Chapter 24

Emily

“Amare, a Captain means I am high up in the Abruzzi Family. We are organized. We run most of the East Coast.”

“What does that mean, you run most of the East Coast? It sounds like a gang.” I can’t process what he’s saying.

“Not a gang, a family.” He reaches across the table and grabs my hands. “Organized crime, Amare. We have a hand in a lot of pies. Not drugs, we are forbidden to become involved in narcotics, but we have a hand in everything else,” he says that like he was trying to comfort me.

“Guns?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t say yes.

“It is the reason I am here. Your brother is interfering in my business and we need to know why.” Not only does this man that I’m attracted to run guns but my brother does too.

“Guns?” I repeat my question.

“Yes.” Something washes across his features but I am unsure what it means.

“Do you have to sell guns? Could you not do something else?” I asked, looking for a different answer.

“I do many other things; it is just one of the many.” My mind is spinning at his confession. He continued, “I feel a connection with you, one I have not had with anyone else in a long time. Take some time; think about what you know, and how you feel about me and what I do. For now, let’s eat.” Let’s eat? There was no way I was going to be able to do that.

My world is shattered. I tell him I need time to think as I stand and walk out of the café.  I head in the direction of the Savage Angels Compound. It’s not a long a walk and I’m not sure if I even want to see Dane. I slow my pace; my mind is swirling with everything that’s happened to me in the last few days.

“Excuse me, miss?” A man is beside me.

“Yes?” I say. He stands a little too close to me and I move slightly away.

He holds a map out so I move back towards him. “This is the Main Street in Tourmaline, yes?”

I smile up at him as he’s easily a foot taller than me. “Yes, you are on Main Street.” I move closer and point at his map. “See?”

His arm goes around me and he says, “Thank you, Emily.”

“How do you know—”

He places a cloth over my face and as I smell a sickly sweet scent, I feel myself go woozy. “Just breathe, Emily, just breathe.”

I feel myself float away.

***

I am bent over a table, my hands are tied together in front of me and the nylon rope goes over the edge of the table, securing me to it. I feel a hand on my back; it goes down my spine and between my legs. I realize I am naked. Fingers plunge into me and I scream.

“Good, you’re awake. I’ve been playing with you for a while but I like it better when you’re awake. Please, scream; make a noise. Nothing worse than a woman who lays there and says nothing. You don’t have a great rack but your ass, it’s not bad.” My body shudders at the words of my violator.

“Please don’t, please!” I scream.

“I’m going to fuck you in every way, in every fucking orifice you have and I’m going to take my time. That fucker, Sal, should have watched you better.”

His hands are on my body, trailing up and down. I feel bile in the back of my throat and I think I’m going to be sick. He walks in front of me, and stands at the head of the table. He takes off his shirt and begins to undo his belt when his phone starts to ring.

He walks over and grabs it then comes back and places his hand on my ass and strokes it. “Yeah, Boss.” He pinches me and I scream. “Yeah, I have her, she’s a screamer.” He laughs into his phone. I continue to

scream as he slaps my ass and he says, “Hang on, Boss, I’ll go outside.” I stop screaming when I hear the door close.

I’m lying face down on the table with my feet dangling above the floor, my arms are outstreched and pointing to the corners where they are tied to the legs. Quietly, I wriggle further up it and get my knees under me. Thankfully, my legs aren’t tied. The nylon rope that binds my wrists is looped around the legs of the table; I slowly put my feet on the floor and lift up one side of the table and then the other. Although I have the rope around my wrists, I am free. I look around for my dress but can’t see it. I’m in the kitchen of a very rundown house. I can’t hear any noise around me except for my attacker on the phone outside. Quietly, I move further into  the house, pushing open doors and trying to find something to cover myself. In the last room, at the end of the hallway, there is a smashed window and I move towards it. Carefully, I poke my head out; I can’t see him and even though I am naked, I am going to make a run for it. As I step over the sill, I cut my leg on a shard of glass. The pain increases my fear and I fall from the window. I put my hands over my mouth so I don’t scream. I am laying there for a moment, trying to feel if anything is broken.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” I can hear doors being flung open, and as he gets closer, I stand up and run. The house is in the wilderness, and it looks as though no one has lived here for a really long time. I run as fast as I can into the wild, hoping he doesn’t follow.