Chapter Thirty-Two
Sarah
The windows on the warehouse were boarded up and the grass outside was overgrown. Vines creeped up the side of the building, and the streetlights were all broken nearby. Since the sun was setting as I parked in front of the building, this made the atmosphere particularly ominous.
But I was sure things were about to get worse.
“Get out of the car, bitch,” Gina said, waving her gun at me again.
I was terrified that the thing would accidentally go off if she kept doing that. Cutting off the engine, I got out. Gina did the same, and the moment she looked away from me, I took my one chance to get away.
Without allowing myself to hesitate, I took off running away from the building. We were in a bad neighborhood, with other closed-up businesses and some poorly maintained residential homes down the block. That was the direction I headed, hoping I could get access to someone’s home to hide and make a phone call.
I knew I would be okay if I could just get Dmitri here. He’d save me. I believed that.
I hadn’t even made it half a block when the deafening sound of a gunshot rang out. It echoed off the buildings around us, and I instinctively ducked, even though I logically knew I couldn’t dodge a bullet.
The movement made me stumble, and I struggled to regain my footing as another shot rang out.
“Get back here!” Gina called out.
I didn’t dare look back at her, starting to run faster in a desperate attempt to get away. At least Gina was obviously a terrible shot. And she was wearing heels.
Maybe I could actually get away.
As soon as I had that thought, a figure stepped out of the shadows and into my path. I couldn’t stop myself in time and collided with what turned out to be a man’s solid form. He was tall and big, and I bounced off of him, barely catching myself before falling.
I was panting from the exertion of running, and I didn’t get a chance to say a word before another gun was produced, this one pressed to my forehead, and I shuddered.
“P-please,” I whimpered, “don’t hurt me.”
“Do you know who I am?”
I frowned. “No.”
His smile was enough to freeze the blood in my veins. “Luca Baldoni.”
My mind raced. The way he said his name made me think I was supposed to recognize it, and itwasfamiliar.
Then it hit me.
I was looking into the eyes of the man who had organized the murder of my boss and framed Dmitri for the crime. He had his men corner me in that parking lot and threaten me and my daughter. He was responsible for Dmitri being hit by a car and shot.
And I was at his mercy.
The sound of heels clicking on the asphalt behind me announced the arrival of Gina.
“Sorry about that, Luca, honey. She surprised me,” she said in a sultry voice that made me feel sick. Coming to stand beside me, she yanked on the hem of her shirt, revealing more of her cleavage. Just in case he somehow missed it, she also arched in back in a painfully awkward way, thrusting her chest toward him. She wasn’t just betraying the Bratva with this guy, she was obviously trying to screw him.
What an opportunistic bitch.
“We’re going inside,” Luca said in a curt tone. He didn’t seem to be interested in the goods she had on display, and it would have been satisfying to see her face fall if I wasn’t so petrified by the gun still pressed to my forehead. “Keep ahold of her this time.”
Gina’s grip on my arm was stronger this time, her terrible fake nails actually breaking my skin. But Baldoni lowered the gun, and I let out a long breath that I’d been holding.
Walking as between Baldoni and Gina into the warehouse, I saw that the inside wasn’t nearly as run down as the outside.
The ceiling was high and the floor was made of concrete. It was a clean, open space. There were tables filled with cash and drugs, and a box truck with the back open to reveal several crates.