Page 17 of Claimed by my Stepbrother

I put my fist through the wall beside me and say through gritted teeth, “How the fuck did this happen?”

“He said that they made your father at the airport and followed him here. They were gonna nab him to teach you a lesson, but they saw the girl wandering around all alone and decided to take her instead. I don’t know, boss. If your father didn’t fly in here, they might not have made a move.”

“Figlio di puttana,” I mutter. “What do they want?”

“They want you to concede. They want you to give up and join their family.”

“That won’t happen. I’ll kill every last one of them first.”

“So, what do we do now?” he asks me.

“Get the car ready and give me ten minutes. We’re going to get her back.”

I step back inside to find my father and his wife waiting to pounce on me.

“Where is she? What did he say?” she shouts.

“I’m not going to lie to you. She’s in a little trouble, but they won’t hurt her. They wouldn’t dare. Vito and I are going to go get her.”

“What do you mean? Who won’t hurt her? Was my daughter kidnapped because of you?”

As hard as I try I can’t help but blow my stack, “No. Your daughter was kidnapped because of you. They made you, Papà. They came here for you—the great retired head of the Gallucci crime family.”

“The who?” his wife gasps. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we need to call the authorities.”

“No, we don’t. No police.”

“Oh, yes. I will call the police. Why wouldn’t I?”

My father pulls the phone from her hand and says, “No, you won’t. You’ve disrespected my son in his home enough. Now, you’ll be quiet and let him do what needs to be done.”

10

ABDUCTED

GABBY

The tension in the house is more than I can take. I know that if things work out between Giovanni and me, we would inevitably have to tell our parents, but trying to justify a relationship that’s just blossoming isn’t something I’ve prepared myself to do.

I feel like I’ve failed Giovanni in some way because I was so incapable of defending myself. Right now, I just want to find a hole to climb into so he can forget about me and find someone worthy of his attention.

Liar! You don’t want anyone else to have him. You’re already falling for him.

I walk toward the gates of the compound and find that the guard isn’t at his post. There’s always someone standing here, so I look around to see if he might have gotten distracted and walked away. As I turn to face the house, a car speeds up behind me. Before I can move, two men jump out and drag me to the back door. Oh god! They toss me down on the seat and speed away with me.

One of the men gets in the back beside me, and I kick at him while backing myself up against the door. I grab the handle and tug, but the door won’t budge. The man grabs my legs and tosses them aside.

“Give me something to calm this bitch down,” he shouts and a man in the front seat hands him a wet piece of cloth. He pins me down on the seat and shoves the cloth on my face. Two breaths and the world goes dark for me.

My head is throbbing when I open my eyes, confronted with the reality that I don’t know where I am or what these men want with me. My vision is blurred and I blink and squint in the darkness, trying desperately to get my bearings.

“She’s awake,” someone whispers and I turn my head in the direction of the sound. It’s too dark to make out anything more than the shadow of a man.

A light clicks on above my head, sending a searing pain from my eye sockets to the back of my skull, and I wince and close my eyes.

“That mix of chemicals Dominic used to knock you out is a doozy. Go get the girl some water. Hydration helps,” the man says.

I shield my eyes with my hand and open them again. The man standing over me comes into view. He’s about the same age and height as Giovanni, but he has a lean build. As I examine him further, I realize he’s one of the men that met Giovanni in the house that night. It was the night Giovanni scolded me and told me I made myself a liability. By the looks of things, he was right.

---