Page 57 of Ice-Cold Obsession

I try to stay calm, because panicking won’t help. I need to think.

Where am I? How long have I been here? Does Gabriel know what happened?

My mouth is dry, and my head throbs with every heartbeat. I try to remember what happened after the men grabbed me. The cloth over my face. The chemical smell. Then nothing.

I test the ropes around my wrists, trying to get free, but they’re tied tight, cutting into my skin every time I move. My ankles are the same, bound to the chair legs.

Breathe. Just breathe.

Footsteps echo from somewhere above me. Then a door opens, and a man appears. He’s in his late twenties and wearing a suit. His hair is slicked back.

He stops in front of me and tilts his head, studying me. “Impressive. You’re not crying or begging.”

I don’t say anything. My heart is racing, but I force myself to meet his eyes.

“Where’s Gabriel?” he asks.

“I don’t know.”

“You’re his girlfriend.”

“We only got together recently, and he was sick. Who are you? Why am I here?”

The man smiles, and it doesn’t reach his eyes. “My name is Niccolò. I’m part of a mafia organization that operates in this area.”

I grind my teeth. “What do you want from me?”

“I need you to help me find Gabriel. Our rivals seem to think we have him, and I’m wondering why. They’ve been moving around a lot, and I don’t know what they’re doing.”

Wait, I can work with this. These aren’t the same guys that are controlling Gabriel. They’re the rivals we were trying to frame for his kidnapping.

“Let me go and I’ll tell you everything,” I say.

“Okay. Done.”

“No. I want it in writing.” Too easy. Way too easy.

He laughs, amusement flashing through his eyes. “Why? We can just tear the paper.”

“Yeah, but there goes your honor and your code, right? If you didn’t have one, your men would never trust you and your word would be meaningless.”

He stops laughing. His eyes narrow slightly, and then he nods. “Okay. Whatever.”

One of his men leaves and returns a few minutes later with a piece of paper and a pen. Niccolò writes something quickly, then slides it over to me along with the pen. The rope around my wrists loosens just enough for me to sign, but not enough to escape.

The contract says they’ll let me go in exchange for information and that I won’t tell anyone about this. It’s simple and straightforward. Definitely not legally binding, but I don’t think this guy’s parents would be happy if they heard he couldn’t honor a simple deal with a college kid.

I sign it, and then I take a breath and start talking.

I tell him everything about Gabriel and his parents in prison. The debt that transferred to him. How the other mafia group has been using Gabriel to fix games and control the hockey team. The gambling network they’re running and about the students they’ve been recruiting to help them.

Niccolò listens carefully, his expression unreadable. When I finish, he scratches his chin. “Hockey. Wow. So someone actually cares about college hockey?”

“Yeah, plenty of people do. Or I guess the mafia wouldn’t be in it otherwise. But you can see the potential, right? College sports, gambling, controlling the outcomes... It’s a good setup.”

He nods, his eyes distant like he’s thinking through something. “Our rivals sneaked in where they shouldn’t have, and no one noticed.” He looks at me. “You brought my attention to it.”

He gestures to his men. “Let her go.”