Page 71 of The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession)

There was no answer. “Enzo?”

Snatching the phone up, he was dismayed to see the phone had dropped the call. He tried to redial, but there were no bars.

“Shit!” He looked up and his blood ran cold.

The car was gone. He was alone on the road.

“No, no, no!”

Breathing in and out slowly, he hit the gas. Richard must have accelerated and possibly made a turn somewhere up ahead.

Please, oh please, he thought. There was no way that stuffed shirt Richard was driving in these backwoods for pleasure. He had Sophia in that trunk. Gio knew it in his heart. He had to find them.

He almost missed the turnoff. It was hidden by a tree. Hitting the brake, he stopped and made sure there wasn’t another exit up ahead.

If there was, he couldn’t see it. Turning the wheel sharply, he shot down the street.

The dark road flew past him. It seemed endless and he was about to start howling in rage when the road suddenly forked. He slammed on the brakes.

Oh fuck, which way had they gone?

Chapter 25

Sophia groaned and tried to open her eyes. Something was wrong with them. She blinked but it was still dark, and her head was killing her. Her brain wasn’t working. Thoughts skittered in and out of her head with little connecting them.

She took several deep fortifying breaths, fighting the confusion of her muddled mind. What the hell had happened? And where was she?

The space was dark and the air had an oily metallic smell. Reaching around her fingers grazed rough carpet underneath her.

Her dizziness was swiftly replaced by fear. Reaching up she felt cold metal as her body finally registered the sensation of movement.

She was in the trunk of a car. Oh, holy hell. She was in her father’s Chevette. Richard had hit her—he’d tried to kill her.

Bile rose up in her throat as she frantically scrabbled at the trunk lid above her. Little broken sobs escaped her while she pushed futilely at the barrier. It didn’t give a millimeter, and furthermore her dress appeared to be trapped in the catch of the lock. She tugged at the skirt until it ripped free.

“Let me out! Somebody help me!” she yelled, banging on the lid.

There was no answer and no sounds of traffic. Where was Richard taking her?

Dread pooled in her stomach, but she kept yelling, trying to make as much of a racket as possible. In the front of the car, music started to play loudly.

He was trying to drown her out. Knocking even louder, she screamed at him. “Richard! Let me out!”

The music turned up again and she swore violently. Her fear turned to anger. That shit! How could he do this to her after all she had done for him?

For two years, she had swallowed her pride and done her best to support him and his career. And in return she’d been taken for granted, denigrated, and most likely cheated on. By rights, she should have kicked his teeth in. Instead, she had made a clean break and tried to be civil whenever she had to deal with him afterward. If he hadn’t kept hounding her, she might have been able to stay on that high road.

Okay,think, think.He was going to have to stop the car somewhere. She would have to reason with him, promise to lie and back up his story about her father’s research.

He will never buy it!

But she didn’t have a choice. She had to make him believe it.

****

Gio tripped climbing out of the car. Pain shot up his knee as he fell hard, but he ignored it and scrambled up. Breathing hard, he stood and ran in front of the hood to where the headlights lit the forked dirt road.

There has to be something here, he thought, running around looking for a sign of which path the car had gone. He pulled out his phone. There were still no bars, but he turned on the bright flashlight and used it to scan for evidence.

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