Page 15 of Vanished in Vegas

“Where are we going to put her?” the guy to my right asked.

I uttered curse words against the firm hand covering my mouth, but the bastards heard none of it.

“Since she isn’t awillingparticipant anymore, we’ll put her in the basement,” the guy on the passenger side replied.

Basement? Oh. Hell no,I thought as images of a dark, dingy, smelly basement flashed through my mind. Basements in scary movies were where people got offed. The kind that would wreak death.

I kicked and flailed in protest. The guys held me tighter, keeping me in place.

“Step on it!” the passenger growled.

“Boss will kill me if I speed,” the driver– Monty– replied, shaking his head. “He doesn’t like any attention brought to the house.”

“Should we have blindfolded her?” the guy to the right asked. The vehicle filled with groans.

“Fuck,” the passenger muttered. “Let me do the talking when we see the boss.”

“I don’t want to be the one responsible for that, anyway,” Monty shook his head. “Boss is going to lose his shit.”

“She’ll soften his mood…,” the passenger pointed at me with his free hand. “Trust me.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

ANTONIO

Eddie had just dropped the bomb of a lifetime on me. His words echoed through my mind as I headed out of my office. I had put off going down to the basement for over an hour. Maybe the reason was shock or maybe it was nerves. Either way, it was time to face the music.

I knocked on the door leading down to the basement.

“Fuck off!” a familiar woman’s voice shouted, making me laugh.

“She’s a ray of sunshine,” Niccolai chuckled. I glanced back at him and grinned.

“Something tells me, we aren’t welcomed.” I turned the doorknob and slowly opened it.

“Want me to go first, Boss?” Niccolai asked. I shook my head and walked down the steps.

“I’ll kill you if you lay one fucking finger on me! I swear to God!” Sofia shrieked.

When I made it to the bottom of the steps, My eyes landed on her. A deep growl escaped me. She was in the far corner, tied up to a chair, facing the wall with her back to me.

“Why the fuck is she intime-out?” I asked, storming over to her.

“She was beating the shit out of us, Boss,” Eddie replied behind me. Monty and Howard, who were standing guard next to Sofia, nodded in agreement. Monty’s eye looked slightly swollen. Howard’s face had several scratch marks across it.

“I barely touched you, you fucking cry babies!” Sofia screamed.

“Are you hurt?” I grabbed her chair and turned it to where she was now facing me. Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened as she looked up at me.

“Wh– What?” she stammered.

“Did they hurt you?” She shook her head in response. “Good,” I smiled then looked at Monty. “Untie her.”

“Are you sure, Boss? She might try to–” Monty replied but closed his mouth when I glared.

“You got it, Boss.” He quickly untied the ropes from her wrists. She brought her hands in front of her and rubbed her wrists.

“Were they too tight?” I asked, dropping to a knee and grabbing one of her hands. She tensed at my touch. “Does that hurt?”

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