Page 62

62

JULIET

Something tugged on my wrist. I brushed it away with a groan and tried to roll over.

I’d been sleeping on the couch since the bed felt too empty without Romeo, but I’d meant to sleep in our room tonight since he promised he was coming home.

Another caress on my wrist.

Romeo.

Brightness burst in my chest. He was home.

The fog of sleep was still heavy on me, but I reached out, trying to touch him. I needed him close, needed him to wrap his body around mine and erase all my loneliness and jealousy from the past few days.

A hard hand over my mouth jolted me awake.

My eyes flew open with a ragged breath.

A man’s shadowy face loomed above me. A scream tore from my throat and I tried to push him off, but his hand muffled the sound. Metal dug into my wrists. Handcuffs.

“Be quiet or we’ll kill your little friend next door.”

Sienna . Oh my god. Where was Dante? How had this man gotten in? Where was Romeo?

I jerked my bound arms and tried to scratch the man’s face, but another person grabbed the chain between the handcuffs, immobilizing me. The two of them—both men—spoke in a language I didn’t recognize. The hand covering my mouth released me, but before I could scream, it was replaced with a thick strip of duct tape, followed by a hood over my head. I tried to rip it off, but all I succeeded in doing was rubbing my skin raw.

One of them yanked me to a standing position, his disgusting hands the only thing keeping me from collapsing to the ground.

“We are going down the fire escape. If you fight, you will be thrown to the ground below. Do you understand?” I couldn’t place his thick accent, but it sounded familiar.

Tears streamed down my face while I nodded.

Why wasn’t the building alarm sounding?

The men dragged me across the apartment, and I flinched at the gust of cold wind against my skin. We must have been at the window leading to the fire escape. I dug in my heels, sweat coating my entire body even with the icy outdoor temperature. The tape suffocated my panicked noises and gasps.

Vicious fingers dug into my arms as I was half-lifted, half-shoved out the window. My socked feet hit the metal fire escape.

Don’t pass out.

If you pass out, you’ll fall to your death.

Maybe it’s better to die than to stay alive for what these men will do to me.

No, I couldn’t think that way. The building had security. Someone would realize I’d been taken and come after me.

With each passing flight of stairs, I silently begged someone inside to notice I was gone. My limbs were so frozen it was hard to bend them, and I stumbled more than once. My heart raced and nausea churned in my stomach. If I vomited now, I would choke on it and die.

Snot ran from my nose as I did my best to keep breathing through my strangled sobs.

I wanted Romeo.