Leda
The ground was hard under my feet as I ran down the grass and onto a rough gravel road, realizing that it was surrounded by woods. The road sloped downward, but I didn’t let up, hoping that I could get to the end before he came after me.
Valentino had seen me. More specifically, I had flipped him off for seeing me, for what he was doing to me and how he was treating me like he owned me.
I guessed for twenty million, it was easy for him to believe that he owned me.
Believed, not did in truth. No one owned me. I was my own person, and not even my father could lay claim to me completely.
A rock bit into my heel and I cried out, limping a bit as I continued to descend. Suddenly, I wished that I kept those slippers on.
I couldn’t give up. I wouldn’t give up. He was going to find me, but I was going to give him a hell of a time before he could.
I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t let him catch me.
The gravel road ended at a paved one and I looked over my shoulder, not seeing lights behind me. Maybe he was going to let me go. Maybe he was going to wash his hands of me and leave me to my own fate.
A hysterical laugh left me. No, he wasn’t. He was making some point that I didn’t fully understand.
I was part of a bigger plan.
One that I wasn’t going to like at all.
My feet slapped against the cool, paved road, and I nearly cried out in joy as I saw lights up ahead. I knew I looked a fright, wearing a skimpy chemise and nothing else, but maybe they would take sympathy on me and I could get a chance to call Nico.
No, I couldn’t call Nico. I couldn’t drag him into this mess and potentially put his family in danger.
I would call Vincent. Vincent DiMara was Nico’s second-in-command, having chosen to stay on as his personal bodyguard even after Nico quit the Mafia life. Vincent could keep my secret from my brother and get me somewhere safe until I could figure out what to do next.
The building came into view, and I saw that it was a small diner instead of a house, with no cars in the parking lot. What the heck was a diner doing out here in the middle of nowhere?
Still, I could see someone moving inside. I forced myself to run faster and rapped on the glass door once I arrived.
“Please!” I cried out, startling the woman inside. “Please let me in!”
She hurried over to the door and unlocked it, her eyes wide. “What on earth?”
I rushed inside, nearly knocking her over in the process. “I need help. Do you have a phone?”
“What happened to you?” she asked as I hurried behind the counter. “Where did you come from?”
I found the phone cradle but not the phone. I looked at her in desperation. “Please,” I croaked. “I need a phone. I need to call someone.”
The door opened behind her, and I gasped as Valentino strolled in.
“Sir,” the woman whispered, and bowed her head.
“Martha,” Valentino replied evenly, his hands in his pockets, his eyes on me. “Thank you for finding her for me.”
The woman didn’t even bother meeting my gaze, and I fought the urge to scream as the strength sapped out of my body. Was there no one that could help me now?
“Forgive us for interrupting you,” he continued, his eyes hard. “Come, Leda. You are bothering Martha.”
“I’m not leaving,” I growled, gripping the worn counter. “He’s kidnapped me! Please don’t make me leave.”
The woman continued to look at the floor, and I heard a faint sigh escape the Don’s lips. “Don’t make this hard,” he stated, holding out his hand. “I can either have you walk, or you can be dragged out of here. Either way, you are coming home.”
Home. Tears smarted in my eyes. That was not my home, nor would it ever be. My home was with my brother, with Rory and my nephew.