The would-be victim rushed forward and caught her in his arms. He kissed her passionately, and then they both bent down and searched the victim’s body, trying to find something.
They talked in low tones and kissed again over the dead man’s body. They got to their feet, still smiling at each other, but when the woman turned away to leave, the first man pulled a gun of his own and fired directly into her back.
She fell over the dead man. The killer escaped, leaving both bodies dead on the floor, and I came back to reality with a shiver when I realized where I was.
I was in a darkened room sitting in a chair. The instant I opened my eyes, an enormous guy lunged for me and clamped his massive, muscular hand over my mouth.
His piercing black eyes drilled into me from inches away. “Not a word!” he hissed. “Understand? Don’t make a sound. Your life depends on you cooperating.”
I nodded fast, and he eased off, but that hardly made me feel better. He kept glaring at me with such furious intensity that I trembled in my seat.
He straightened up and towered over me. “Are you gonna sit quietly? Don’t make me have to tie you up and gag you. Understand?”
I nodded again and gulped to get my voice working. “I… understand.”
He took a step back, and I did a double take when I saw another guy who looked exactly like him. My mind went into a tailspin, and I thought maybe I was seeing double.
Then the second one put his hand on the first one’s shoulder, and my brain switched gears. They looked exactly alike with deep black eyes and jet-black hair, but they weren’t strictly identical. Subtle differences set them apart. They were identical twins.
They wore matching gray suits that stretched over their giant arms, shoulders, and chests. The second one held a handgun in his left hand and kept it down at his side while he watched me with hard, wary eyes.
I quaked in my shoes at the sight of them. What were they going to do with me? I remembered them grabbing me in my bedroom. That smell in my nostrils must be chloroform. I passed out and… Where exactly was I?
The twins eased back a little more, and a third guy stepped in front of them. He wasn’t anywhere near as big as the twins. His lithe, wiry frame filled out his black suit nicely, but his sharp hazel eyes really struck terror into my heart.
He smiled down at me from above, but that smile left me cold. “Ariana La Rosa! I never thought I’d see you again.”
“La Rosa!” I blurted out. “My last name is Anderson. You must have the wrong person. You can let me go now.”
He chuckled with no mirth at all. “Oh, we definitely have the right person… Don’t we, boys?” He turned to shoot a knowing grin at the twins.
He rotated around and ran those maddening eyes down my body once. “You’re definitely Ariana La Rosa. I would recognize you anywhere, but you’re bigger and… much more beautiful than I remember.”
A flash of color rushed to his cheeks when he said it. What the hell was wrong with him? How could he be blushing like that from talking about remembering me?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I countered. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.”
He raised his eyebrows. “No?”
“No. Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t just snatch people out of their houses and get away with it. The police will find you and…”
He waved his hand, and for some reason I couldn’t explain, I fell silent. Something about his presence made him so much more imposing than size could ever make him.
“You don’t remember me? That’s strange.” He took a step back to stand next to the twins. “Do you rememberthem?”
I compressed my lips, and I fought down mounting anger. “No, I don’t. What the hell is this? Let me go now before you wind up in prison. I don’t know what game you’re trying to play but…”
“Well, we remember you very well. We grew up together at Archhurst.”
“Grew up together!” I exploded in hysterical laughter. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and I’ve never heard of Archhurst.”
The three guys exchanged a glance, and for the first time since I woke up, they actually looked confused.
The tall guy finally faced me. “All right. I wasn’t expecting that, but we’ll play it that way if we have to.”
“Play what? Who the fuck are you?”
He straightened up and squared his shoulders. He leveled me with an even more intimidating stare. “I’m Luca Fortino.”