Mr. Lawson's Assistant

Chapter 35

Air.
My throat hurt. I gasped and my eyes flew open. I sputtered, coughing and leaning forward in my position, desperately trying to fill my lungs with air. Restrictions held me back against the cold metal on my arms, but my eyes were too blurry to tell anything apart from the black spots.
Slowly, the spots started to fade, and I blinked rapidly, feeling my panic rising. I remembered what had happened, but I couldn't remember anything past hearing Kenya call my name. I had been abducted, I knew that much.
Lifting my head, still breathing heavily, I scanned my surroundings, as my vision started to clear. I was inside some sort of old warehouse. Dropping my eyes to my lap, I saw that I was zip tied to a metal chair. Both my arms and my legs were secured tightly to the metal frame. My mouth was gagged too, but I was still fully clothed from the party.
Chewing the gag, I grimaced when I tasted whatever it was that was on it. Shoving my tongue against the gag, I grunted and yanked against the zip ties. Feeling the plastic rub my bare legs, I held my breath and jerked it again. Tilting my head forward to see the zip ties, I started to remember something I'd seen online about how to get out of them, but the sound of a door opening took my attention. Lifting my head, I watched as three men and a woman entered the warehouse across the room, letting light into the greyish building.
"Hola, Oana."
I recognized the man who approached me, as the man I'd seen on the crosswalk when I'd first started working for Mr. Lawson.
Glaring at him, I watched as the the other two men and the woman drew nearer. Switching my attention to the man who'd spoken, I assessed him quickly. I could tell he was smaller in size than the man who had choked me in the parking lot, and he was clearly not an athlete.
Looks like someone's had one too many tacos.
I thought with a scoff.
"I'm sure you know who I am." The man paused and smiled faintly. Motioning to one of the men, he pointed at me and said something under his breath in Spanish.
The man walked over and pulled out a knife from his boot. I stared at him with wide eyes, but he walked around behind me where I couldn't see him. I felt him jerking on my gag, until suddenly it fell off into my lap. Lifting my eyes to the man in front of me, I glared at him.
"Better?" He asked me, his voice thickly accented. He held my gaze with an intensity that I did not like. I glanced down at my legs.
"My arms and legs are still tied," I muttered, and he chuckled.
"Isn't it a shame."
He took a couple of slow steps forward, until he was a mere three or four steps away from me. "I have a few questions for you, cariña." He started, running a hand through his thickly gelled hair. He surveyed me for a moment, and murmured something in Spanish again, making the man behind me snort.
"Get to the point." I pursed my lips, gripping my hands together behind my back.
"Feisty, aren't you?"
I glared daggers at the man, and he took another step towards me.
If looks could kill...
"Why am I here?" I asked, not breaking his gaze.
"For ransom."
His answer took me by surprise, and by the way he smirked, it was evident on my face.
"I'm sure you've noticed how wealthy the Lawson brothers are?" He said, gesturing to me, as he fiddled with the gold chain around his neck. "Greyson and Damon have long tried to lock me up, but hopefully, by now, they've realized that was a mistake..." Pedro chuckled, running his eyes over me, "When I sent my men to go kill you at your apartment, and they came back and told me about how Mr. Damon had come to your rescue, I found something I could finally exploit."
My temper rose, and I clenched my fists behind my back. "You're wrong," I spat, shooting daggers at Pedro with my eyes.
He smirked. "Am I?" He motioned to the woman who was standing behind him, and she immediately handed him a blue file. The woman's eyes flickered to me, and her lips twitched. "Gracias, Annitta," Pedro smiled at the woman as she stepped back.
Moving his black eyes back to me, he flipped open the file and lifted a picture from it. Closing the distance between us, he held the photo up to my face.
My heartbeat faltered.
The picture showed Damon and I standing out in the water, his hand and mine disappearing under the water. Our eyes were locked onto each other's and I was staring up at Damon with unguarded eyes.
Pedro lowered the picture, "Am I wrong cariña?" He taunted.
I pursed my lips and clenched my jaw. "Yes."
He chuckled, leaning into my face, as he showed me another picture from the file.
This one was of Damon carrying me to my room from the couch. Someone had taken it from outside on the deck of the beach house.
My breath hitched, and I felt my heart pounding against my chest. "You creep!" I yelled, jerking my knee up and knocking Pedro in between the legs.
He cursed and stumbled backwards, and I felt my neck be jerked backwards by my hair. Gritting my teeth, I held in and yelp when the man who had untied my gag yanked my hair back roughly.
Pedro righted himself, slinging a bunch of Spanish curses at me, as he approached again. The man behind me forced my head forward, and I felt the sting of a slap across my face.
Holding my breath, I withstood his second, third, and forth slaps to the face without a word. When Pedro stepped back, I lifted my eyes to him and met his gaze, biting back another insult, and holding back tears.
"Done?" I whispered, gritting my teeth together. I could feel my jaw pinching at the pressure.
He snarled, stepping forward to wrap his fingers around my neck. "I could just kill you and save myself the trouble," He sneered into my face. I grimaced at his breath, and closed my eyes.
I forced a tight smile, "I'd think that's a win-win."
Pedro roughly unhanded my neck, and took a step back, straightening his suit. "Send word to the Lawsons; if they want to see Miss Oana alive again, they'll have two million for me by the end of the week." He snapped, and the woman behind him started scribing on her notebook.
"And if not, Señor?" She asked meekly.
Pedro moved his eyes back to me, "Then the next time they see her, she will be inside a casket."