I gritted my teeth as the tires slipped and slid over the newest layer of ice and snow that covered the ground in pristine white. Instead of getting to watch it fall from the midnight sky, a cup of hot chocolate in my hands, a fuzzy blanket around my shoulders, in my best comfy jammies, I was rocketing across town to a meet up with a competing family. But I needed to do this. Win this. To win at least one. The roads were treacherous. Slick and slippery. I rounded the final corner. Felt the road drift away under the tires. I tried to turn into the fishtail. Why did they have to meet out in BFE anyways? There were perfectly sketchy and abandoned warehouses downtown. But nooo. Just like a man to make me have to dance to his tune to get some satisfaction. With a jerk and a shudder, the car finally straightened out. My heart fell back into my chest as the adrenaline slowly dissipated from my system. Assholes. Making me drive out this far. Your destination is ahead on your right, th
I cradled my arm against my body. Sighed. "Did you really have to shoot me?" I asked Arturo, the oldest of the Amatucci children."Yeah. I did. You should be glad that I only winged you. Now explain. In great detail." He waved me over from the kitchen island to sit in one of the chairs. "Could you at least put some damn clothes on? Interrogations with a naked dude should be listed under cruel and unusual." I sat down. Ripped a pillow case off the seemingly million throw pillows strewn around the loft. Fashioning a crude tourniquet, I staunched the blood flow in my arm while Turo got some clothes on. He was back out in the open concept living and dining area, his woman next to him. "What the fuck, Foster? You didn't get any pussy tonight, so you decided to crash everyone's parade?" Nik said as she stomped across the floor to the kitchen area. She got some kind of kettle thing down along with a bag of something else. "Talia went out to meet with the Russians," I said, looki
THWAP! My head bounced against something hard, jarring me from the void of sickly nothingness. On my back, all I could see were the low lights overhead. Bile coated the back of my throat as I tried to breathe through the nausea. The sloshing and slipping of my brain from one side to the other. "She's awake," someone called in a high voice. Unable to push it down, I made it to my side before my stomach gave a giant heave. Only to be caught by whatever they had over my mouth. Vomit rushed up into my nose, was forced down into my throat. My airways. Terror and fear swamped my mind as all my options for breathing were removed. I was going to die here. Suffocating on my own vomit. "The fuck! Get the tape off her mouth. She's going to die and then where will we be?" a man yelled as someone darted forward in the cramped space. As soon as the ripping pull of my delicate flesh was completed, I was coughing and spitting. Fire burned my nostrils as air forced its way through
"I swear to the gods, Turo, you shoot me again, I'll rip your throat out," I snarled as his stupid timer went off again. "I'm working as fast as I can. Making me bleed out on your girlfriend's couch isn't really going to help me work any faster.""Hey, that's not my couch. At least, I didn't buy it," Nik said. "Gramps, you make him bleed as much as you want." She blew the sadist a kiss before she buried her nose in her computer again.Turo smiled. "See? She doesn't care if you bleed out." He raised his hand again. I braced for the impact. How many bullets could one stupid Glock 23 carry? For fuck's sake. Every single one of them had been a grazing strike. But damn it, they still hurt like the fires of hell. My phone rang before he could pull the trigger. I had it connected and up to my ear before he could say anything. Or pout. The sick fucker pouted when he didn't get to shoot me on time. "Ambright," I said quickly, my voice a little higher than normal as effervescent
I woke to a face full of water. Coughing and spitting so I could actually breathe proved a more difficult chore than I had thought possible. Might have something to do with the black cloth they had over my eyes. Assholes. I needed to figure out what these douchewaffles wanted so I could go home. Hopefully still alive. If this was a bid for ransom, then they'd caught themselves a live one. How they'd known I would be vulnerable was another thing I needed answered. If we had another mole in our organization, I was going to start breaking faces. As soon as I was free. The cover over my head was ripped free. Along with a chunk of hair. Just as the bright lights stabbed my retinas, a huge fist collided with my right cheek. Biting back the cry of pain, I fought to remain conscious. Blacking out so often wasn't really good for long term brain health. Or mental health. Granted, torture wasn't really high up on my list of activities to increase memorization either. Sliding
Get your shit together, man. You've worked way too hard to get this high to blow this over a single skirt. I nodded to myself. I had to stick around for a little bit. It would raise too many brows if I left immediately. The sick fuckers who called themselves my brothers would never find anything in my behavior that would make them look at me harder. Scrubbing a hand down my face, I watched her sleep. Under the swelling and fractured bones, I could see that she was pretty. The photo of her I'd studied for the abduction helped shape those curves and lines in my mind as well. When she wasn't sassing people bigger than her, I could practically see the ready tension in her body. The desire to jump in with both feet. That could get her killed. Very easily. It also made for some fucking fire in bed. Most women here were too timid, too broken by the life of being sex workers for the family. My hand worked better, especially when the blank eyes and fake moans made me feel like a mon
Glaring at my watch, I noted the time. They had an eight hour jump on me. They could be anywhere in the massive country that was Russia. Literally anywhere. Luckily, something had come up with Momma and Papa, and the Amatucci children had been unable to fly with me. Which was good. Better than I'd planned on, actually. I couldn't do what I needed to do if they were around. There were some things a person just couldn't hide when someone was in his pocket. The international phone Nik had slapped in my hand at the airport rang. A smirk rose as I read the name scroll across the screen. Mistress Nikanya-Answer Immediately. "Yes, Mistress?" I asked. A chuckle and a lower pitched hiss came over the line together. "Might want to watch what you call me, Ambright. Turo's kinda possessive like that.""Then you shouldn't have listed your name that way in my phone. What's up?"I heard Turo growl in the background. "Seriously, Cricket? You could have just put your name on it. You
The grating screech of the door brought me awake with a harsh jolt. Immediately, my body was locked and loaded for bear. I would do my best to escape today. Just a few pesky details needed to be ironed out. My full bladder merely one of those details.Pulling the blanket up around me, I sat up. Looked towards the door. Or at least, I thought I was looking in the right direction. Both of my eyes were crusted shut. Okay, Pesky Detail Number Two...get my eyes to open. Check. "I have come with your food. You will not get anymore until tonight." With that, I heard Arkady set something down on the floor and push it. Assuming he wasn't a complete asshole went against my common sense, but I needed at least one ally in this hellhole. "I can't see. Can you bring it to me?" I asked. Made sure to keep my voice firm. The light shifted slightly behind my eyelids. I hunched back against the wall. This whole being even momentarily blind thing was awful. I had a new respect for people