Page 88 of Corrupted Temptation (Mafia Kings: Corrupted 2)

Stronzo!I tossed my phone aside asI pulled up right in front of the hotel, squealing to a stop, then got out and made my way through the hoard of people coming in and out of the hotel, making them jump to get out of my way.

Inside, I took the stairs three at a time. There was no way I could have stood there waiting for the elevator. My heart was pumping so hard, I couldn’t hear the thud of my own footsteps over the blood pounding past my ears.

On her floor, I slammed open the stairwell door and started down the hallway.

She was going to be here.

She was going to be fine.

And then I caught sight of the open doorway to her room.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Raven

It was dark, and the ground vibrated beneath me. All I could remember was floating, higher and higher.

Why was I floating? I couldn’t remember. My brain felt like it was wrapped in a thick shroud, and I was an outsider trying to look in.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to force my way through. The answers were right there, and a small voice inside me told me I needed to reach them. I needed to know why I could feel rough floor beneath my cheek. It smelled like cigarette smoke and dirt. I held my breath and turned my head to search for something less repugnant. Then the fabric over my eyes rubbed against the bridge of my nose.

A blindfold.

It opened the floodgates.

The hotel room, the corner wall, the four men who had me outmatched from the get-go. The syringe. The phone.

My breath came faster, drawing in more and more of the potent cigarette-dirt smell.

The ground beneath me bounced, jostling my body and making my face thump against the floor. Wincing, I tried to reach up to remove the blindfold, but I couldn’t move my hands. They were stuck behind my back, bound together.

They tied me up.

Tears welled in my eyes, but they couldn’t fall. They just spilled over and soaked the fabric over my eyes, making it stick to my eyelids.

I wanted to scream, but even as the sound rose up my throat, I fought it. Whatever drug they gave me had left my brain muddled, but it was beginning to clear, enough that I knew the worst possible thing I could do was let them know I was awake.

I swallowed it back and forced my breathing to slow to something that resembled normal. And then I listened.

That’s what Vito would have done. He would listen. He would pay attention to every detail. The hum of the car engine. The crunch of gravel beneath the tires.

I was in a car. In a van, more likely, and it was moving. The gravel meant they weren’t driving on a main road, and that meant they were taking me somewhere secluded.

Fear climbed up my throat as my mind tried to shy away from the truth, the reality of my situation. I squeezed my eyes shut despite the blindfold, like I could hide from it.

Vito wouldn’t have hidden from it. He would have faced it head-on, looking for every opportunity to turn the tables in his favor.

The van slowed. I could hear every piece of gravel crunch beneath the slowing tires. Slower and slower until it jolted to a stop, scraping my cheek against the abrasive carpet.

Two doors squeaked open. The driver and passenger side doors, I assumed.

I could only hear two sets of footsteps crunching through the gravel, around to the back of the van. Only two sets.Two men.

If I had my hands free, I could have taken them on. They didn’t know I was awake. I’d have the element of surprise. But my handsweretied. My ankles? I shifted my legs, trying to ascertain whether or not they’d been bound, but they moved unimpeded.

I was blindfolded. My wrists were bound. But they left my legs unfettered. Without sight, trying to run the moment they opened the door would be pointless, but a few well-placed kicks could take down an opponent.

The creak of a rusty door sounded near my feet and a cool breeze raced across my bare calves. I tried to envision the two men, imagining where they were standing and how I might be able to incapacitate them.

---