{ZHARA}
An older man came around to bring me scraps of food every three hours, a clock working in my mind with each minute that passed in between. I never got close to see the guy, though, for many reasons.
The first one being persuasion. I had to convince them I was gonna be chill and just wait like a weak bitch, then pop out when they least expected.
The second one being because I didn't trust him, who knew what kind of idiots they had guarding the basements.
And third, I had to slowly work my way out to ask him questions, hoping since I was being unproblematic for him, he would repay me with a few innocent answers. Well, what he thought was innocent.
"Sir..." I started, hollowing my throat out to sound weak and hoarse as I called out to the man before he shut the metal door again. He glanced at me over his shoulder, giving me less than the cold eyes he had yesterday and the day before. It's been about thirty-nine hours since Zion had a pissy fit and locked me in here.
"Has the Don said anything about letting me out anytime soon?" I sniffled, faking the sickness I was bound to get if I stayed in here another day. The man turned away from the door and faced me fully, keeping the door propped with his foot. Mistake number one.
"No, Miss. I could send him a message if needed," he stated robotically, obviously not realizing who I was and why I was in here. I smirked inwardly and finally removed my arms from their circled position around my knees.
"Oh, would you mind telling him that my...feminine issues are approaching," I wince visibly, watching the man's face flush slightly as he nodded immediately, quick to turn around. Mistake number two.
Men were so easily frightened by the mention of a menstrual cycle. They act like we're aliens or something.
"And could you get someone to come down here and screw out the bulb to this light, it's giving me terrible headaches and I have nightmares when I sleep with migraines. I wouldn't want to keep anyone awake with my hysterics," I sighed, forcing a blush as I rubbed my neck and looked towards the floor. The man turned again and nodded with a mumbled 'yes' before exiting and locking the door behind him.
Now I just had to hope that whoever he sent down was a wimp.
{ROWEN DI MAGGIO}
"I think you guys should just forget about it already," Stein groaned from his seat in their father's conference room. "We have better things to worry about. Like the fact the supply is out in the open at the dock and that they could steal it back any second."
My fist clenched around the glass of whiskey that I periodically drank out of. My brothers glared at the disrespectful man, not knowing how to prevent themselves from putting a bullet in between his eyes.
"She is family," Hayden growled, the first time he had said something in twenty-four hours.
"Yeah, dead family," Stein snorted to himself, leaning back in his leather chair with his hands intertwined behind his head.
How could the idiot look so relaxed in a situation like this?
"Someone shut him up already," I seethed, slamming the glass on the glazed wooden table. My eyes traveled across the room to all of our inner-circle, watching as a few palmed their guns and grazed the knives they hid.
"Enough," Ajax rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wipe away the sleep he never got.
"The note that was left was simple...too simple," he started, sliding the thin, ripped piece of paper across the table so everyone could see better.
"It's like a goddamn riddle, AJ," Koven rubbed his temple with his fingertips, frustration flooding out of him.
"Who would even leave it? Slone was killed that night and wasn't able to transfer it before," Stephano added, mentioning my father's bitch, the rat who we heard accidentally shot my sister.
"We actually never got a record or a body, we don't know for sure that he's dead yet," Koven replied, leaving a bunch of questions out on the table. Questions that no one could answer.
"He has a point. We all thought Zhara was dead, and here we are now," I reminded, shrugging slightly at the possibility.
"Would Slone even know to write that? And how the fuck would he even get out alive?" Ajax pondered, furrowing his brows in thought.
We all knew Armani security was heavy and how stupid Slone was. The chances of things playing out how we assumed were slim, but still there. There had to have been someone else there who got the note to Slone if we are on the right track with our facts. But who?
"Scan the handwriting, compare it to anyone's you come across. And contact the number on the back. Anything is useful right now," Ajax ordered the awaiting guards, who were quick to comply and race out to fulfill the duty.
He sighed and rested his head back on the chair that was planted at the head of the table, as usual, silently hoping for a solution to this problem. We needed a plan before assuming anything for our plan to get Zhara back, and taking it step-by-step seemed to be the only way.
"We'll get her back, brother. I know we will," I promised, trying to convince myself more than him.
{ZHARA}
"Shhh, just let it happen. Sorry, man," I whisper sadly to the man kneeling in front of me, who also seems to have been stabbed in the neck by his own screwdriver. I watched as the life drained from his face and I honestly felt a little bad for murdering the man who just so happened to come down here to unscrew the lightbulb. I bet he wasn't expecting this to happen...
They were dumbasses for sending someone down anyway... seriously, did they not catch on at all?
I shoved the man back and ripped the screwdriver from his flesh, watching as blood spewed out and formed a puddle next to the body.
I held the screwdriver up to my eyes, trying to get a closer look and to make sure this guy's neck didn't fuck it up. It looked like it could do the job, so I made my way over to the window. The old chair was placed beneath it so I could hoist myself up and outta here efficiently.
Zion would still think I was here and most likely would have sent someone out to get me some feminine products because of my little message, so this will be far from what he thinks is going on in his big, bad, protected safe house.
This isn't the safe haven he thinks it is, and I won't hesitate to burn the building to ashes to prove it.
I adjusted the bloody tip of the screwdriver in the indents where they matched up with the screws and started twisting to the left, waiting for it to get loose.
I bit my lip as my heart raced in my chest, trying to calm the nerves that were exploding through my skin right now. I didn't really know what I was going to do when I got out of this situation, but I'm sure I would think of something fantastic like I usually do.
I practically jumped from my spot on the chair when the screw fell into my palm after I had finished unscrewing it. Only three more to go.
