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My stomach grumbled. “I’m hungry. We should order a pizza. Give me your phone.” My purse sat at my feet, but I’d already tossed my phone. The decision was spontaneous and not without regret right now.
Hazel dropped her hand into her lap. “Why? You’ll just call Mason and embarrass me.”
“I won’t, I swear.” I saluted her.
“I think you’re supposed to link pinkies,” Ariella said. “Or you could just use my phone.” She dug her smartphone out of her pocket. “Here.”
Ariella unlocked her phone and handed it to me. “Any recommendations on where to call?” I asked. I didn’t know any local pizza places.
After we narrowed down the restaurant and the type of pizza we wanted, I made the call and offered up my credit card to pay. I handed the phone back to Ariella to give the address.
Not even twenty minutes later, there was a firm knock at the door.
“That was quick!” I leaped up and hurried to answer the door.
Ariella shut off the alarm while I unlocked the door without so much as looking out the window or through the peephole which happened to be much too high for me.
A tall, burly gentleman with the same eyes and hair as Enzo towered above me. Time felt as though it stood still. A flash of recognition crossed my gaze. I pushed the door closed, but he shoved his foot inside and thrust it open hard, which forced me to stumble backward.
He flashed a glimpse of his gun holstered to him. “Don’t touch that alarm,” the stranger said with a thick Italian accent to Ariella. “Back away slowly. Go, sit on the sofa with the other girl.”
Ariella didn’t turn around. She slowly shuffled back toward the couch, but never turned her back on him.
How did he find me? “Did Enzo send you?” I asked.
While else was he here?
“You’re coming with me,” he said with a dark, sinister laugh.
He wanted me. I didn’t need to put their lives in jeopardy.
He tilted his head, staring at me with his eyes of steel. “Isn’t it awful running away from your husband? Enzo can take care of you, protect you.”
“I’m not his wife,” I scoffed at his notion of marriage. “We were in Vegas, and I was drunk thanks to you and your buddies.”
Had they drugged me too? The whole night was a blur.
Ariella stepped between the thug and me. “She’s not going with you.” She stood her ground. “You need to leave.”
He backhanded Ariella across the face. “No one speaks to me in that tone,” he growled. His top lip snarled, and the thug leaned in and grabbed Ariella’s shirt. He yanked her close and held her tight. “A pretty girl like you, I bet you’d sell real quick.”
Ariella slammed her fist upward into his jaw.
His eyes flinched, the only evidence of her assault on him. “Is that how you treat guests?” he asked. He unclenched his fist, letting Ariella free. He pushed her backward, forcing her to sit on the couch, as he initially instructed her to do.
“You’re not a guest,” Ariella spat.
He thrust his gun from its holster, pointing it at Ariella’s forehead. “Are you sure about that?”
I couldn’t let anything happen to my new friends. “Please, I’ll go with you, just whatever you do, don’t hurt them.”
He yanked me by the hair and dragged me outside. I didn’t fight back. How could I without risking my new friends’ lives?
He pulled out a set of metal handcuffs. “Hands behind your back!” he barked.
I did as instructed, and he snapped on the cuffs nice and tight. It dug into my flesh, piercing my skin.
He thrust open the back door and pointed for me to climb inside the car. I hurried inside, and he shoved a black bag over my head, making it impossible to see where he took me. He slammed the door shut.