Page 172 of Fall into Savagery

And then the world went black.

33

CATALINA

My jaw hurt.

That was my first thought.

My head hurt.

Fuck, everything hurt.

I needed to open my eyes.

I didn’t know why that was, only that it was urgent I did so, but—I didn’t want to.

How could I open my eyes when everything felt useless?

I tried to move my hands, but it felt like they were being bound against … something.

My eyes flung open as I took in my unfamiliar surroundings.

My memories came back to me like a freight train, and panic set in.

Fuck, I had to get out of here before they came back for me.

My hands were bound in front of me by a rope.

I wiggled a little, but it was no use. It was tight. The more I struggled, the more the rope bit into my skin.

My legs were also bound.

I tried to work the knots around my ankles, but they were tight.

I was alone now, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case soon.

I didn’t know where I was.

It looked like an abandoned warehouse of some sort, with an eerie silence that echoed within the space. It was nothing like the streets of New York. There were woods and broken furniture scattered about the vast, open area, with broken windows everywhere, letting in just enough light to let me know the sun was setting.

I didn’t know how long I had been out, but I knew enough time had passed that my men were looking for me, and my boys—

A loud sob clawed its way out of my throat, and I closed my eyes and tried to regain control.

Now was not the time to lose it.

I could do this.

I looked around for anything sharp to help me cut through the ropes, but nothing.

Don’t panic. Not yet.

I could still get out of this. I would get out of this and return to my men and my boys.

I didn’t wait this long for my life to finally start to feel like my own, only to let Angelo Agnello take it all away from me.

I refused to be his victim again.

---