Cara’s POV
“One red top, three black tops, one blue, and one yellow.” I ranted, dashing as far as possible before they realised what was happening. However, they had their backs to me, looking to be caught up in some sort of argument.
“Give me more, Bel,” Adonis stressed.
I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins.
“One blondie, one frizzy brown, the rest are jet black.”
One of the boys, who hadn’t spoken at all, glanced at me for a brief second, making my heart skip, then joined their heated discussion again.
I sighed in relief, covering the phone with my other hand as I backed away.
“More useful information, Cara; check their bodies,” Adonis urged.
“I’m trying; they’re distracted for now, so I don’t want to give anything away. I”‘m straining my neck for more assessment.
The same guy suddenly looked up again, eyes narrowed at me, snarling aggressively.
“What is she doing?”
Five heads turned towards me at his question, and the colour drained from my face. They each had a snack bag in their hands, but something else caught my eye. Knowing my luck had run out, I let it flow irrespective of the situation.
“They all… they all have earrings on their left ears, and it looks to be the shape of an eagle?”
“An eagle? Good. Give me more.”
More? I was practically shaking on my feet.
The leader pointed at me with a horrified expression, “Hey, stop that! She’s giving our information out. Get her.”
“Adonis, they’re coming for me,” I whispered harshly, beginning to fret.
“Remain calm, Bel; do your best to stall. If they wanted to kill you, they’d have done so by now, so I doubt that’s their goal.”
My best to stall?
Looking around, my head calculated how big the storage room was. Running around it wouldn’t take me three minutes, and since I had about six people after me, I’d be caught within the first one.
What if I tried to stall without running?
Suddenly, my feet halted, causing the guys behind me to do the same as they scrutinised my every move.
The leader stepped forward, three feet away from me, with an outstretched arm, “Hand the phone over.”
“No!” My eyes narrowed in on them, like a mother reprimanding her naughty child. “You boys should be in school. What in the world were you doing at the ring?”
They were taken aback, giving me the platform I needed, so I continued.
“You think this is something to boast about? That you go around in groups, kidnapping people for no sensible reason? Having one shouldn’t even be an avenue to do so.”
“Keep going, Bel.” Adonis encouraged.
I tried not to show how frightened I was, my gaze raking all over them for more unique information.
“Judging by how slow and out of sync you are, I’ll say this is just a petty gang; your matching silver necklaces have said that much.”
“Check their bodies. Any tattoo? I need something more specific.” He stressed.
Letting out a dry laugh, I took a step forward for a better view as my eyes lit up at a new factor.
“You should have gotten matching tattoos instead. Maybe I’d take you seriously if your necklace pendants do not match your studs. They aren’t the hype.”
“That’s enough.” Adonis stopped me. “Put the phone on speaker and move closer to them, enough for me to hear their voices well.”
I did as instructed, closing the remaining two feet between us, then extended the phone, “You want it, come get it.”
The leader squinted at me. “You think you can trick us?”
The phone was snatched away from me.
“Who are you?” He sneered.
Silence. Then,
“You took my wife.”
“So you’re the man who challenged our boss? Good. We know the match tonight was rigged.”
Their boss? No way! Death Eater?
The sound of Adonis’s deep breath filtered into the room from the call.
“So you took her?”
“Are you deaf?” He bellowed. “Who are you working for? Who sent you? Tell us, and we’ll let her go.”
Adonis chuckled dryly.
“Do you know who I am?”
The boys sniggered, “Are we supposed to?”
“Very well then. I am Adonis Alejandro Bernardi.” He paused, giving them time to process it.
Adonis’s name didn’t ring a bell; I could tell from the looks on the boys’ faces. It only proved my suspicions about them being a petty little gang.
Not that I was trying to be proud, but no one in the real circle wouldn’t have heard of my husband.
“Who the hell is that?” Another one bit out irritated. “Talk, or your wife remains here.”
“Good.” Adonis responded almost immediately, “How else would I be able to get my revenge? Remember my name.”
“You can’t do sh*t.”
“I don’t do sh*t anyway. You have thirty minutes.”
The line went off.
