Mafia love

“Your ring. Why are you giving me that?” He furrowed his brows.

“Whoever wears it owns the business.”

He shook his head at me. “Raphael, I’m honored, but like I told you, I don’t want it. If we make it, I’m taking Amelia out of this life.”

I rested my hand on his shoulder and smiled. “That’s why you should have it. It was always yours. You take it and give it to whomever you see fit.”

He looked at the ring, staring at it for a few moments before he took it.

“Thank you… I’ll make sure who gets it will definitely be fit for the job.”

I gave him a curt nod. “Let’s go.”

Time for showdown. Time to face my enemies. And if I died, it would be time to face death.

I’d finished the Bible last night.

In my state of sorrow, I took to it.

At the end, the conclusion I’d come to was, it wouldn’t matter what I did. There was no place in heaven for a devil like me.

CHAPTER 14

Amelia

That was it.

About an hour ago, I’d managed to loosen the tension around my thumb and forefinger on my left hand. These ropes were bound so tightly that it was perhaps pointless to think I could break free, but I would try.

My goal was to try. To try for Gigi.

She’d been shuffling around, moving her head from side to side occasionally, although she wasn’t awake.

It was like she was stuck in a dream, or rather, in our case, a nightmare.

When my fingers had come free, I’d wiggled them and tried to feel for a knot. I knew if I could get one knot loose, then maybe the tension would break on the rest.

I’d spent the last hour trying to do that, and just now, a little section gave way, so I could slip my finger through the hook. God, all this with my hands tied behind my back. I had to visualize what I was doing while trying not to make it look obvious.

I was certain that there were cameras in here. It would have been foolish if this room wasn’t under surveillance.

I couldn’t see anything around me, and I couldn’t see what was behind me because of the way I was positioned.

Footsteps echoed along the wooden floor, and a hideous man approached the barred door to the cell.

I’d taken to thinking of this as a cell because of the setup and the fact that we were here tied up, waiting to die.

The man who opened the door looked like a cross between a toad and a lizard. He was bald, bulky, and had terrible teeth. Yellow and brown in appearance.

He smiled, showing off the display, and looked me over.

“Just checking on you two dolls.”

I wouldn’t talk to him. I didn’t need to. This was a lackey, a grunt as far as I was concerned.

“I get to play with this one later.” He pointed at Gigi, and I narrowed my eyes.

His smile grew, and he walked over to her. I winced as he raised his hand and slapped her across her face.

“Stop it!” I yelled.

The slap to Gigi’s face woke her up, and she cried out and looked around her fiercely with tears ru

The man laughed. “I knew that would get some reaction from you. I followed you in LA. Followed the two of you.”

I held his gaze. I didn’t remember seeing him.

“I was there at the ballet watching you and that oaf. I was the biker, as they called me.”

“Leave me alone.”

“For now. Maybe I’ll have what’s left of you when Victor’s done.” He licked his lips and looked from me to Gigi, then left us.

I watched him until he walked down the length of the bars and disappeared.

We had to get out of here.

I had to get Gigi out of here. She was my friend and didn’t deserve to be part of any of this.

I looked to her, and my heart ached.

“Gigi,” I cried.

“Amelia, I’m in so much pain.” Her lips were so swollen she could barely talk.

“What did they do to you?” I had to know. All ma

“Electrocuted me, tortured me. It was awful. I couldn’t stop screaming from the pain.”

“God, Gigi, I’m so sorry.” My heart squeezed.

She winced and shook her head. I thought she was going to tell me that she wanted nothing to do with me, and I would have understood. It was perfectly understandable for her to want that.

She could be dead right now.

“If we get out of this, I will personally vet every single friend you have, and for fuck’s sake, I think you need to either work in a different department or choose another career.” She actually laughed.

I couldn’t believe she was laughing. But that was Gigi. It was what she did when she knew a situation looked bad. Granted, this had never happened to us before, but she was being herself.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m so sorry, and I understand if you hate me.” I thought I should be the one to say it.

“No. No, Amelia, don’t you dare say that to me. Don’t you dare. I know this isn’t you. It’s these guys.”

“I’m going to get you out of here,” I promised.

“How?” Through her bruises, I could see the look of confusion on her face.

“My fingers are loose. I think I may be able to do something.” I didn’t want to say any more just in case I could be heard, and I certainly wouldn’t talk about the key.

“God, Amelia, try. I can’t from here. Rope’s too tight, and even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to break free. I’m too weak.”

“Don’t worry. I’m trying.”

It was all about trying to relax and focus. Visualize the movements just like I would if I were dancing. Seeing the move before it happened. Seeing it all before it happened and working with that.

In my mind’s eye I saw the knot and moved my finger. Slowly and up, and up. Then across to where the bulk of the knot was and where it twisted.

Oh God, my finger moved in and shifted it out.

Oh God…

I can do this. I think I did it.

I did. The hold actually loosened, and the tackle it had on the other knots loosened too.

“Gigi, I need you to stay calm and work with me. Is there a camera behind me?” I needed to know before I shook the ropes off. If there was a camera—and I suspected there was—then I’d probably only have a matter of minutes to get the key, free Gigi, and get out of here. Exactly in that order.

I didn’t know where Victor and the men were stationed. It didn’t seem like they’d come from far.

“There’s a camera, Amelia. It’s just above your head.”

“Okay. I need you to focus on ru

Just use whatever strength you have left and focus on ru

“Amelia.” She winced, and her eyes were full of worry. “I can’t do that.”

“Gigi, please, this is life or death. It literally is. The fact of the matter is, you’re probably being kept alive for some purpose.”

She gasped on hearing that.

“You think so?”

“Yes,” I replied with certainty.

I was certain the purpose would be more than just to be used as some damn toy. They would use her in some way. Just like they’d used her to lure Luc and the others away. The strongest men had left, which had opened the doors for Tag to take me. It wasn’t even that hard. Everyone had prepped for battle, but all it took was Millicent.