Page 43 of Finding Gwen

“You’re Ivy.” It came out as a statement, but she replied, anyway, with a quick nod of her head. Her phone pinged in her hand and my heart skipped a beat as she looked at it, furiously typing away at it. Maybe Gwen had found a phone and was reaching out. It would make sense that she had her best friend’s phone number memorized.

“It’s not her,” Ivy said, not looking up from her phone. The last bit of hope I had disappeared with her words. Anger boiled over. I buckled, my hands on my knees as every muscle in my body tightened at once.

A guttural scream pierced my ears, and it took me too long to realize it was coming from me. I needed to punch something, to release this anger so I could focus on what was important, but it was eating me alive. Oscurità mia was taking control ,and I was going to let it.

“Tony,” Jason’s voice sounded from somewhere far away. I looked up, seeing him step off his Harley and jog toward me, my mind spiraling. He put his hands on my shoulders and the motion grounded me.

“He has her…” It was all I could get out. His eyes had darkened. Jason cared for Gwen, not in the same way I did, but as a friend.

“Matt took her?” Ivy asked, interrupting our silent conversation. His name had me standing up straight, looking past Jason to Ivy. She was standing with her arms wrapped around her body as if trying to offer herself some comfort. Her eyes were burning a hole in the back of Jason’s head.

“We didn’t say that,” I muttered.

“I’m sorry, I just assumed,” Ivy whispered, finally looking away from Jason. “He sent some threatening texts after the day he showed up here. Gwen had tried serving him with a restraining order, but they hadn’t been able to find him. He’s a fucking narcissist bastard and I wouldn’t put it past him to do something stupid.”

“What?” Fuck, how had I not known about this?

“I tried to convince Gwen to tell you, but she refused.” My chest tightened at her words.

Why would she have kept it from me? My fists clenched at my sides as the storm raged inside me, the desire to punch something growing every second.

“Tony,” Jason interrupted.

“What, Jason?” I yelled, my focus going to his phone in his hand.

“Look at this.” He held it out for me, a black and white security video playing on the screen. A man was stepping out of his car, opening the trunk and rustling around inside of it. Before long, he flung a body over his shoulder, their hands bound behind their back as they hung upside down. As he turned around, anger burned through my veins when I saw her face.

My eyes shot up to Jason’s. Reading my mind, he nods his head, letting me know this was live. We found her. Now, I just needed to get to her.

Oliver.

I turned on my heel, nearly running directly into Ivy, who, it seemed, had been standing behind me. “My son, Oliver, he’s asleep in my truck.”

“I’ve got him,” she nodded. “Go get our girl back.”

I turned back to Jason, who was digging the key to his motorcycle out of his pocket. He tossed it to me as I ran past him. The bike roared to life under me. Jason yelled out over the rumble, “I’ll call for backup and meet you out there.” I sped away, not caring about stop signs or red lights if I could help it. The only thing going through my mind was getting to Gwen before that asshole had the chance to put his hands on her.

I’m coming, luce mia. Hold on.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Gwen

Every muscle in my body was screaming at me as if I had just run a marathon. I was on my back with my hands cruelly tied underneath me, the rope painfully digging into my wrists. The ground I was lying on was hard, probably concrete, and it made everything hurt even more. The faint smell of bleach burned my nose, which confused me. Why did a place that had a concrete floor smell like bleach? It wasn’t making sense, but neither was anything else. Matt had been the one to attack me that night. If Anthony hadn’t shown up when he did, there was no doubt in my mind I would be back in Pennsylvania being forced to play the doting housewife to this psychopath.

Fingers brushed my cheek, and a chill traveled down my spine. “I know you’re awake, baby.” Matt’s hot breath near my face made my skin sticky. Slowly, I opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the dim light in the room. He was squatting over me, looking down at me with lust. The gun was palmed loosely in his hand at his side.

Standing up, he grabbed me by my hair, pulling me up until I was on my feet. The room started spinning, my head throbbing as my lunch made a reappearance.

“What the hell?” Matt yelled, releasing my hair and stepping back. “Fucking disgusting.” He turned and walked away as I fought to stay upright, knowing that I would have a hell of a time catching myself if I was to fall.

Steadying myself, I realized I must have hit my head when I fell earlier, resulting in a concussion. Then I remembered why it had happened. The memory of the gunshot rang in my ears. My gaze fell onto a ripped patch of my jeans. But as far as I could tell, there wasn’t a hole in my leg and I wasn’t gushing blood.

My brain started to play catch up. As if someone flipped a switch, burning pain radiated through my leg. Wincing, I did my best to stand up straight and shifted my weight to my other leg as much as possible. Matt was standing in the doorway, looking down what appeared to be a hallway, as if waiting for someone. He turned back toward me and I met his gaze.

“Matt, what are we doing here?” I asked. “Why didn’t you take me back to Pennsylvania?”

“I may have done some questionable things.” He stalked toward me, his eyes roaming up and down my body. My stomach convulsed, not from the potential concussion but from the way he looked at me. “I tried to fuck you out of my mind, baby. Woman after woman, but they weren’t you. That’s why I came for you that night.”

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