Page 61 of Sweet Retribution

My stomach coils at the thought of what he’ll do to me this time. I don’t have my period to save me from rape. It’s still too early in my cycle to get pregnant. I hold on to that relief and push back the memories of being tied up and left in my own waste, focusing instead on a plan of escape.

I’m not handcuffed or tied down.Yet.I’m an okay runner, but not in these heels. I can shuck them and run barefoot, but to where? It doesn’t matter. As long as I get away. The driver continues down small back roads. Some I question if they’re actually roads or just walking paths.

Stone will never find us through this maze of trails through the woods. But that means I can probably escape through them as well. Eventually, I’ll find civilization. The woods thin out and the Mediterranean comes into view. A waiting yacht sits bobbing at a lone dock.

I clench my fists, my nails digging into my palms. This has to be how he smuggles the girls in and out of the country. If he hasn’t been caught by now, no one will bat an eye with one screaming woman being forced on the boat.

I eye the handle on the door and slowly toe off my heels. I’ll have a half second to run before Antonio and his man follow. Or worse. Shoot me.

No. Not worse. Ending the torture sooner rather than later will be better. I have to chance it. I have to flee. Once he gets me on the boat and in the middle of the ocean, I’ll never be found.

When the vehicle slows, I pop open the door, drop my barefeet to the dirt, and run.

***

“What the fuck?” I pickup Marco off the ground and search the field for more men. Rossi’s SUV is gone, and so is Gia. “Where is she?”

Blood soaks Marco’s shoulder, and I instantly assess it isn’t a fatal shot. That’s good, but with no vehicle, I’m fucked. Gia’s fucked. We’d planned for this. Went through all the possibilities. It’s why I had Lucca and Tio come with me, even though the arrangement was only one muscle.

They should be parked at the end of the road, ready to intercept Rossi. I take out my cell and open up the tracker app. Gia didn’t know she was wearing a tracking device. I should have told her before to give her a little sense of security. The phone doesn’t connect. I close my apps and try again.

Nothing. It doesn’t load. I look at the bars at the top of my phone. No service.

“Fuck.” We hadn’t thought of this. No wonder Rossi picked such a remote location. My heart is racing and sweat drips down my neck.

“No service, boss. I’ve been trying to reach Lucca and Tio.” Marco presses the heel of his hand against his wound. “They’re only a mile away. They should be intercepting Rossi any second.”

Any second is a second too late. Once again, I fucked up. I should have told Gia what was going down. Hell, I shouldn’t have agreed to this fucked up plan to begin with. I’ve been so desperate to get my vengeance on Rossi that I hadn’t planned everything through. I rushed this job. Rushed it so I could be with Gia.

“Where the fuck are they?” Tio. Lucca. Rossi. Gia. I can’t stand on the porch with my hands in my pockets like a pussy. I need to go after her. Now. “Stay here. I’ll get help.”

I run down the porch steps and sprint down the driveway. My shoes aren’t meant for running, but my legs are long and powerful, and I pump them as fast as I can. Sweat coats my back, and my shirt sticks to me.

I hear the sound of tires on dirt and slow my pace, withdrawing my gun from my holster. I don’t hide in the bushes. If it’s my men, they need to see me. If it’s Rossi, I need him to see me as well. We’ll go down shooting. I don’t care if I die, as long as I get a bullet into him, and Gia has a chance to escape.

Our black SUVs are similar but ours is all black where his has chrome trim. When the vehicle gets closer, I see it’s all black. I run down the middle of the narrow road straight at my men. They slam on the brakes, and both jump out.

“He went down a different back road. We were facing the wrong way. By the time we got the SUV turned around...” Tio pulls at his hair and looks away. “Service is shit.”

“Marco’s been shot.” I jog to the driver’s side and get behind the wheel. My men follow.

“Shit,” Lucca says.

“Shoulder wound. He’ll recover.” I step on the gas and drive back to the house to pick him up. “We need to get him and out of these fucking woods so I can track her.”

I slam on my brakes in front of the house, and Lucca jumps out, helping Marco into the back seat. I peel out before he has the door closed.

“Not used to sitting back here and you being in the driver’s seat,” Marco attempts to laugh. I take the road too fast and come close to kissing trees, but time is not in our favor. “You sure you don’t want me to get behind the wheel?”

“Fuck off.” I haven’t driven a car in years. I’m not into the speed or the vanity of driving around hundred thousand dollar vehicles just because my bank account says I can easily own a dozen.

My heart races not from the high speed or from adrenaline, but from the thought of losing her.

“Got her,” Lucca says. I had all my men download the tracking device on their phones as a precaution. “They’re by the water.”

“How the fuck do I get to the water from here?”

“Hang on. I’ll put in the coordinates.” Lucca does his tech magic and a second later shouts, “take a left here.”

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