Page 74 of Damaged Hearts

“Xander, he thinks she’s me. We have an hour, maybe two, until she’s gone forever.”

CHAPTER26

LAURA

The sting in the back of my head hurts like hell, but it’s so hard to open my eyes. Everything aches like I got hit by a dump truck. This is horrible beyond imagination.

What the hell happened? Okay, let me piece my memories together.

There was Xander and I in the shower, but…no, that was last night. What happened today?

Okay. Let’s get to work, brain. You can figure this out. What did I do this morning? Let’s start with food. That’s a good place, right?

I know I had coffee made by me and I ate…scrambled eggs with cheese and ham. That’s the first step. What else happened?

I work through everything in my mind until it clicks. The man that was following me. Whoever he was, he was after Gillian. I wasn’t about to let him hurt her or take her away. I may be mad at her, but she’s still my sister. God, I can’t believe I was just going to kick her out. I didn’t even give her a hug or tell her I love her. The last thing I did was slap her and tell her to leave.

And Xander. He left for work before I woke up and I didn’t get to say goodbye to him. The man I love.

The question is where am I? Am I dead? Did they just leave me on the floor?

I force my eyes open and nearly scream when out of the darkness, I see a shadowy figure waiting nearby.

“Good. You’re awake, Gillian. The boss wanted me to let you sleep before bringing you to see him.” I open my mouth to speak, but a bandana is wrapped around my head, muffling my voice. “Whatever you gotta say, you can say it to the boss.” Suddenly, he yanks me off the bed, or couch, or wherever I was lying. I must be out of it because I had no clue my hands were bound until he grabs my restraints.

What the fuck do I do? I can’t escape, but at least Xander knows I’m missing. He’ll be looking for me, right? He wouldn’t just let someone kidnap me and whisk me away to wherever this psycho is taking me.

He drags me up three different flights of stairs in complete darkness before we’re bathed in light and can hear the echoes of laughter, almost like a party. It’s a sound I’m all too familiar with.

“Boss, your girl is awake,” my captor announces as we enter a living area full of expensive rugs, massive book cases, and leather arm chairs. A fire is blazing in the fireplace as the man in the chair facing away from me stands to his feet, fixes his suit jacket, and turns to me.

My eyes nearly bug out of my head with recognition for the man I’ve never met.

Donatello Scarfoni. I remember his face from all the pictures Gillian showed me. This should’ve been something we expected when Gillian and I switched places. We didn’t even consider that Gillian had her own dangers I would have to face. We never even saw Donatello as a real threat. What a mistake that was.

“Gillian, I’ve missed you,” he says as he strolls over to me with the confidence of a runway model. He reaches behind my head and unties the bandana and, as soon as my mouth is free of it, a loud cough leaves my lips and I feel like puking. “You know better than to treat my lady like this, Stanley. What do you have to say for yourself?” He nearly bellows at my captor.

“Apologies, boss, but she was acting like a crazy person. She ran away from us and then she made a call for help. As soon as we left, two men in a truck arrived along with a girl who looked just like her, only her hair was different.”

“Aw, so you’ve been hiding out with Laura?” Donatello smirks at me as I clear my throat.

“IamLaura,” I rasp as I slowly stand up. “And I ran because my sister warned me you were looking for her. I locked myself in my apartment and hit the panic button my boyfriend gave to my sister in case she was in trouble.”

Donatello stares me down before rubbing his chin. “How do you explain the hair?”

“We just finished a three week long sister swap. Gillian was helping me out. The truck he saw was my boyfriend and he must’ve called her when he got the alert. He’s a smart guy. He’ll be looking for me.”

“Who the hell is Laura?” One of his goons asks.

“Gillian’s twin,” Donatello answers before folding his arms. “Who is this boyfriend of yours?” he presses, motioning for me to answer him.

“The Black Stallion VP called Gunner.” Someone out of my sight coughs on their drink. I swear I hear someone say “oh, shit” as the air turns cold, fear emitting in the air.

I learned very quickly that not everyone in San Jose knows Xander, but everyone knowsofhim.

“Don’t you worry, Laura. I’ll fix this. You’ll be back to your love soon. You have my word.”

I relax under his reassurance, but it is short-lived when he forces the bandana back around my mouth and pushes me back on the couch.

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