I STROLLED DOWN THE street and glanced down at my watch. If I didn’t get to Vix’s fight club in five minutes, I was going to be late, and I didn’t want her to have to prepare all the fights by herself. We had a big celebratory night at the club anyway, so everything had to be perfect. The Cobras were still going with me almost everywhere I went when Theo wasn’t with me, but now there were only two of them accompanying me since we didn’t think my life was in danger. We could never be completely sure about that, though.

Theo had wanted to come with me tonight, but since he wasn’t a member of Vix’s club and the rules said that no one could enter without participating in at least one fight, I’d decided that it was better for him to stay at home. Maybe I’d change my mind eventually, but for now, I didn’t want him to have to fight, especially since I felt like underground fights weren’t his thing.

At least he wasn’t taking any hit jobs at the moment, and I kind of liked that we lived together in my apartment. It was almost like we were regular people. There were still a lot of things Theo didn’t want to talk about, but I was more than willing to give him time rather than pressure him into anything.

The screech of tires made me turn my head toward a black van that pulled over right next to me. Oh shit. The Cobras started toward it, but as soon as the door opened, men in black fired at them. My heart leapt into my throat, and I couldn’t breathe for a moment. I pulled out my gun, which I always carried with me, and aimed at them, firing at the closest one of them.

The bullet hit him in the chest, but that didn’t even faze him. Shit. They had bulletproof vests. I had to shoot higher. There were too many of them coming toward me, but I realized they weren’t shooting at me. What the hell? Who were these guys and what did they want from me? I pulled the trigger again. One of the men evaded, but another fell down.

Realizing I was going to be out of bullets before I could take them all down, I broke into a run. There weren’t any other people on this side of the street, so I fired blindly behind me as I kept running. Just as I reached the end of the street, a black car with tinted windows blocked my path. I took a left turn to avoid it, but as I heard someone open the door, a burning sensation spread through my shoulder.

I glanced at it and realized someone had hit me with some kind of a dart. Everything around me started to become blurry, and my eyelids were heavy, my knees weak. Unable to take another step, I fell to the ground. The sidewalk was cold under my cheek as my eyes closed. I was vaguely aware of someone lifting me up, and then there was just darkness.

Once I was able to open my eyes, I found myself tied to a chair in the middle of a small room with dark gray walls. Armed men dressed in black stood against the wall in front of me, their faces expressionless. There was a golden symbol on their jackets, and I squinted my eyes, trying to see what it was. I’d gotten dragged into some gang shit again, hadn’t I? Oh God.

Why wouldn’t it all just stop already? The symbol became clearer, and I recognized a panther. I racked my sluggish brain for the name related to it, because I was sure I’d seen that symbol somewhere before, but not in my city. I tried to twist against my restraints that were digging into my skin, but even if I freed myself, what could I do against all those armed men? I sighed.

That goddamn symbol. What did it stand for? Then it dawned on me. It wasn’t exactly a gang, but a powerful mafia family. They operated across the country, so I had no idea what their business here was. I doubted they’d be spreading all the way here, so what did they want with me? Because they clearly wanted something, or I’d be dead already. If their leader had been involved with Ingrid somehow, I was going to scream from frustration, because that would mean that that woman would never leave me alone.

A man dressed in an impeccable black suit stepped into view, and I knew he was the boss just by the way he carried himself, with his shoulders straight and his chin up. His hair was as black as the night itself and his hazel eyes regarded me carefully, the corners of his lips lifting up. He placed his finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him, and I turned my head away.

“Pretty,” he said as if he was regarding some kind of an object. A painting, maybe.

“What do you want from me?” I said through my teeth. A strange calm had settled around me, and I had no idea if that was because of the drugs they’d given me or because I was just sick and tired of it all.

“Oh, I don’t want anything from you,” he said. “You’re just bait.”

“Bait?”

“Yes, I’m going to use you to catch someone. And you better do as I say, or I will make you.” He pretended to inspect his nails, and then his eyes focused on mine.

I swallowed hard, because there was just something very creepy and very lethal about this man. “I think you got the wrong person. I’m not...”

“You can’t fool me, Chiara. I know who you are and I know everything about you.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

“That’s right,” he said. “You should be afraid. You should be very, very afraid. But once I have what I want, I’ll let you go. I give you my word.”

I wasn’t sure if I should believe him, especially when I didn’t know what exactly he wanted. And with men like him, letting someone go could also mean killing them, so I wasn’t going to get my hopes up just yet. “What do you want?” My voice was barely a whisper.

“I want my son.”

“Your son?”

“Theo,” he said, and my heart started to drum in my chest. Oh no.

“Take her to her room,” Theo’s father said, and strode out of the room without a second glance at me. The men made their way toward me and tightly gripped my arms.

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that this wasn’t going to end well.

 

###

 

Follow Chiara and Theo's story in Tested (My Broken Hitman, #2). More information:

 

 

 

NEVER MISS A NEW RELEASE! Sign up for Talia's newsletter: