Sinful (WICKED #2) | ✓

41

WHEN ELLA WOKE UP she couldn't move. She was lying on the floor in what seemed to be a shabby basement, the wooden floor rotten and the walls, which had once been white, now grayish, with vague splatters on them in various colors. Everything was hazy, as if she was looking through a blurry lens, her entire body feeling weighed down. The effect of whatever they had used to cause her to pass out, she supposed, or perhaps they had injected something while she slept. Either way, she was lying somewhere clearly isolated with her hands and feet tied, only one flickering light illuminating the room.

At the end of the room she spotted a stairway, but there was no way she could climb it without being able to use any of her limbs. She tugged at her restraints, but to no avail. It would be fine. All she needed to do was stay calm for now. Levi's face flashed in front of her eyes then, the way he had still tried to focus even with blood streaming down his face. Her nails dug in her palms so hard she drew blood, but she breathed out all of the anger. It was no use to her here.

A door creaked open then, her gaze snapping towards the sound. She caught a brief glimpse of dirty shoes, immediately closing her eyes, her head resting against the wall in the same position she had woken up. Heavy footsteps neared, from the sound of it two men approaching. Ella could feel the air shift as one of them crouched down in front of her, his breath reeking of alcohol.

"She still hasn't woken up," he mused," don't tell me you used too much, John? We don't want our hostage to die on us now."

"Come on," John scoffed," this whole plan is bullshit, admit it. You really think Vince cares enough for this girl to give us our money?"

"Of course he doesn't," the other man replied," but you heard that cringy love confession, didn't you? Obviously his romantic of a son does. If there's anything I know about that family it's that they will do anything to get what they want. I've seen his cokehead mom, I doubt he's any different."

"I don't care for any of it," John said," as long as we get our money it's good, so I'll trust you this once. I know Vince hospitalized a few of our guys last time, but if this doesn't work a gun will do the trick."

"First we'll try to resolve this quietly. I have no need to have the cops up my ass."

Ella felt a hand graze her cheek, a voice continuing.

"She's a pretty thing though, isn't she? I'd rather have her as a hostage than those guys Carlo kept suggesting. Him getting kicked around by a couple of kids and losing his wedding ring sounds like his problem."

Fuck. So the guy she had beaten up during the charity event clearly wasn't about to let things go. More importantly, this all sounded like real trouble, not the kind where a slap in the face would suffice to get them to leave her alone. Hopefully the boys would be wise enough to call her mother before Sebastian, because if there was one thing her brother wasn't good at, it was thinking things through, and she was not about to have him slam the door open here without a single plan in his head.

The man's clammy hand slid down to her neck then and she frowned, pretending like she was waking up as she slowly opened her eyes. With a fake yawn she blinked to adjust to the lights, recognizing the men in front of her as the ones who had hit Levi with a brick. The man sitting down had dark hair and a tangled beard, bloodshot eyes looking her up and down as he flashed her a smile with teeth too sharp. John behind him was more a hollow kind of man, with protruding bones and needle scars on the inside of his elbows, blond hair seeming to be made of straw.

"Look who's awake," the man grinned," I'm George, Sleeping Beauty. I think we'll get to know each other quite well, that is, until your boyfriend pays up the money."

She hadn't acted in quite a long time, but honestly, if she was once able to deceive Clarkson into thinking she wasn't a delinquent, this wasn't going to be much of a challenge. Her eyes became watery as she glanced at the men, voice so uncomfortably high it pierced the air like glass.