit,” I groan as the red hot pain burns through my skin. “Oh God.”
I can’t give up, though. However much it hurts, I can’t let it derail me. I need to find the inner strength from somewhere to keep on going.
There is aching all over my body.
It feels like I’m dying.
But I know how important this is, so I force myself up onto my feet, doing what I can to ignore the pain.
If I don’t look down, then I won’t know if my leg is bleeding. That way, it might not hurt as much.
Come on, I tell myself seriously. My brain is absolutely screaming at me. Move!
I know even less where I’m going now, but I keep on moving.
“Fucking Dominic,” I mutter to myself as anger burns up inside of me once more. “Asshole.”
Why did he do this to me?
Why bring me here just to keep fucking leaving me? Without giving me any way to get out of the boonies? It’s bull shit.
My heart lifts a little as I get to what I think might be the edge of the cabin property. I don’t know for sure, but there are woods now, trees everywhere.
What is this, the fucking Ozarks?
If I can just get past that line, I’m sure I’ll be fine.
Although I don’t know where I’ll go from here because there doesn’t seem to be human life for a long distance.
Not that I’ll be deterred by that.
I pick up the pace a little, preparing to run because if I’m about to get shocked again, somehow, then I’ll need to try and run through it.
I sure as hell don’t want to have to walk back to the cabin with my tail between my legs.
My fists curl up by my side as determination ricochets through me. I brace myself, expecting the worst, but I keep on moving.
Nothing.
I almost burst out laughing at how ridiculous I must have looked then, running over the threshold like a crazy person. But I’m free.
I’ve made it past what I’m pretty sure is the property line, so I’m confident now that I can keep on going.
Happiness rolls off of me in waves as I take my next step to freedom…
“Argh!”
Shit.
The world is falling out from underneath me, only this time, it isn’t because I’m falling. Something is wrapped around me, a net of some kind. One I can’t get out of however hard I try.
As soon as I steady myself and the sickness sensation subsides, I find myself swinging in the air, in the net, looking down at the step to freedom I just got ripped away from.
I’m in a trap.
Some fucked up trap.
Did Dominic set this up? What the hell is wrong with that man?
Unfortunately, as angry as I am at him, I need him right now. He’s the only person who knows I’m in the cabin and has a chance of finding me. So much as I want to kill him, I guess the only thing I can do now is call for him and hope that asshole comes looking for me.
My voice is hoarse.
I don’t know how much longer I can keep on yelling.
But if I don’t keep on calling out, then I won’t have any chance of getting out of here.
If Dominic doesn’t find me, then I’m fucked.
Shame that the one person I want to run away from is the one person who can help me now.
“Dominic, please,” I whimper, because I’m starting to get really frightened and cold.
I’m shivering all over.
“Get me out of here.”
“What thefuckare you doing?”
The sound of Dominic’s voice causes my head to snap up.
Is this real or am I so desperate to hear him that I’m making him up?
Nope.
There he is, for real.
“I’m here,” I cry out in relief. “I got stuck.”
I shouldn’t be so happy to hear him. I certainly shouldn’t want to see him after everything, but I do. I really do.
He loosens the ties of the net and slowly lowers me.
The closer I get to him, the more the relief fades away.
Dominic stinks of booze and cigarettes.
He left me up there swinging, without any clue to his whereabouts and he was out drinking and having fun? Maybe even with other women.
Jealousy knots up inside of me.
I hate that.
“You’re bruised.”
I noticed his black eye.
“What happened?”
He says nothing, but gathers me up in his arms to carry me inside the cabin when I wince. I can’t put any weight on the ankle of the leg that was snagged in the net. I’m definitely not escaping today, that’s for sure.
But that isn’t what’s really bothering me.
It’s the silence.
“Where were you?” I demand, because at this point I think I have a right to know. “You’ve been gone for ages. What’s going on?”
He’s brooding.