Page 93 of Don't Lie To Me

“Don’t try it.” His large arm crushes me to his body. I hadn’t realized before how damn strong he is, but it’s like trying to fight against a raging bull. No movement at all. He directs me away from the noise and down toward the back exit.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” I whisper cry, frustration taking over.

When we get into the parking lot, I see my back door security guard crumpled on the asphalt with a bullet in his head. I cast a quick glance back to Romeo, his face a mask of silence. “Shit got real here tonight, doll face,” he mutters dryly, and I know I’m totally fucked. When he comes to a blue Maserati, he stops moving, popping open the trunk with his fob. “I’d love to have you riding up front with me, but can’t really trust you to behave, can I, trouble?”

The way he says Onyx’s nickname for me makes me feel sick to the stomach. Where the hell is Onyx? He should be following me by now. I steal a quick glance over my shoulder, but the alleyway is empty, and I know I’m alone. So much for all the added security and the boys watching my every damn move. When I need them, they are nowhere to be seen, and that in itself is suspicious as hell.

With one sharp shove, he forces me into the trunk. Without my hands to catch me, I topple in, my head hitting the bottom with a thud that makes my head ache. I stare back up at him, wondering where the man I have gotten to know has disappeared to. “I’ll be good, you can trust me,” I try pleading with him, but all I get is a menacing smile, then he slams the trunk closed, locking me inside.

My heart hammers against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat in the suffocating silence of my confinement. I shut my eyes up tight, trying not to let the fear take over. I don’t have time for a panic attack.

The car kicks into gear, and my body hits the back of the car as he starts to drive away. I don’t bother screaming for help, I know no one can hear me, and I need to conserve my energy for when the fucker lets me out again.

I knew I couldn’t fucking trust him. I got swept up in his charm.

It was him who was after me all along. He drives for what feels like forever, and I try to calm my breathing, focusing on the handcuffs and trying to make my hands small so they can slip free, but it’s no use.It’s so hard when they’re at my back. I wiggle onto my side and slip my hands under my ass, then bring my knees up so I can skip my hands under my feet. It’s almost impossible in the confined space of the car trunk, but I just slip them free.

My chest heaves, gasping for air, a desperate need for oxygen filling my lungs. It’s so hot in here, and my head is clogged with fear.

Knowing I have no choice, I move my hands up to my hair, thanking God I wore my hair in a bun today and I have bobby pins in. I locate one and pull it free. I shift my hands to the side and tinker away at the lock, having no idea what I’m doing, but knowing this is my only hope to escape. If I can get my hands free, then at least I will have a fighting chance to escape him. If not, he has the upper hand, and I’m screwed.

Then the car comes to a stop, and my heart leaps into my throat, knowing I have run out of time.

Desperately I keep twisting the bobby pin in the lock, not giving up.

I can hear Romeo talking to someone else, another male voice, one I don’t recognize. Their voices are muffled, but I think I make out “When do we set off?” from Romeo.

“Now,” the other dude says.

Set off where? Where the hell is he taking me? I can’t think about all the fucked-up scenarios. I keep twisting at the cuffs, digging the bobby pin in the lock, and finally the thing pops open. I break into a sweat, relief washing over me. I did it. Now what? I feel around the car for something, anything I can get my hands on to help me when I get out. In the side panel, I find a carpeted pouch. It’s damn heavy, and I pull it free, wondering if this is the car’s tool kit. Sure enough, I get my hands on a cold metal bar, one that must be used to help jack upthe car when it gets a flat. I pull it behind my back, holding it tightly, waiting for the motherfucker to open the trunk.

It feels like forever with me just waiting, my heart in my throat, sweat drenching my body. My mind races with the possibilities of how to escape the man I thought I was falling for. How could I have been so wrong about him? Maybe it’s him who’s out for revenge for his brother’s death after all. He had been prepared for this kind of situation, having undergone rigorous training. If his family had welcomed him back after years of earning their trust, then perhaps this was his chance. He’s going to murder me to show them his loyalty.

I hear heavy footsteps, then Romeo swings open the trunk.

Light floods in, and I blink my eyes, the bright blinding me. When they finally focus, I find him smirking down at me.

“Hot in there, doll face?” He reaches in and wipes the matted sweat-drenched hair from my forehead tenderly.

I don’t dare move, too scared he’s about to work out I got out of the cuffs before I have time to use my freedom to my advantage. His hands slide under my body, and he scoops me up and sets me back to standing on the solid ground beside him, my heels wobbling a little on my shaky legs.

Not giving him time to work out I’m armed, I swing the metal bar at his head, connecting with a sickening thud. My stomach rolls knowing I have hurt him when it’s the last thing I want to do, but fuck him. He tied me up, threatened to drug me, and locked me in the trunk of his car. This isn’t the man I know. Something much more sinister is going on here.

He roars in pain and grabs for me, but I’m too quick for him and take off running in the opposite direction. I sprint as far as I can then come to an abrupt stop when I realize we’re on a shipping boat sailing out of the docks.

My heart leaps.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.

The shoreline of the docks recedes, a blurry line against the waves, and the cold water chills me to the bone; I can’t fucking swim. The only thing that scares me more than Romeo catching up with me, and doing whatever it is he wants to do to me, is diving in there and attempting to swim back to shore.

“Get back here, Ava,” I hear him calling out from behind me.

Ava? My head spins, the scenery whooshing around me. I keep moving, dashing around the front of the boat, trying to get as far away from him as possible, but there is another burly dude closing in on me. I glance back over my shoulder and see Romeo’s not far away either. He’s hurt, though, a gash over his right eye with blood trickling from it. “Don’t run from me, doll face, I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe with me, I’m taking you away from the danger.”

“How can you be, you cuffed me and threw me in the back of your car,” I cry back.

“To get you out of there safely. He was coming for you tonight, and there would have been nothing your boys could have done to stop him.” He takes another step toward me, his eyes locking with mine. I take another step back, getting dangerously close to the edge of the boat. His lips twist up at the sides in a cruel smirk that doesn’t even look like him. He had me so fooled, when I should have known better.

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