My jailer let out a deep growl. His breath stunk of cigarettes and coffee. I elbowed him again, this time even harder. No one was stopping me from climbing the stairs before me. Not even this fucker. He swatted at me, his long fingers making contact with my skin. My skin ripped open from his nails, just another mark to add to the rest. I made it up a few steps before I had to hold onto the short railing and kick him again and again until he’d fallen to the bottom landing.
My freedom was so close I could taste it. I made it up the last few stairs to the wooden door at the top, with stank breath on my ass. The door didn’t give at first, but a hard shove with my shoulder made it give way.
I fell to the floor with a loud thud, my hipbone breaking my fall. With the man right behind me, I sucked up the pain and crawled across the white marble. Why was it so much nicer upstairs? Polished whites and creams were so bright my eyes burned. Going from the basement to this floor was like a vampire climbing out of a coffin in the middle of the day. Maybe this was heaven. Wherever I had been kept sure as fuck was hell.
I attempted to get up without any effort. Crashing to the hard floor proved to be too much to overcome. So, I slid on my right side along the tile until I ran into another man.
“Gia?” His voice stopped me dead in my tracks.
I touched his black dress shoe and gasped, staring up at him in horror. I closed my eyes and blinked a few times.
Had I been dead all along and was dreaming?
Defeated, deflated, unsure of how to respond, I fell into the wall and sobbed.
I glanced around at my surroundings, now realizing where I was being detained. “Were you in on this?”
Angelo knelt on the floor next to me, pulled me to him, and stroked my hair with his fingers. He hugged me so close, all while his body trembled, shaking right through me. “Gia, it’s me. I got you, baby. “I don’t understand. How are you here?” He sounded confused. “I’ve looked everywhere for you. Someone bought you.”
Each kiss he planted on my head made me shiver. “Why would you let them take me?”
He stopped threading his fingers through my hair and tilted my chin up with his big hand. “What did you say?” Angelo shook his head. “I’ve been out there killing everyone who got in my way to find you.”
Angelo looked up at my captor and said, “Hey, Vin,” as if he were talking to a friend.
I sat up and shoved Angelo away from me, pointing at the man standing across from us. “You know him?”
“Yeah. Don’t you remember Vince Bianchi? He’s worked at the compound for years on my father’s personal security detail.”
I pressed my palm to the wall and used it for support, as I pushed myself up to standing. “He kidnapped me, Angelo. How could you? How could you let your father do this to me?”
Angelo narrowed his eyes at me. It took him a second to process what I’d said before he hopped up from the floor and pulled out his gun. Vince backed up into the wall behind him and slid along it, reaching for the gun at his waist.
“You motherfucker,” Angelo growled.
“I was following orders,” Vince spat back. “Just like you, I do what I’m told.”
“You were told to kidnap and torture my girl?”
Vince shook his head.
Angelo’s mouth twisted in anger. “How long has Gia been here?”
“A day or two.”
“My father knew about this,” Angelo hissed.
Vince nodded. “He sent me to collect her.”
With both men holding their guns in front of them, I said a silent prayer. It was like watching two men square off in an old Western. They approached each other, all while keeping a safe distance. Angelo was good with a gun, but I didn’t know a thing about Vince. For all I knew, he had perfect aim. I wasn’t about to take the chance. Not when I’d just gotten Angelo back.
Remembering that Angelo kept a gun strapped to his ankle for emergencies, I scooted along the floor. Both men were engaged in their stare down, too busy to notice me. Angelo didn’t flinch when I slipped my hand beneath his pant leg. If he felt me there, he didn’t let on to it. I retrieved the gun, and Vince lowered his gaze to meet mine.
He moved his hand, about to point his gun at me, but I beat him to the punch and took the first shot. I fired and hit him in the shoulder. It didn’t do much, but it was something. Angelo used this to his advantage and sunk a bullet into the man’s skull. The stubborn bastard didn’t die right away. Four more bullets to the head caused him to fall backward, hitting the tile floor with a bang. I handed Angelo his gun, and he helped me up from the floor.
Men were running down the hall toward us with their guns in their hands, surveying the situation.
“What happened?” One man asked Angelo.