Page 86 of Dark Mafia Vows

My car engine rumbles beneath me, my hands tight against the steering wheel, knuckles white and tense. The directions were clear. Meet them at the old Manor’s junkyard alone, or Ginny dies. I don’t care if it’s an obvious trap. I don’t care what happens to me tonight. I just need to see her.

I need to get her back home safely.

The space is barely lit as I drive in, shadows creeping from piles of rusted metal and broken cars stacked like tombstones. A perfect place for them to kill and dump a body.

If anyone dies here tonight, it should be me and not Ginny.

On getting to the middle, I kill the engine and step out. My breath is sharp in the cold air, but my heart pounds harder than the bite of the wind. My nerves eat me up as I slip my hands inside the pockets of my coat. Waiting. Eerie silence wraps around me. I look around, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary.

Just me.

But then, the roar of engines slices through the quiet night. Flaring headlights blind me, and in a split second, I’m surrounded by four, maybe five cars.

Their doors fly open, and men leap out, dressed in black, masked, and carrying various weapons. I count at least ten, maybe even more, as they close in on me like wolves approaching their prey.

There’s no sign of Ginny. This is definitely a fucking trap.

My eyes zoom in on them as they get even closer. It’s almost impossible for me to fight them off. They easily outnumber me. I ball my hands into fists and raise them to my face. The weight of my gun in my inner coat pocket presses against my skin, but this isn’t the time to reveal all my cards.

The door to one of the cars opens, and a figure steps out. The sound of his shoes crunching against gravel reaches me before his face does. My stomach drops.

Rafe.

A bitter chuckle rips from my throat. This can’t be fucking happening.

“The one time I decide to spare a man’s life, he stabs me in the back,” I say through gritted teeth.

His grin is wide, mocking, as he steps closer, his eyes glinting with menace. “Dario, Dario. Long time, no see. Although the wound on my face says otherwise...”

“You should be dead,” I hiss, and he smirks.

“That’s right, but you were a fool for sparing me,” he drawls, shaking his head. “Just as you’re a fool now. You really thought you’d just stroll in here and take her back, huh?”

I step forward, not caring about the men around me. “You still owe me a couple of billion, Rafe,” I call back, my voice steady despite the thick tension in the air. “Once this is over, I’ll get every single penny back before I kill you.”

He laughs, but I can see the twitch in his jaw. The men make way for him as he steps into the circle. “Money, Dario? You think I care about that now?”

“Money’s all you care about. But you and I both know what happens when people try to screw me over.” I glance at the men surrounding us, sizing them up. “This? This is your last resort, isn’t it? Kidnap my girl? Rough me up a bit and then what?” My chuckle bites against the night air. “You’re still the same coward I remember.”

Before he can reply, movement from behind the line of cars catches my eye. My words die in my throat when I see her being huddled out roughly.

Ginny.

She’s barely standing, her arms bound in front of her, and her eyes are hollow. Her t-shirt hangs loose on her thin frame, dirty and worn, and the jeans she’s wearing are scraped at the knees, smudged with dirt and blood. Her dark hair, matted and tangled, falls into her face as she’s hauled out of the car.

“Don’t fucking touch her!” I move to step toward her, but Rafe’s gun is already out, the barrel pointed right at my head.

“Uh-uh!” Rafe tuts, a smirk playing on his lips. “Stay right where you are. We wouldn’t want things to get messy just before the real fun begins, would we?”

My chest tightens as one of the men drags Ginny toward Rafe. Pain grips my heart as her face comes into the light. I see the faint bruise on her sunken cheek, her chapped lips, and the tears glistening in her eyes as she looks at me.

“Let her go, Rafe,” I demand, turning to face him. “I’m the one you want, not her.”

“True,” he replies, a sinister smile spreading across his face. “But first, get on your knees.”

With a heavy heart, I drop to my knees, hands raised in surrender. “Now fucking let her go,” I growl, the urgency in my voice rising. “I swear to god, if you don’t?—”

“But where’s the fun in that?” He tilts his head, smirking, but the expression quickly shifts to a scowl as he barks, “And you don’t get to give orders here.”

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