Page 7 of Fortress of the Brave

“She’s a pretty little thing.” The American says.

“Don’t even think about it. The boss doesn’t want her harmed. Not yet, anyway.”

“I wasn’t thinking about harming her.” He snickers, and my knuckles turn white as I squeeze my hands. “She might actually enjoy it.”

“You’re about as sick as me, do you know that?”

He grunts a laugh. “I’m totally fucked, then. So is she.”

I hear one of them walk closer and reach down to give me a shove with his foot.

I panic, but somehow I don’t move. I want to scream, claw at him, and escape. But I know that would be fruitless. I have to be smart about this.

“Do you know what they want with her?” Asks the American.

“Some extortion attempt to do with the Boston Mafia. Her sister works for Angelo Medici.” The way he spits out this person’s name is like venom. I’ve no idea what he’s talking aboutthe Boston Mafia?“So, our boss is using her sister to get to him, some shit like that. She’s gonna mess with him for a while, then kill him. Then we kill her.”

Someone is going to kill Rayne?I want to scream.

“Angelo Medici.” He laughs. “Good luck with that. No one gets that close to any of the Medicis, unless they come looking for you.”

“Well, maybe that’s about to change. You should see her sister, blonde hair, green eyes, luscious tits. I think these New Yorkers are growing on me.”

They both snicker.

“Come on, we better get back out there. The boss is on the way. She won’t like it if we’re in here pawing over her.”

She?

I hear them both leave and lock the door behind them.

I exhale the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. They both sound shady, and I have no idea what the hell they’re talking about.

Rayne just moved to Boston and took a job at an art gallery. That’s all I know about it. I don’t know anything about the Boston Mafia or anyone named Angelo Medici, and I am relatively sure neither does Rayne. Maybe they have the wrong people?

Hope flourishes in my chest that this has all been a big misunderstanding and they’ve kidnapped the wrong person. I’m hoping that when the ‘Boss’ gets here, they will realize their mistake and let me go.

What good am I to them?

I push myself up again to a seated position and rest my head in my hands. My mind is running wild, and I can’t keep up.

I feel dry and completely spent. I need to drink some water, but nothing is in this dusty old room except me. My kidnappers didn’t think about hydration.

I hear talking outside of the door shortly after, and then it unlocks again. I stay sitting upright as my eyes dart over to the door.

“You’re awake,” a female voice says as she walks forward. I hear the click of her heels on the dusty floorboards.

I swallow hard as I try to adjust my eyes, but it’s dark, and I can’t see her face.

“That’s good, Mia. I’m glad you arrived unharmed. I hope the men weren’t too rough transporting you here.”

I must look like a deer caught in headlights as I find my voice. “They drugged me,” I whisper. My voice feels like sandpaper. “Who are you?”

She walks closer and passes me a bottle of water. “Here.” She urges me to drink.

I take the bottle and unscrew the cap. “What do you want with me?” I say, shakily taking a guzzle.

“Your sister, Rayne, has some important things to do for me in her new job. Provided she does those things, no harm will come to you or her.”

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