Two Kings

Chapter 14

The rest of the day, I spend staring at the TV and contemplating how to get the hell out of this bedroom. Not that it's a possibility, since the window's nailed shut and the door is locked from the other side. Even if I were to get out, though I'm not sure how far I'd get since Dom told me the house and surrounding land are under surveillance.

Which makes me wonder if someone is examining the footage—their employer. He could be watching me right now. Well, fuck him if he is. I won't let him or any of these men detour me from escaping. Even after my eventful jump and pointless swim earlier today, I need to try. This is my life and I want it back. And I'm willing to take drastic action to make it happen, even endangering my life.

But for the moment, I'm content to rest up in a warm bed and count my blessing that hyperthermia didn't set in and I'm not dead right now. Plus, they've been feeding and hydrating me around the clock: hot chocolates, fried eggs, pies and hot dogs, and that's not to mention the treats in between. Since I wasn't sure when I would eat again, I ate everything they offered. By the time the button on my jeans popped, I felt like an overstuffed pillow, bulging at the seams and ready for a nap.

And sleep I did, until I woke sobbing after dreaming of Rico not caring about me, not even enough to come after me. It's an unexpected pain I would not have associated with him—a stranger, but also my husband. This is yet again a reminder of the unusual life I have being married to a man I have no emotional connection to. Which is why I can't rely on the Mancini's. I'm not their problem. And I'm not foolish enough to think that Rico wants me around.

I end up falling in and out of sleep until I am awoken by a soft knock. Through one blurry eye, I stare at the light shining under the crack of the door. "Wh-what is it?" I mumble.

"Sorry to wake you, Alexis. But you need to get up and get dressed. We're leaving here in 10 minutes."

"Leaving. Why?" I rub my eyes and pull myself up on my elbow as the lock clicks and the door creaks open. The sudden glare of an overhead light has me shielding my eyes. I keep my gaze on the ground, staring at the older man's zip up shoes as he rocks from heel to toe. "What's going on?" I ask.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Just make sure you're ready to go when I come back."

Talk about weird; not that this situation is normal. The moment the door shuts behind him, I grab my jacket from the end of the bed, slip my arms inside, and zip up. I have no idea of time, only that it's still night and now freezing with the underfloor heating switched off.

Minutes later, and I'm in the back of the SUV and in a stand-off with Dom because I refuse to let him restrain me.

"Give me your arm, Alexis."

As I stare at the handcuff swaying back and forward in his hand, I shake my head. "You're not putting that on my wrist."

Dom Shrugs. "So I'll cuff your ankles instead."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Don't bet on it."

Fury rises inside of me. "This is bullshit, Dom. It's not like I'm about to jump from a moving car."

He pulls a face. "Take it up with my employer."

"I would, but since he's not here, I have no choice but to reason with you."

"No amount of reasoning with me will change my mind. Not when we're on the verge of wrapping this job up. Now, give me your wrist."

"You said you wouldn't hurt me."

"And I haven't. But I'm not about to argue with you when we have Mancini men on the way here as we speak. We need to leave now. Understand."

That shocks me. I did not expect the Mancini's to care, let alone come looking for me. "They're coming here—for me?"

Dom raises an impatient brow. "Yeah, they're coming for you?"

"So they know you kidnaped me?"

"I didn't kidnap you."

"Like hell!" I snap. "I asked you to take me to the mansion or let me out of the car, but you wouldn't. Then you brought me here and locked me in that room and wouldn't let me leave, which means you've been holding me against my will."

"I'm not doing this with you, Alexis. I've been paid to do a job and I'm doing it. Now do as I say, would you? We're in a rush. None of us fancy a bullet in the head today."

With a relenting groan of frustration, I offer him my wrist. He tightens the cuff, not too tight, but tight enough to feel it hang from my wrist like a snug bangle. "You really think they'd kill you?"

Dom huffs. "Of course. You are Rico's wife, after all? Mancini's top priority besides security is family. And now you're one of them. You can count on Nonna to send men out to find you, even if her grandson doesn't wanna be a part of it."

"What about your family, Dom? Why would you put them in danger to take me when you have a new baby?"

He chuckles to himself. "My family left me two years ago. My wife had a baby, though, just not with me."

"I don't get it," I say. "Why lie to me?"

He shrugs and pulls a face. "You seemed scared to be with me; I thought telling you I had a family would put you at ease, which I think it did."

By 2.36 am, it's just me and the older man traveling along some isolated road. With my cheek pressed to the glass, I observe the tiny flickers of light shimmer in the darkness, wondering where I'm being taken to. When I sit up and see the driver's attention darting between the road and the heater knobs on the dashboard, I can't help but say, "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Huh," he says in surprise. "What's dangerous?"

"You taking your eyes off the road to fiddle with the heater? It's as bad as texting while you drive. But I guess that's not much of a risk for a criminal like yourself."

He snickers. "True. I've been a working criminal since I was old enough to run. Spent the first few years in and out of prison, too, until I figured out what I was doing wrong."

I huff. "Sounds like my brother, only he's makes stuff ups on a major scale."

"He's the reason you're in this mess, isn't he?"

I pull at the cuff again and shrug. "How do you know about that?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it matters." I lean forward in my seat. "It wouldn't kill you to give me more information."

"Not happening."

"Why? I'd never let on that you told me anything. I mean that. Even if I end up facing the barrel of someone's gun."

"If I tell you who my employer is, Alexis, then I'll be the one facing the end of a gun."

"Fine." I sit back in the seat and huff. "Just know that when they kill me, I'm innocent and being punished for my brother's mistakes. And would you stop looking at that heater and keep your eyes on the road?"

He waves a dismissive hand at me. "I'm trying to figure out how to turn the damn thing off—I'm roasting over here."

"Then pull over and—" I don't get to finish the sentence as my body jolts forward against the seat belt and the sound of crumbling metal rings in my ears.

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