Runner (Riders of Apollo #3)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Raphael Flores

I need to get the fuck out of here.

It's like he wants me to play happy families with his wife - who is actually my sister - and his sons - e.g. my fucking nephews - like I'm not here to be a living blow up doll. Maybe I should just buy him one of those off of Amazon or something to curb his cravings long enough for me to get out of this hellhole wrapped in gold and marble.

At the moment we're watching a movie. A fucking movie. In a small cinema. In his house.

This is too fucking weird for me.

I much preferred my last kidnapping. I mean, I slept on concrete and got smacked around a few times but at least there I knew what was going on and I had Reign to tell me to chill the fuck out when I got too wound up.

I should be using the movie to try and forget what's happening but I'm only sinking into a higher level of panic.

There are so many fucking guards here and security measures that include lasers - it's literally a Bond villain home and I can't even appreciate it properly because of the circumstances. There's even a ten foot wall surrounding the property with barbed wire at the top and the only way through it is an iron gate manned by two guards with semi-automatics and a fucking handprint scanner.

How is anyone supposed to get in here to get me? How can I even get out? Dig a tunnel?

I feel like I'm in Alcatraz and I am not going anywhere without at least three bullet wounds. I need to recover more, I have broken ribs and everything. I am in no state to protect myself and if I was shot I wouldn't survive it. The only problem with waiting for recovery is the fucking pervert creeping on me right now.

I know he thinks he's being slick but I can see him looking at me every other minute from the other side of the room. He's got his arm around my sister and his two sons are sat in front of them and he's still looking at me hidden in the far corner away from them.

What I want to know is why my sister is here. Last I heard she was a hotshot on Wall Street and our parents would never let her stay in this relationship.

Even though this guy is rich, my parents are good judges of character and would immediately tell her to stay away from him. So, I can assume that she's been cut off as well, probably one of the reasons why she's reluctant to betray her husband to help me.

Despite my parents being raging homophobes, they were decent people who wanted the best for their children until they found out that I was attracted to what they considered the 'wrong' gender and my sister married a douchebag.

Okay, so maybe not good people but I loved them with everything in me and it broke my heart to disappoint them.

I wonder if my parents would take Maria back in if I was able to convince her to help me. If not, I would.

I would pay for travel, housing, new identities, anything she wanted as long as I got my sister back. I just want to go back home to my family and actually sleep. It's pretty uncomfortable sleeping with a lamp in your hands but when you're paranoid as fuck that some old guy is gonna break into your room and assault you, you have no other choice.

"Can we have pizza?" Ollie asks as he stands on the coffee table opposite us. His hands are on his hips and he has a little moustache from the chocolate milk he downed earlier. I look over at Mika who is just staring back at him unflinchingly.

They do this a lot.

The staring competition is normally a bi-daily occurrence and they have taken to keeping score. It's currently 9-4 to Ollie as Mika gets bored very quickly and he doesn't have the restraint to refuse him.

"We had pizza yesterday." I reply, knowing that they're not gonna stop their staring contest until one of them blinks.

"So?" Ollie retorts, his hands still on his hips. It's quite funny that he's staring down Mika when I'm the one talking.

"So, let's eat something else."

"I win!" Ollie cheers, his hands flying up in the air as Kota barks in excitement. I grab him by the waist and start ticking him, making him screech and laugh. "Stop!" He squeals and I slowly ease off, standing him back up opposite us and try and stop another staring contest from starting.

"Let's get some Chinese food." I suggest and when I get no arguments I place the order and wait.

With Mika wrapped around me, Ollie in my lap and Kota at my feet, I revel in the idea of having my own family.

"Bedtime boys!" Maria - sorry, Laura - says and both boys groan with annoyance and my heart stutters as I think about my little boy not being able to sleep right now because I'm not there to read him a story or tuck him in. Not being able to calm him when he wakes up from his nightmares, just not being there brings tears to my eyes.

I can't imagine how Mika's feeling. I know sleeping isn't easy for me, every time I close my eyes I flash back to the fight and then I start thinking about what Bainbridge will do to me and then sleep disappears into some distant future that I can't follow it to.

I head straight to my room, shutting and locking it behind me before ramming the chair underneath the handle. I tighten the clothes I used to tie it shut by tying it to the bedpost so whenever someone yanks on it, it will just shut again.

If that doesn't stop them from getting in then I at least have enough time to arm and prepare myself for a fight because I am not going down easy.

I have to think this through.

Step one: steal a gun from one of the guards on kitchen duty (they seem more lax and less likely to notice if I take their second piece and if they do notice they won't think much of it).

Step two: steal a knife from the kitchen, one of the smaller ones because they're easier to hide and they won't realise it's gone (hopefully, I don't know if they'll keep inventory on kitchen items, he's rich so I doubt it).

Step three: find my cut because I feel naked without it (probably not a priority but I doubt I'll have time to get it when the club come and shoot this place up, which I hope they do soon or I will have a nervous breakdown).

Step four: try and convince my sister to flip on her husband and help me deal with him in return for protection (this may be harder than it looks because she seems to rely on him for literally everything).

Step five: get the fuck out of here, with Maria or not (easier said than done since I have no clue how I'm gonna get over that wall without being seen or shot, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it).

Just gotta get out of this alive.