Page 48 of The One Night Match (Mafia Matchmaker #1)

FORTY-EIGHT

RILEY

C onsciousness returns to me slowly, and it takes a few moments to realize what it is that woke me.

It wasn’t the violent shivers that racked through my body as it desperately tried to keep itself warm.

It wasn’t the water that dripped on my shoulder every few seconds, or the sticks and stones pressing into my bare legs.

It wasn’t the sound of the rain hitting the forest floor or the thunder rumbling in the distance.

“You got anything?” a feminine voice asks. “It’s cold as shit out here. Surely she can’t still be alive.”

Monica.

I hold my breath and curl further into myself. The pipe I hit her with is beside me, but I don’t want to risk making a noise by reaching for it.

“Obviously, I don’t have shit,” he snaps. “You’d be the first to know if I found the little bitch.”

She huffs. “You’re an asshole, you know that? I didn’t have to help you.”

He grunts. “Oh yes, the gold digger is doing it out of the kindness of her own heart, and not because I told her I’d ensure she married De Luca once I have what I want.”

What he wants?

Now that he’s closer, I’m certain I know his voice from somewhere, but I can’t place it. Almost as if it’s in the deep recesses of my mind. Like I’ve actively tried to forget it.

My breath catches in my throat as a memory slams into me, almost tearing a gasp from my throat.

“What do you mean you’re not a virgin?” Jeremy snaps, his fists tightening at his sides. “You lied to my father!”

“I didn’t,” I sob. “I told him about my high school boyfriends. I can’t help that he didn’t tell you!”

“You dare argue with me, Riley? Like, marrying me wouldn’t be the best damn thing for you and your failing family? Like, we’re not doing you a favor?”

He advances on me, but I’m locked in place, too scared to move from fear it’ll make him angrier. But it seems my lack of fight is just as infuriating to him as his fist flies toward my face, knocking me to the ground.

It takes a handful of seconds for the agony to register, but when it does, it takes my breath away.

“Oh god, now you’re crying. My father should have known better than to arrange me a marriage with a weak little girl. I guess I’ll just have to force you to get stronger, now won’t I?”

I’m dragged back to the present when their heavy breathing is so close I have to hold my breath to ensure they don’t hear mine.

“She has to be around here somewhere,” Jeremy hisses. “She’s not smart enough to survive in a forest for this long unless she’s found somewhere to hide.”

I bite down on the inside of my cheek to stop the whimper that tries to escape.

Oh god. They’re going to find me. They’re going to find me, and then there’s no telling what they’ll do to me.

Jeremy was banished from his family after he beat me and ended our engagement. His father, although one of the most ruthless men I’ve ever met, wouldn’t stand for his son beating his fiancée, and he was kicked out of the house and the business without a chance to redeem himself.

Not that I think you can come back from what he did to me.

If Jeremy is here for payback, I have to assume he plans to kill me.

I listen for another few seconds as their footsteps circle me, like vultures and their prey. I’m a sitting duck here, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I have to make a run for it.

Quietly, I push myself into a squat, hissing out a soft breath when blood rushes back to my legs. I’ve long lost feeling in my toes, but can’t be sure if that’s because of the cold or how bloody and scratched up they are.

I take a few more moments to listen for their footsteps, and when I’m almost positive they’re behind me, I sprint forward on numb legs with the pipe fisted in my hand.

Blood rushes in my ears as I run downhill, making it impossible to catch myself when I start to slip. My body falls backward, and I slide down on the bare backs of my legs, rocks and sticks cutting into me and tearing a cry from my throat.

“Fucking bitch!” Jeremy roars, his voice coming from far too close for comfort.

I sob out a rough breath and shove myself to my feet despite the agony radiating through every inch of my body.

I escaped this monster once, and I fully intend on doing so again.

My feet carry me through the trees, never slowing despite how shallow my breathing has become.

“If you stop running, Riley, maybe I’ll let you live.”

“Fuck you!” I scream over my shoulder.

The rain seems to come down harder, and I’ve completely lost track of where I am, but I keep moving, keep pumping my legs, keep running like I’ve never run before.

“That’s the plan.” He chuckles, and my stomach rolls, giving me even more reason to escape.

I don’t know how much time passes, or how far I run, but he’s gaining on me with every step I take, and I’m getting to the point where, although I don’t want to stop, my body isn’t going to allow me to keep up this pace for much longer.

“Riley?” A voice cuts through the trees, and I trip over my own feet with relief.

Cruz.

A hard body slams into me, my distraction becoming my downfall as Jeremy rolls over me, his body pressing mine into the dirt.

“Got you,” he growls.

I try to throw him off, but my body is weak, completely depleted of energy and strength, not to mention numb and exhausted. Ordinarily, I would have a chance, but right now I’m at his mercy.

“Cruz,” I scream, forcing my aching lungs to work.

A sharp pain radiates across my cheek, but it takes a moment for me to realize I’ve been hit.

“Shut the fuck up!”

“Get the fuck off me!” I yell, thrashing my body beneath his, even though it’s useless. I just have to distract him for long enough for Cruz to get to me.

Everything will be okay if I can just hold on a little while longer.