Page 110 of Ashes

My head reared back by the force of it, ricocheting against the hard floor of the van. They made a quick move to bind my hands together with zip ties, then moved to do the same to my feet.

I was getting desperate to get free and managed to kick one of the masked men before they finished tying my feet, but it was all in vain. The energy I’d spent combined with whatever sedative my attacker had given me surged through my body, submerging each of my limbs into a dormant state.

Someone loomed over my body and gripped my arms, reaching for my left hand. Then they ripped my wedding ring off my finger and dangled it in front of my face.

“You won’t be needing this anymore,” the man sneered,tossing it behind him like a coin before closing the back door of the car.

The engine roared back to life and I was jolted across when the driver sped out of the parking lot. I fought against my restraints, but my consciousness began to fade.

“Let… let me… let me go…”

The person who’d attacked me finally removed their mask, but half of their face was hidden in the shadows. I blinked my eyes repeatedly, trying to fend off my loss of consciousness, but only enough to discern who was on top of me.

My eyes widened when the picture of the culprit finally unraveled before me. Right before the haze on the edge of my vision took over, my gaze locked with the one I was supposed to vow my life to a couple months ago.

My ex-fiancé.

Mateo Barrera.

The last thing I remembered was a flash of Jamal’s grin right before we’d left the track last weekend before my eyes rolled back, giving in to the darkness.

My head was pounding as I slowly rose out of consciousness. My eyes peeled open slowly and I wrestled with a blurred vision. My mind was still foggy, but I fought against the haze holding the last few hours locked in.

Slowly, scattered memories of how I got here began to surface.

Mierda.

I stirred and tried to stretch my body, only to realize that my hands were tied behind my back and my lips were stretched open by a damp gag in my mouth.

My legs were still bound together, but this time with rope instead of zip ties. It was the same for my hands, the coarse fabric rubbing against my wrists and ankles.

I looked down to find the chair I was sitting on screwed into the ground on each leg. Panic flooded my chest, but I tried to ignore it, knowing that fear wouldn’t help me out of whatever situation I was in.

I blinked again, my eyes steadily becoming accustomed to the dim lighting until the rest of the room finally came into focus.

Drawing in a deep breath, I forced myself to concentrate and quickly scanned my surroundings.

We were in some sort of warehouse since it was filled with pallets of boxes in the back and dozens of steel barrels with warning signs on them, indicating they contained potentially flammable liquids.

A run-down green two-seater couch was a little on the far left of where I was sitting, debris and empty amber glass bottles scattered everywhere.

A few feet away from me, two men with their backs to me were hunched over a folding table talking, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

The one on the right had long blond hair that was tied in a loose bun while the other had dark hair, buzzed short. Both of them were wearing long-sleeved black shirts and dark jeans.

Out of my periphery, over to the left, I could see my piece-of-shit ex-fiancé pacing, talking to someone on the phone. He seemed agitated, gesturing as he spoke to whoever was on the other end of the line.

He finally hung up the phone and made his way over to who I assumed were his men. They both turned to face him.

I immediately closed my eyes, pretending I was still unconscious before I entered his field of vision. My ears perked up to listen to their conversation.

“What did Boss say, sir?” the blond-haired one asked.

“Who cares about what my father has to say,” Mateo gritted out. “Keep an eye on her.” I felt his gaze burning my skin. “I want to know when she wakes up.”

“Yes, sir,” both of them said.

The sound of his footsteps grew quieter as he walked away.