Luca
"Again!" I shout at Adrian. He is proving to be a lot more difficult to train than I had ever expected but he needs to be able to defend himself. He is our only chance at sneaking into Vlad's auctions and the Russian twat holds them frequently, so the sooner he can fight, the better.
With another loud 'oomph', Adrian's body flies toward the ground, landing on his back. He lies there without moving for a moment. I watch as he shoves his fists into his eyes as he growls out, frustrated. He shocks me when he does a kip up and is back in a fighting stance.
He has stamina, and he can also withstand physical pain. It's a good start but he needs more. We need more from him. He needs to inflict pain. Be on the offense instead of defense.
He needs to be able to kill.
He's too focused on my hands that he doesn't even expect it when I drop low and kick out, sweeping his feet from underneath him. Adrian sighs loudly then shouts, "I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO LEARN HOW TO SHOOT! NOT LEARN HOW TO JUST ACCEPT YOU ASSHOLES BEATING MY ASS!"
Chuckling, I extend my hand to help him up. "You also need to learn hand-to-hand fighting skills too man." I pull him to his feet. "What if your body is your only weapon? You need to learn how to use it." I inform him.
A cocky grin spreads across his face. "I already know how to use my body. Just ask your sister!" He laughed and waggled his brows. All I could do was shake my head. Wrong thing to joke about right now. I glance over and see the storm brewing on Dominic's face.
He's going to get his ass kicked in...
Three...
Two...
And one. Blood spurts out, spraying my arm as Adrian lands on the floor once more. Sighing, I step in between the two of them. "Stop it!" I yell, placing a hand on Dominic's chest to keep him back. I glance at Adrian, his nose is bleeding profusely. Great. Hopefully it isn't broken. He shouldn't have said that, even if it was just a joke.
Adrian wipes at his nose a few times and groans. "It was a goddamn joke! Man fuck all this. I'm done!" He snarls as he pushes himself up off of the ground. He marches from the room with both hands held high, middle fingers up waving, a good ole 'fuck you' for goodbye.
I blink. Then I blink again. Dominic needs to chill out. "Dominic," I hedge, "You can't just act like that because you get jealous when-"
"How would you feel if someone said that about Shelly?" He interjects, but makes a valid point.
I curse silently. "I'd do the same thing I guess... depending on who it was anyway," I mutter, exhaling a long, deep breath from my nose. While sure, I don't want someone to joke like that about my wife, but I can handle some innocent teasing by friends. I didn't take Adrian's comment as a disrespectful remark about my sister. I know they've known each other their entire lives, same as I've known him since he was a baby. But we can't risk losing him as our man in. It's all we've got to work with at the moment. "It's just- he is our only chance at sneaking in and getting her... even if he might die.." Of course I can't help but to keep reminding myself of what may happen to him, of the risks I am asking of Adrian selfishly.
Deciding this was enough for the day, I follow the little trail of blood droplets. I need to go find Adrian. If his nose is broken, he will have a tantrum over the idea of having a crooked nose. I'll snap it back in place so fast that he won't be able to fight it.
But I know him well enough. He is sensitive. He is probably rocking himself in a corner.
Crying.
•••
Amaris
"What the fuck do you mean by 'delivery'?" I shout at the man driving. Is this psycho calling me a delivery?!
He laughs at me again. "You know, when one person delivers something- or someone in this case- to another person or place. That delivery is you." He laughs harder, more maniacal now, a wild look in his dark eyes. "Did I dumb it down enough for you, blondie?" He adds.
Smart ass prick.
Figuring I won't get anything else out of him, I slam back against the seat as I scoff and flip his ass off in the rear view mirror. Just for my satisfaction, I kick the back of the douchebag's seat hard. Hard enough it jolts him forward slightly.
He glares at me through the rear view mirror and I turn to look out my window. We are on a highway now. I wish I could get a better view of this man but he has his face covered entirely with the exception of his eyes.
After a while, the car finally comes to a stop. The masked man jumps out quickly and yanks my door open.
Damn him, he is fast as hell. His arm whips out, catching me around the waist as I try to bolt from the car.
"Nah uh uh, you're not going anywhere." He proceeds to cuff my wrists together, earning a hiss from me. My sore skin doesn't need anymore friction. "I should make you scrub that blood out of the seat first." He looks at my bloody thigh then his backseat with disgust. Oh well, fuck him and his car. I spit at the seat before he can shut the door.
He growls under his breath and yanks me toward him, exceptionally hard, by my wrists.
I know it's not smart to spit at people determined to kill me, but I'm not going to go down easily. If all I can do is something disgusting, then I'm taking my chance.
"You know, this is a bunch of horse shit. Ryan was supposed to be my friend. Supposed to be!" I vent at the masked dude pulling me behind him. "Then he helps these assholes get me brought into the middle of all this shit! I was content with my life in Cali. I'd trade all this crap just to go back to my peaceful life, even if that would mean I wouldn't have my family anymore because quite frankly, this stuff they got mixed up into is for the birds." I stumble and he rights me before I fall forward. My thigh is killing me and I'm feeling like a petulant child at the moment. No matter how many times I plant my feet down, he just yanks me along. "And who is the one suffering? That's right folks! Me!" I continue rambling on, mumbling mostly with the occasional shout. The guy side eyes me every so often, probably wondering if I've made a sudden detour into crazy town.
