Page 47 of Assassin's Obsession

"Right, as if being my boyfriend is a terminal disease."

"Trust me, it would be. Death cut off the hand of a man who touched you. What do you think he would do to a man claiming you?"

"Claiming me? What are we, living in the Middle Ages? Nobody is claiming me."

"I wouldn't count on that."

"You can count on something. If you don't let me go, I'm going to maim you." It's an empty threat, because cutting off limbs is not my thing.

But to give credence to my words, I dig my long, pointed fingernails into the skin of his wrist.

"Fuck. I'd let you go if I could. Trust me on that." He spins us around and heads back into the alley. "Get the duct tape, Mario. "

Terror rushes through me. They might have an aversion to hurting me, but there's a lot of ways to cause me harm without physically hurting me.

And being helpless to prevent those things is so not on my agenda tonight.

"Don't you dare," I shout at Mario.

"Hey, I've got some right here." Again, help from the peanut gallery that can just keep his mouth darn mouth shut.

Freddy.

I'm going to tell Piper to cut him off.

The asshole.

The tape glints dully silver in the illumination cast by the streetlights.

Our alley is one of the few in the city that has them. I always assumed that was because the club was owned by the mafia, but they didn't get installed until early this year.

Mario unrolls several inches from the roll and then holding it up at both ends, approaches me.

"Help, I'm being kidnapped. Call 911." Shouting those words over and over again at the top of my lungs, I thrash wildly, kicking and hitting with everything in me.

I believe Derian will kill witnesses, but someone can call the cops without showing their face in the alley.

"There's a dead guy here, shot by one of my kidnappers!" Murder might elicit more help than a kidnapping.

Derian's hand clamps over my mouth as he manages to trap my flailing limbs against my sides with his other arm. "Hurry the fuck up, Mario."

When Mario tries to grab my legs, I kick him in the face and he staggers back. Score one for the power of a dancer's quads.

Freddy jumps into the fray, grabbing one of my ankles with both his hands and forcing it toward the other one that Mario isnow keeping immobile. Once Freddy is hugging my lower calves, the only movement I can manage is tipping my pelvis.

"Keep your face away from her body if you want to keep the eyes in your head," Mario growls at Derian, who immediately turns his head aside.

I would roll my eyes at the ridiculousness, but I'm too angry. I squirm, making it as hard as I can for Mario to get the tape around my thighs. He doesn't just wrap it once either. He takes the roll around again and again, going down several inches and making it impossible to break the restraint.

Even for a woman with the strength in her upper legs that I have.

"Move your hold. I need to get her ankles," the kidnapping jerk tells Freddy.

Freddy obeys and I take immediate advantage, kicking out with my lower legs. My knees can still bend, but there's not enough power behind the blow to do any damage.

Mario doesn't even grunt.

"Make sure the tape doesn't touch skin," Derian instructs while keeping my arms pinned and my mouth covered.

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