I sped up my process to get myself out of here faster, knowing that the old guy who brings me the food would be here in about an hour. I had time, but I wanted them to get here after I left so they would know to look for me. What I will end up planning needs to be seen to make a point and be effective.
After I had unscrewed all of the remaining screws, I shoved them into my shorts pocket and pressed my palms against the foot-length glass, trying to push it out of its frame from the inside.
It fell onto the other side with a thump, and showed me that there was an easily accessible hallway, just like I thought.
I smirked as I brought a knee up to steady myself on the seel of the window and shoved my other leg through so I could just duck under the perimeter of the window.
Dumbasses.
My head thumped against the top of the window frame when I tried to duck under, causing me to curse and rub the spot after I had flung myself onto the floor of the next level of the house.
"Fuck," I hissed, massaging the ache on the round top of my scalp. I pushed myself up from the weird-looking carpet, noticing that this wasn't actually into the main part of the house like I thought it may have been.
When I looked back down at the unscrewed glass, I noticed the symmetrical rows of windows lining the wall.
So there were definitely a bunch of those cells in here. This wasn't just a safe house.
I checked over my shoulder, seeing that metal door stood out from the dark, stone walls. The hallway in front of me continued, almost as though it had no end. I wasn't about to test my assumption, so I started walking towards the only door that was in close proximity.
I clenched the screwdriver in my hand and held it close to my body like a weapon. I was prepared for anything to be behind this door. If I had to kill ten men with this damn tool, I would.
Please don't be locked, I chanted in my head as I approached the windowless door, which had an eery glow cast upon it from the old, dirty lightbulb right above it.
Taking a deep breath, I wrapped my palm around the freezing-cold metal, alerting me that this probably led to an exit outside. I had no idea what time of day it was, but with the context I had gathered, it was still cold as fuck outside, meaning it was later in the day.
I shifted my stance and exhaled as I twisted the doorknob and pulled it open. The breeze of the late-evening air bit at my skin and prickled goosebumps forming on my arms. There were two walls that framed this exit, they slanted down into the ground, showing that this was indeed a basement. A large area of grass lined the side-lawn I seemed to be going towards, and beyond that was a forest of evergreens. The glow of the moon highlighted the tips of each large cluster of leaves.
The only issue visible was the two men planted on each sharp corner of the walls. They were armed, guns and knives and radio devices to contact others. Their eyes snapped in my direction, noticing my escape.
I cursed inwardly, readying my dominant arm that the screwdriver rested in, and waited for their strike.
With a startled glance to his buddy, the guard on the left took a step forward and landed right in my predatory position. I swung my foot out swiftly and knocked him off balance so I could take a look behind me, recognizing the incoming attack from guard number two. I ducked and grabbed the padded jacket of the guy hunched over parallel to me, yanking him away so I could get into the corner.
Yes, cornering yourself is stupid, but not if you know how to get in and get out of one. Act like a snake, one that hisses and strikes aggressively and quickly, catching its prey off guard.
The guy immediately regained his position, adjusting his jacket as the other man took a knife from his belt. This let me know that they understood a certain order, one that said not to kill me. I know they have guns on them, and if I was really an enemy, then they would've shot me already. So they are very aware of who I am.
I dodged the swing of the left guy's fist, just as the right attempted to plunge a knife into my torso. These men were less than coordinated, so I might as well give them some lessons.
I smirked as I spun my body around to angle my hips to the one on the right, kicking the left one in the chest with my bare foot. I had put enough force into it for him to stumble back, giving me a chance to lore the other man in and disarm him and switch out my weapon for his.
The guy grunted when I threw the hilt of the screwdriver at his eye, blinding him for a split second so I could yank his knife from his right hand and dislocate his left wrist. The other man comes charging at me, so while the guy on the right yelled in pain, I yanked him over by his now broken hand and lined his body up with the angle the left guy was aiming towards.
They collided, knocking heads and giving me time to slit the left guy's throat. His blood mixed with the man from the cell's blood on my clothes and skin, making me look detrimental in this state.
I was dangerous, and they would know it.
I plunged the knife into the right guy's chest, wincing at the scream he let out before his eyes glossed over in the sight of death herself.
Me, bitch.
I dragged the knife along his skin, cutting into muscle and tissue that flooded with blood. The wound would make a shape of a 'Z' if someone took off the padded jacket, showing exactly who was the suspect of this murder.
Not that it would be hard to figure it out anyway...
I jumped to my feet and sprinted. Ran around the walls and along the side of the house, knowing someone had already been alerted of my escape. The chances of most people being asleep right now were in my favor, giving me the perfect element I was hoping for.
My eyes widened at the true size of this place. It was just as big as the penthouses all combined from the hotel. My hands subconsciously grazed the reinforced panels on the sidewall, making me extremely aware of the protection this building was actually under.
Brushing past the final corridor of the house, I came across the main entrance from where we entered when I got here a few days ago.
From what I remembered when we arrived that day, I'm pretty sure all the easily accessible rooms are on the third floor. Those being the main offices and meeting rooms.
My smirk widened as I weaved in between a large line of bushes lining up to the main doors, along with avoiding the guards stationed around the area.
You know, maybe I am just an amazing assassin, but I'm pretty sure a damn bear could get around these guards without them noticing. Speaking of bears, that forest looks like it holds a perfect habitat for those animals. I'm kind of obsessed with bears, it's subtle but they are seriously always on my mind. I love those fucking cuties.
Escaping from this property to go hang out with the bears in the forest sounds really appealing right now, but I still have work to finish here before I can leave for good and get back to my brothers somehow without hurting everyone in the process. And that will take a lot of planning that I don't have the time for.
So, meanwhile, I'll be making myself some of that damn time.