Page 68 of Tyrant (The Villetti Chronicles)

I put the purple dress on and looked at myself in the mirror. It perfectly accentuated my figure, hiding the bits I wasn’t so keen on and highlighting my curves. Remi had been right. I opened the curtain and stepped out so she could see. Her eyes roamed over me for a moment before she smiled.

“Well, damn. Be glad Enzo’s over there or he’d be saying something inappropriate.”

“You have good taste.”

She shrugged and gave me a smile. I slipped back into the dressing room and tried something else on, coming out to show her. After I’d chosen a few outfits, Remi called Enzo over, who dutifully paid for them and held the bags. If Zayn was going to treat me to new things, I might as well be grateful and actually get clothes I liked. I doubted my coming back empty-handed would please him. It might earn me a punishment. I didn’t want any more of those today. What I did want was for him to hold me, care for me and reassure me everything would be okay.

“Why are you being so quiet?” Remi asked Enzo when we were walking to the next shop.

“Other than my brother threatening me if you told him I’d been a dick?”

“Did he tell you he’d take your toys away?”

Enzo opened his mouth, then closed it, settling for shooting Remi daggers instead. I hid a smile behind my hand. Remi clearly had no qualms about telling it like it was, and I respected that. In fact, she was more like me than I realised. I was beginning to see why Zayn wanted me to get to know her.

It made me miss Kaylee all the more. I wanted to talk to her just once to make sure she was okay. To make sure she wasn’t worried about me. I had to think of Dad too. He’d hate me being gone. It made my stomach sink. Here I was getting treated to an afternoon out and they had no idea where I was. Dad thought I’d been taken by another gang.

Berating myself over the situation wouldn’t help matters, so I shoved the thoughts away.

Just enjoy getting to know Remi. She’s important to Zayn. And he’s important to you.

I stuck to my resolve as we visited a few more shops, adding to the bags Enzo was holding for me. And when we got coffee afterwards. Remi turned out to be a lot of fun. She’d been awkward at first, but as the two of us relaxed into being around each other, she opened up to me and I did her. She was twenty-six, four years older than me and had known Zayn most of her life, just like me. I discovered she lived alone in a small flat and didn’t get out too much, so this was as much of a treat for her as it was for me. I decided I liked her and hoped we could be friends, that I’d get the chance to spend more time with her.

I was glad she didn’t ask me more questions about Zayn because I didn’t know how to answer them. Telling her the truth, that I’d made a deal with him in exchange for him covering up the fact I’d murdered my uncle wasn’t something I could do. And nothing else could explain why my situation with him was all kinds of fucked up.

We were walking back to the car, joking with each other about Enzo’s arms being completely full of shopping bags. He was scowling at the two of us and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. I’d just nudged Remi’s arm when a black van pulled up beside us, wheels screeching to a halt. The next thing I knew, several men in balaclavas piled out. One of them grabbed a hold of me, shoving Remi out of his way in the process. She let out a yelp, falling onto the ground as the man pulled my arms behind my back. I struggled in his grasp, wanting to know what the fuck was going on.

“Let go of me!”

He shoved a gag in my mouth and a hood over my head, making everything go black. I was picked up and held against a chest, so my arms were restrained. I kicked out instead, trying to scream behind the gag.

“Keep back, fuckin’ keep back,” a man shouted from nearby.

“Get away from her!” Remi screamed.

“Get in the fuckin’ van.”

I was thrown down stomach first onto a metal floor. A body pinned me down on it. The van door slammed shut. We were jolted forward as it took off. I tried to kick out at the person holding me. He got off me, grabbing a hold of my arms and tying my wrists behind my back. I kept kicking, but my legs were tied too. My heart pounded so hard, I could hear it ringing in my ears. My fight-or-flight response was in full force. I breathed in and out, trying to calm my nerves. I couldn’t scream or move properly, so I stopped struggling to conserve my energy. Yes, I was terrified and rightly so, but making things worse for myself wouldn’t do me any favours.

I had to take stock of my situation. Had to work out what was going on.

What the fuck just happened?

Had I just been kidnapped in broad daylight?

If so… by whom and why?

Zayn assured me I’d be safe with his brother and Remi. So what the hell was I going to do now I’d been taken by fuck knows who to fuck knows where?

You stay calm and you wait. All you can do now is wait.

My heart sunk right down to my feet. This was bad. Really fucking bad, but I couldn’t afford to lose my shit. The only way out of this was to keep my head on straight until I could find out how to escape. Until I could find out who wanted me and why.

You can do this, Ari. Be strong. Make Zayn proud of you for not falling apart.

And it was the only thought that carried me through the journey in the van to whoever had the audacity to take me away from the man I was pretty sure I was falling in love with.

Twenty Three

---