Fuck.

“What do you want?”

“It’s simple really. You and Perrelli will exchange yourselves for little Miss Sunshine over here. She goes free if you two die. Call it an eye for an eye. You killed my father, so I’m going to kill hers.”

“That’s it? Done. Give me a place and time and we’ll be there.”

“If you bring anyone else besides you two, she dies and we hunt all of you dumb waps down.”

Fucker. “Time and place, Volkov,” I say through clenched teeth.

“I’ll text you the address. Be here in an hour,” He says before hanging up.

I look around at our crew, then at the boss. “What are we going to do?”

Perrelli grins. “This is what we’re going to do,” He says and starts telling us his plan.

Chapter Nineteen

JENNIFER

I wokeup a little while ago tied to a bed in some dirty motel room. The place smells like mold and dirty laundry. The television is on loud, so no one would hear me if I tried to scream. Jacob and two other guys are in the room but aren’t paying me any attention. They’re more focused on the card game they’re playing than me. I take stock of myself. Aside from being sore from what happened between Jacob and me earlier, I don’t think he touched me while I was passed out. For that, I’m grateful. By the way he was acting before I wouldn’t have put it past him.

I think about the possible baby growing in my belly and am instantly protective of my little bean. I need to find a way to escape and save myself. Who knows what Jacob’s plan is and whether Kane or my dad will be able to get here in time. At this point, I know they’re looking for me, I just don’t know if they’ll be able to find me.

“Jacob.”

He ignores me.

“Jacob,” I say louder this time.

He looks over at me and glares. “What?”

“I need to use the bathroom.”

“So go,” He laughs, then goes back to playing cards with the other men in the room.

“Jacob, please let me use the bathroom. I won’t try anything, I swear.”

One of the guys says something to him in Russian, and Jacob sighs. “Fine, but I swear to God, Jenny. You do anything, and I’ll fucking kill you.”

The way he says it makes me tremble. There’s something terrifying behind his eyes I’ve never seen before. “I won’t. I promise.”

Jacob walks over with the guys and begins untying my binds. The other two stand and watch, one with a blade and the other with a gun. I have no doubt in my mind they’ll use them on me if I step out of line.

Trembling, I follow Jacob as he leads me to the bathroom. “Don’t do anything stupid,” He says. “You might make it out of this alive if your husband can follow the rules.”

I nod. “Jacob?” He stops and looks at me. “Was it all a lie?”

He nods, “Every single word,” He smirks, then closes the door behind him.

Once I’m alone, my stomach churns, and I rush to the toilet to throw up, but not much comes out. It’s been hours since I’ve had anything to eat or drink. I rinse my mouth in the sink, then fill one of the glass cups with water. As I’m drinking, I look at myself in the mirror. There are scratches and bruises all over my face, neck, chest, and arms. That’s when it hits me. I’ve never lived a normal life. I tried to pretend I did for a while and even convinced myself of it, but it was never true.

There’s no point in trying to pretend, it’s in my blood, it’s who I am. It’s who my children will be. Something shifts inside me. I’m no victim. I’m Lorenzo Perrelli's daughter and KaneRossi's wife. I’m not going to die tonight, and neither will Kane or my dad.

I use the bathroom and then wash my hands. Once I’m finished, I walk out to find Jacob still standing there. “Let’s go.” He says with a blank expression on his face. Why is he doing all of this?

As we’re walking back to the bed I was tied to, there’s a knock at the door. Jacob grabs me around the neck and shoves a gun to my temple. “Remember what I said, don’t do anything stupid.” He warns.