Page 94 of Sin & Secrets

And then the pain had overwhelmed me, and everything had gone dark.

Thump thump, thump thump.

My body jostles against the unforgiving floor, elbows bashing awkwardly into my side. I try to move them to alleviate the growing ache in my shoulders, only to discover that they’ve been tied behind my back.

Something had gone wrong. Something terrible. My heart shied away from it, wanting to protect me.

Because I remember the gunshots and Teo’s scream. I remember when someone flew into my arms, and it wasn’t Rocco’s protective embrace but Mia’s frantic consolation.

“You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.”It was as if trying to reassure herself as much as me.

She had come for me first. The club was filled with danger, but she had come for me. Despite how I’d yelled, accused her of lying to me, ghosted her. When it mattered the most, my friend had my back.

I’m such a fucking asshole. If I hadn’t been such a coward, I could have called her back and apologized a thousand times. I would have put this behind us before…

Thump thump, thump thump.

It takes me a while to figure out that my eyes are open. It’s not until the sound of the engine finally registers that I realize I’m in the trunk of a car.

I try not to panic. But the claustrophobia and darkness seem to press down harder.

I need to think. Come on, Cassandra.

Taillights. I need to kick out the tail lights. I should be able to flag down anyone on our tail so Rocco can…

My heart lurches. My chest tightens so hard I think I might puke.

No. Not now. I need to concentrate. Damn it.

But the sound of those gunshots fills my ears. Teo screaming his name, a mournful, desperate sound from a man who’d known him his whole life.

Rocco had been shot.

Rocco had been shot three times.

I just about have the wherewithal to turn on my side before I hurl my guts up.

The emptiness is overwhelming. Tears slide down my face, my throat burning, heart-shattering. He can’t be…he can't be…he can’t be…

Then the stench hits me like a slap to the face.

A voice in my head that sounds almost like Rocco’s screams at me to pull myself together. I’m the one in danger right now. If I don’t get out of here, I will never know for sure. I will never be able to say goodbye.

Determined, I wriggle down the trunk, inch by painstaking inch, and try to ignore the foul wetness seeping into my clothes. Finally, my foot can reach where I think the taillight must be, so I kick out.

Nothing happens.

I growl in frustration as I kick it again, harder, shoving my heel directly into the plastic casing. But still, nothing seems to move.

“Fuck!” I scream as I start kicking with reckless abandon.

Without any warning, something gives, and my ankle twists at a sickening angle as it pushes all the way through.

I gasp as fresh air immediately fills the small space. I ignore the pain that grips my foot as I scramble around toward the hole I created.

I push my arm through it, and the jagged plastic bites into my arm as I begin to wave frantically.

Maybe someone will see. Maybe someone will call the cops. I don’t stop until I feel the car lurch to one side and the engine growl to a stop.

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