Page 114 of Ashes

Despite that, she kept wiggling in his grasp, but the fucker wouldn’t budge. My pulse roared with rage when a black van with blacked out windows came into view and she was thrown in it.

“My God,” the security guard started, “we need to call the police.” He reached over for the phone on his desk, but my hand snapped to stop him.

“No.”

“But we have to report th?—”

I removed my gun from the holster under my jacket and pressed the metal over his temple. “I said no. Rewind the tape.”

He swallowed hard and did as he was told.

I watched the infuriating video again to see if I would notice anything different, any indicator of who would take her. “Stop,” I ordered the security guard.

During one of her attempts to set herself free, Sienna had shoved her head back and shifted the mask her attackerwas wearing. After he threw her inside and turned around to close the back doors, I caught a small glimpse of his profile.

That son of a bitch.

“We’ll get her back,” Kai said, placing a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to reassure me.

I should have been there. I should have protected her.

This was all my fucking fault.

If I hadn’t stampeded into her life, none of this would have happened. I was the only reason she was in this position.

I vowed to myself that I would find her again.

Even if it meant burning their entire empire down.

CHAPTER 31

SIENNA

It must have beentwo or three days since I had been taken hostage. I tried keeping count of how many hours I’d been here, counting to sixty then starting again, but the numbers blurred after a certain time and I’d lost track.

I would have taken into account how many times the sun had risen, but it seemed that I’d been kept in the back of the warehouse since no natural light was cast where I was still tied to the chair.

The only thing I had noticed about this place was blasts coming from boats every once in a while, which could only mean that we were near Sardenya’s port.

I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since they’d kidnapped me and it wasn’t from their lack of trying, but I wouldn’t take anything from them. The potential of being drugged through meals dawned upon me the first time they offered me food and I wanted to stay as alert as I could be.

Although, with the lack of nutrients, my body was weakening by the passing hour. I’d stayed awake for long periods of time before, but the lack of sleep combined with the physical and mental exhaustion was getting to me.

I’d nodded off a few times, but it was never for more than a few minutes at a time.

On top of it, my entire body throbbed from not being able to move for so many hours and the strain my limbs were under from being stretched to accommodate the bindings that were still attached to my wrists and legs.

The only reprieve I’d gotten was from the damp, stinking rag that had been in my mouth when I first woke up. I’d spent most of my time here looking around, searching for a way out, but so far, nothing had come of it.

Mateo’s men switched watching duty periodically. The bald guy and the one with red hair were assigned at what seemed like the morning while the blond and dark-haired duo took over in the afternoon before spending half the night watching over me.

I’d tried looking for an opportunity to escape, but my hands and legs were bound so tight to the metal chair, I could barely move an inch. The only time my limbs were moved was when I had to use the restroom—the small rusty bucket next to my chair—and even then, they were the ones moving me around to use it.

I would have been embarrassed, but it was either let them watch or sit in soiled clothes for however long they held me captive. The former was a much better option.

Aside from a few bruises and a killer headache, they’d mostly left me alone. Which I guessed was a good thing. I’d rather be ignored than have them pay too much attention to me.

However, that didn’t prevent them from throwing dirty jokes about what they’d do to me and my, and I quote, “fuckable body.”