Honestly, his glances are starting to piss me off more. All I see are his dark eyes judging me. The audacity of this masked bitch. "What?" I snap at him. "Why do you keep looking at me? What's your goddamn problem? It isn't like you get abducted every other day!" I seethe at him as he comes to a sudden stop. I surprise myself when I widen my eyes and flex at him. He narrows his eyes and shakes his head before tugging my wrists once more and continues walking us to wherever my new hell awaits.
Perhaps the blood loss is giving me some balls. If I had flexed at Felix like that, I doubt I'd still be conscious.
Maybe I am on a one way trip to crazy town after all.
We finally reach a set of doors on an average looking cabin like home with only a few other identical homes surrounding the area. Like a little forest hideaway of log cabins for criminals. It'd be a cute setting if circumstances were different. I honestly expected another mansion or castle like thing given all these fuckers roll in blood money.
Masked dude knocks three rapid knocks followed by two slow raps on the door; twice. Must be some kind of code system. Won't hurt to remember that I suppose.
A petite Asian looking woman answers the door. She smiles at the masked dude then looks at me, eyes slowing going to my wrists. She quickly steps aside and allows us entry. As soon as we enter, I turn to see her clicking several locks into place and then setting an alarm. Well whatever those symbols mean, I'm definitely screwed on trying to crack their coding. I'm more unfamiliar with whatever language that is than the Russian one.
Damnit and damn everyone involved. I just want to go to bed at this point. My feet hurt, my thigh is on fire and throbbing, I can't see all that well and I'm sure I have wrinkles forming by now from all the squinting I have been doing since my contacts came out in the river.
The masked man begins speaking in a foreign language and my lip curls. I know everyone here has to know English. Eventually I might start speaking in pig Latin just to throw everyone off because I'm so sick of these criminals talking shit about me in another language. The least they could do is let me understand the junk they say about me.
"Come." The petite woman commands me. I don't even hesitate to follow her. Hopefully she's going to let me just go to bed. She ushers me in front of her and directs me toward a staircase with her hand. She must not trust me to follow her. Damnit, I guess masked dude told her I was a flight risk. As if I could enter that code in correctly to even escape. Oh well. Playing nice and good might earn me some freedom from these cuffs.
When we reach the upstairs landing, she guides me by my elbow into a bedroom. Either she's exceptionally short or I'm just tall -which I'm really not- because the top of her head is at my breasts. It's so awkward having a midget leading me. I feel like I should duck down to be more equal in size to her but that would probably be rude. I chuckle to myself. Petite lady looks at me and cocks an eyebrow. I just shake my head and look away as she opens a door. I don't miss the fact she has a key for it.
The bedroom is simple, nothing extravagant. The bathroom attached to the room is plain and white. She grabs my hands and releases my wrists from the handcuffs. Next she starts pulling at my clothes. I slap her hands away instantly. "Hey! What are you trying to do?!" I'm on edge, and I will slap the piss out of her if she tries to strip me.
This short shit has the gall to wrinkle her nose at me. "You dirty. You need bath. Come." She blatantly insults me, then reaches for my shirt once more.
Backing away from her reach, I hold my hands up in front of me, encouraging her to stop or else the bitch slapping will begin. "I can undress myself," I tell her, "and bathe myself!" I quickly add.
She nods but stands in place like a statue.
A tiny statue.
Like a little garden gnome. Staring at me. Creepy.
"Uh, can you..." I trail off as I motion for her to turn around.
She calmly shakes her head. I stare back at her and fold my arms over my chest. I'm not too keen on having an audience with my showers. What do they possibly think I can do? I'm stuck.
She finally speaks. "If I not watch you, you get cuff yes?"
Oh.
So if I let her watch me undress and bathe then I stay free of the handcuffs. I guess I can work with this then.
I nod once. "Okay," I start as I reach for the hem of my shirt. "Do you think you can get me some contacts or glasses? I really can't see well." I ask as I motion to my eyes. I turn around and give her my back as I pull my shirt over my head and remove my bra. I yank my pants down quickly, underwear going down with them. I groan at the flash of extra pain that jolts from my thigh from the movement.
I start to step forward for the shower when a man's voice halts my actions. "We will get you something so you can see," The voice says. Letting out a ridiculous yelp, I snatch the towel nearest me and cover myself before turning back around. A very handsome Asian man is in the doorway. Damn him for being attractive. This makes shit even more awkward.
"Who the hell are you? And what makes you think you can just stand there and look at me while I'm naked?!" Maybe I'm overstepping, but seriously. I know I have no rights according to everyone that abducts me but I'm still a human being.
He laughs softly, no humor detected. "Ah, feisty. I like it," he says, then runs a hand through his hair as he inhales, his eyes perusing my body from head to toe. "Don't waste time asking questions that won't be answered. Because you, my dear, are simply a package. But don't worry, you'll be taken good care of until the time comes to see if my dear friend Vlad will come for you," he pauses and looks right into my eyes as a cruel smile creeps up on his face. "or if the time comes in which I will need to just dispose of you. Whichever happens first honestly." He adds then nods at the petite woman before stepping out and another woman steps in, closing the door behind her.
Dispose of me? The familiar hot stinging starts up again behind my eyes and at the bridge of my nose. The tears are threatening to fall, but this time, the tears aren't from the betrayal I feel over Adrian. No. These tears stem from fearing for my life.