The boys shared confused looks amongst themselves, some looking definitely and ready for anything, others looking like they weren’t sure if they wanted to be involved anymore.
It made me feel a tad bit less scared. At least it showed that they wouldn’t do a thing to me until Adonis showed up… or so I hoped.
“He’s bluffing, right?” The one I’ve come to know as the most talkative cautiously asked.
The leader clucked his tongue, “What if he isn’t? Are you going to back out?” His face contorted in anger. “Death Eater has been protecting us for years. Do you want to give up when it’s our turn to do the same?”
“No!” They echoed
I gulped, shuffling back into the wall at their newfound courage.
“Everyone load your guns,” He clapped. “Bring out your knives; we need to be prepared. Tonight, we’re taking revenge for our boss.”
Dropping the bags in hand, they scattered around, pulling out hidden weapons from places I would’ve never imagined.
“Your man would regret coming here tonight.” He said to me.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. The fight was a fair one.” I tried convincing him without expectations.
“Lies. How would a first-time fighter beat up a three-year champion with ten years of experience?”
“Believe me. My husband is more talented than that. That’s the least of the things he can do. The quicker you accept it, the easier it’ll be for you.” I explained softly, “You’d be better off letting me go.”
The corner of his lips tugged up, “Say you’re right. What can a man do against six?”
‘You’re wrong. You don’t know him,’ I wanted to say.
Adonis would never show up alone, and even if he did, I had no doubt he would take them out with minimal scratches.
Instead, I swallowed, my eyes fixated on the abandoned bags in the middle of the room. It seemed like the boys in my belly didn’t care about the tense atmosphere and only wanted food.
“Can I get a bag of anything eatable you have in there?”
The young boy eyed me warily, wondering if I had anything planned.
My hands raised in surrender, “I’m just really starving.”
He studied me for a few more seconds before walking over to the bags and throwing me a pack of chips.
With a quiet thank you, I pulled it open, focusing on sating my hunger and hoping that Adonis would be here before I was done.
****
Still sitting in my corner, I watched the six boys; a part of me feeling pity for their new appearance, and timely painful groans they let out.
“Mr Bernardi. Here are their weapons.” A man I recognised as one of my father’s men walked up to Adonis.
He wasn’t the only familiar face. The shock I felt when about ten of them burst in through the window ten minutes ago was still evident on my face.
If they were in the ring with us from the start, why did I get taken?
Adonis eyed the weapons, then me. He had a slightly amused glint in his eyes, which I was sure was from how inexperienced and young the boys were.
“You’re lucky. I don’t waste my time on frivolous things. If you want to act like loyal underlings, do it to someone else.”
Carefully patting his purple eye, the talkative spoke up, “We just wanted to know who you work for. It’s not easy to take our boss down.”
“So you kidnapped my wife?”
“Well-
“You need to work on your tactics!” My husband snapped in a reprimanding tone. “You left too many openings. How could you stand guard at the door and forget the building had windows?”
Mr aggressive glared at him, “Shut up!”
Adonis regarded his broken nose, “And you, fighting is more than brutal force, it requires strategy.”
I scoffed. Was he teaching them how to fight better?
“You all are behind on training. Your leader is more incompetent than I thought. When your boss recovers, ask him to put you in shape.”
Finally done with my chips, I wiped off the crumbs from my face, rising to my feet.
“You’ve said enough.” I took his hand in mine. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… stop talking and let’s go home. What do we do about them?”
“Nothing. This is a simple threat. Although, the men would take them to the authorities to teach them a lesson.”
And with a small jerk of his head towards the men, we headed for the exit.
It was time to address the question which I had pushed to the back of my mind, and depending on his answer, Adonis might also need saving tonight.
I waited quietly as he pulled open the car door and got in beside me. Making sure the car was moving and there would be nowhere for him to run to before I faced him. My eyes shooting daggers that were sharp enough to pierce his heart if he wasn’t made of granite.
“Adonis?”
He hummed.
“I saw you watching when those boys took me away. Am I wrong?”
He didn’t say a word in reply. Yet he didn’t need to.
The slight widening of his eyes already confirmed what I wanted to know.
The bastard let me get captured on purpose.