Page 32 of Fire and Silk

CHAPTER SIX

“MILA.”

I pop my head out of the bathroom when I hear my name, having just finished rinsing off and changing into a pair of pajama pants and a tank top.

I spot Dimitri and Niko standing in my room and immediately know I’m not going to like whatever this is.

“What’s going on?” I take a step back when Niko approaches, handcuffs dangling from his fingertips.

“Stay calm.” He grabs one of my wrists before I can react and snaps a cuff around it. Twisting my body, he snaps the other, securing my arms behind my back. My heartrate spikes and a wave of fear washes over me.

“What’s going on?” I ask again when Niko guides me back around to face him.

“Boss needs you downstairs.”

“What? Why?” My voice spikes an octave.

I know what’s downstairs.Unfriendlies, as Dimitri had called them. Which can only mean one thing...

“Let’s go.” His voice is low and controlled.

Grabbing me by the bicep, he jerks me out of the room, my feet barely able to keep upright, causing me to trip a couple of times before finally finding my footing.

“Niko, what is going on?” I try to fight against him, but with him on one side and Dimitri flanking my other, there’s really not a whole lot I can do, especially with my hands cuffed behind my back.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask when we reach the main floor, the hysterics building in my body displayed clearly in my voice.

“Just shut the fuck up and play along.”

Play along?

What does that even mean?

Pushing through a set of double doors, Niko shoves me into the courtyard...hard. So hard that I topple over, my shoulder connecting painfully with the concrete floor.

“You wanted proof.” Mateo’s voice filters through my ears. I look up to see him snarling down at me like I’m the most disgusting thing he’s ever seen.

My insides twist.

“Here she is.” His gaze swings forward and my eyes follow his, finding two men standing in the center of the courtyard, flanked by a handful of Mateo’s guys who have guns drawn and are ready to fire if they try anything.

“Let us see her face,” one of the men demands, his voice crackly and wheezy like he’s smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for the last decade.

Seconds later, fingers tangle in my hair and the pain in my shoulder becomes a distant memory as Mateo uses the long strands to pull me to my knees. Forcing my head forward, he holds my face in place with one hand in my hair and the other tightly locked under my chin.

Tears sting the back of my eyes and I have to blink several times to be able to focus in on the two men.

Both older. Both a hundred times more dangerous looking than any of Mateo’s men. A violent shudder runs through my body at the sight of them.

These are them. The kind of men Dimitri was telling me about. The kind that rape and beat women and burn children alive. And here I am, completely defenseless as they stare at me like savage lions and I’m the first meat they’ve seen in days.

What cartel are they from?

Why are they here?

Why amIhere?

A million questions run through my mind as my scalp continues to burn from Mateo’s violent grip.

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