Page 44 of The Devil's Secret

“Shit,” Kayla whispers as we all hop out, noticing the hood with smoke billowing out of it.

“Let me call for a tow.” Elsie rummages through her bag, finding her cell.

“Oh my God,” she mutters. “There’s no reception.”

I swallow harshly, a chill running down my spine.

“We’re so fucked,” Kayla practically cries, her trembling fingers going to her lips, worry etching her gaze below a set of thick brows.

“It’s gonna be okay,” I reassure, clasping her hand with mine.

But it isn’t okay. Not at all. We wait on the side of the road for what feels like an hour before we see a car. When we do, it’s like seeing a light in a dark tunnel, but we don’t yet know that while climbing out of one, we are about to drown in another.

“Stop!” we shout, running into the middle of the road, jumping up and down with our hands waving in the air.

The black SUV gets closer, drifting to a stop.

“Thank God!” Elsie says, Kayla breathing a sigh of relief, and I feel it too.

Finally. We’re saved.

But when the driver’s door opens, when I notice who gets out, my chest grows heavy, my pulse drumming so loudly, I don’t hear a word he says, but his mouth, it’s moving.

The man from the diner.

I grow dizzy as he approaches, black spots flashing in and out, yet I still see that huge grin on his face. When two others step out of the car, that’s when full-on panic sets in. They’re older than him, maybe in their forties.

“What seems to be the problem, ladies?” the younger man casually implores, while another marches over to my Jeep.

“Just some car trouble.” I force a smile, my legs growing shaky and weak, a thick ball of anxiety slamming into my stomach.

“Lucky for you,” the guy next to my Jeep says. “I’m a good mechanic.” He strides around, pops the hood from inside, and before we know what’s happening, the other older man grabs a hold of Kayla’s light brown hair, his arm curled around her neck, her back to his front.

She screams, eyes widened in full-on terror, kicking him, attempting to claw her way out.

“Please, let her go!” I cry, tears raining down my face, and I’m unsure whether to run or to help her somehow.

They only laugh, the other two setting their sights on me, their glares darting to Elsie behind, and I’m bathed in the most paralyzing fear.

My breaths harshly pummel out, my eyes bulging as I step back, needing to get away, but knowing I have nowhere to escape. The man holding Kayla retrieves a gun from his pocket and knocks her on the side of the head, her eyes rolling before she goes limp.

“Run!” Elsie shouts, her voice drifting from the rear. My heartbeat thrashes with every quickened beat, the men crawling nearer now, slithering slowly, knowing they will have us. Yet I run anyway, because running is all we have left.

But we don’t get far. A bullet rips into Elsie’s calf and she falls instantly, sobbing on the concrete as the man from the restaurant drags her away.

Her teary brown eyes are the last thing I see as someone knocks me on the head from behind, my world turning hazy, a voice saying, “The boss is gonna love you,” before everything goes black.

* * *

ENZO

The following day, after stopping by work and hanging with Dante for a bit, I got a text from Marissa asking to hang out, which is code for—please, Enzo, bang my brains out.

I would, under normal circumstances, but we’re definitely not in normal anything right now. I told Marissa I was busy working, hoping that gets her to lay off. She can be persistent as fuck though.

The women at the dance clubs all know me for my reputation and they’re not shy about wanting to experience it for themselves. These girls tell their friends and those friends bring more friends…

But my focus is elsewhere. I’ve got a hostage in my home who hates my guts. Well, that is when she’s not playing mind games, like telling me everything between us was real. How the hell am I supposed to believe that when some other man’s tongue was down her throat, one she swore was her boyfriend. Yeah, didn’t need that fucking visual again.

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