Page 4 of Keeping My Captive

I finish off most of my drink, dancing and laughing when suddenly I realize Selina dropped her drink. “Whoa!” I call out, bumping into her. “Okay, you’re cut off!” I joke. But when I look up and see the worry and fear in her eyes, I sober up quickly. “What? Selina, what’s wrong?” I ask urgently.

Her eyes cut away from me and focus in on a specific area on the second floor. I try to look to see what she’s staring at, but all I see are people drinking and having fun.

“Constantine is here!” she says in a panic, her eyes darting around.

And with those words spoken, what was supposed to be a fun girls’ night out turns into a freaking nightmare within the matter of a few seconds.

“Are you sure it was him?” I ask Selina, grabbing her arm and shaking her hard. I need her to focus.

“Yes! No!” she sputters out. “I’m not a hundred-percent sure, but I think it was him.”

I look around the club, torn between wanting and not wanting to see him. Constantine Carbone has been a thorn in my family’s side for years. I remember overhearing stories about him when I was a child, thinking he was the real-life boogeyman. And the thought of actually facing him tonight has me shuddering. He’s responsible for destroying a lot of lives. Poor Selina was in his clutches for an entire decade while he did all sort of sick and depraved things to her. And if he’s here tonight, that means he’s looking for her and wants her back.

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath before I pull my cell phone from the small clutch in my trembling hand. “I’m going to call Renato just in case. He’ll know what to do.”

When I hear his familiar voice answer the phone, my heart clenches inside my chest. “Renato, it’s me.” And then I take a deep breath before telling him, “Listen, don’t freak out, but we’re at the club.”

Renato has been dealing with my shenanigans for years. This isn’t the first time I’ve snuck out of the house without an entourage of bodyguards against my parents’ best wishes and without him knowing until the next day.

“Damn it, Aria!” He curses under his breath before he asks in a demanding tone, “Which club?”

“Liquid Lounge.”

He berates me for a full minute, telling me how dangerous it is to leave the house without his knowledge, especially now, as if I don’t already know all of that. Rolling my eyes, I cut him off and say, “I don’t need your shit right now, Renato. I need your help.” I glance at Selina, who looks ghastly pale with dread in her eyes. “Selina thinks she just saw Constantine Carbone here.”

Renato pauses a beat before he tells me, “You need to get out of there, Aria. Right now. Do you hear me?” His tone is severe. “Don’t even pay the tab. I’ll take care of it later. Just get the fuck out of the building.” I don’t think he’s ever been this brusque with me before, and it’s scaring me.

I nod in understanding even though he can’t see me. I look at Selina and tell her, “He said we need to get out of here. I’ll text the driver to come pick us up. He’s only a few blocks away. Then we can —.”

I don’t get to finish my sentence. A loud, deafening boom sounds, and the music suddenly cuts off.

Pop, pop, pop, pop!

Selina pulls me down to the floor, sheltering me as the gunfire goes off. The crowd of people surrounding us erupts into panic, screaming as they start running for the nearest exits. Acting quickly, Selina pulls me under a table so that we don’t get trampled to death in the ensuing chaos as the shooting continues to explode through the entire building.

Dead bodies begin to fall around us until the place looks like something out of a war movie.

“Aria! Aria!”I can hear Renato’s frantic screams from the speaker in my phone, which is now lying on the floor next to our feet.

People are crying, screaming and trying frantically to escape, and anyone that moves is just being mowed down by the gunmen. I begin to hyperventilate; my senses on overload; my flight or fight kicking into high gear. “We need to get out of here!”

Selina nods in agreement. “Stay low,” she instructs.

We scramble out from under the table, and I barely remember to grab my phone at the last second, holding it in my hand like a lifeline. Perhaps because it is.

My legs threaten to buckle, but Selina drags me alongside her towards what I hope is an exit.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” someone calls out.

Selina suddenly stops dead in her tracks as if the voice has an unforeseen power over her. Her eyes are full of pain and regret as she yells at me, “Go! Get out of here!”

Tears fill my eyes as I realize she’s sacrificing herself for my safety. Frantically, I pull on her arm, hoping that she’ll change her mind. “I’m not leaving you!” I cry, my vision blurring.

“Get out before it’s too late!” she hisses at me, pushing me towards the exit and away from her. I can see the hidden communication in her eyes. She wants me to go get help; because if we’re both taken, there’s no hope for us.

Sobbing, I give her a small nod before I turn and run out the door at the end of the hallway. I shove my phone down the front of my gold, sequin mini dress, hoping that Renato is still on the line and is coming to rescue us. There are several people gathered outside, all of them turning to look at me, fearing that I’m one of the gunmen coming out to finish the job.

I move towards the crowd, hoping to blend in and hide until someone comes for us, but I only get two steps in before I’m suddenly hauled up in the air. I’m crushed in a gripping hold against a big, burly man who smells like sweat and grease. I scream at the top of my lungs, begging for someone to help me, but the people who looked like they were willing to help before are suddenly scattering in the wind, afraid for their own safety and self-preservation.

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