With my hands tied behind my back, I awkwardly and uncomfortably lean back against the seat. Neither of the Rossi brothers says anything to me, and once again, the car is blanketed in silence. We drive a few more minutes before pulling up to a large parking lot behind an abandoned warehouse. Oh no… I’ve seen movies.
I know the kind of shady shit that happens at abandoned warehouses, and it’s nothing good. We circle the building like sharks, and I catch sight of another fleet of vehicles.
That must be Zane.
My heart starts beating faster and my throat swells. Am I really going to see him? What am I going to say? What is he going to say? Will he be mad at me? I never thought this would actually happen, so I never prepared myself for the scenario.
All my internal questions are cut off when I feel a hand on top of my head. Before I can turn to see who is touching me, the hand ruffles through my hair. Like a ten-year-old boy would do to a girl to make her mad.
“Hey! What the hell?” I whine, trying to move away from the hand.
“Can’t have you looking all put together and shit. You were my prisoner after all,” Xander explains. When he is done making a knotty mess of my hair, he takes the fabric of my shirt and rips it around my shoulder and down my arm. “There you go. That’s better.”
I look over at him, dumbfoundedly. “So, if they ask about where you kept me, should I lie? Maybe make up some dungeon?”
Xander smirks. “Smart girl, you are, though there isn’t any need to make it up. There is a dungeon at my place, and as far as everybody knows, that’s where you were kept.”
“Got it.” I nod, just as the car is put into park.
The front doors open first, the guards climb out and open the back doors. Damon is the first out. When I scoot toward his door to slip out, Xander grabs me by the arm, tugging me toward his door instead.
Sliding across the seat, he pulls me out of the car. My feet land against the concrete, and I suck in a precious breath of oxygen, almost as if I hadn’t been breathing the entire drive here.
Xander doesn’t give me a chance to prepare myself and starts walking toward the caravan of vehicles. Good thing he has an iron grip on my arm because the first step I take, I trip and almost faceplant. Xander pulls me up, and I fall in step beside him.
As soon as I lift up my head, I spot Zane and another man, off in the distance. My entire body locks up and my heart tightens in my chest.
He’s really alive.
Our eyes connect, and even from a distance, I can see the turmoil of emotions in their depths, relief, need, and overwhelming possessiveness. Zane is mine, and I am his. I realize that now. My feet move of their own accord. My body drawn to him like a magnet. I try to run toward him, wanting to tell him that I’m okay. That everything is going to be okay. But Xander jerks me back by the arm, keeping me close to his side before I can take off.
Zane’s eyes lower to where Xander’s hand is. His lip curls almost as if he is snarling like an animal. The glare in his eyes is deadly, and I’m positive that it’s taking every ounce of self-restraint he has, not to charge at Xander right now. The mere thought of a fight breaking out between the two of them is terrifying.
I can feel Zane’s rage rolling off of him in waves. I don’t know how this meeting is going to end. I just hope that after everything we’ve been through, that Zane and I can walk away in one piece.
30
I’m a bullet waiting to leave the chamber. My body vibrates with unchecked rage. Every fiber and cell in my body is telling me to move. Telling me to go to her, and rip Xander Rossi’s hand off of her body and beat him with it for touching her. For touching what is mine and always will be mine.
Like a ticking time bomb, I force myself to stand still, to hold back. I know it’s the most strategic thing to do, but that doesn’t make it any easier. If he does something stupid, or if I see Dove flinch even once, I’ll explode. I didn’t come all this way not to leave with her, but I won’t let him or anyone else hurt her.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Zane.” Xander’s lips tip up at the sides in a smile when we’re just a few feet away. “Matteo, it’s been a while. I would say it’s good to see you, but we both know that’s a lie. If it wasn’t for this agreement, I’d have my men pumping you full of lead by now.”
“Same.” Matteo nods, and all I can think is how fucked up these two fuckers are. I need to get Dove and get us out of here before these two end up firing their guns in some sick fight to see whose cock is bigger.
Damon, Xander’s brother, is watching me. I can feel his beady eyes on my skin, burning through my flesh. “The agreement has been signed by both parties and is final. You can have the girl back. We had our fun with her. I’m pretty sure she enjoyed her stay as well.”
Xander fully grins, and I clench my fist, envisioning my hand wrapping around his throat and squeezing. If he touched her, I will kill him. I’ll rip him to pieces, no matter what war I’ll start in doing soon. I’d kill anyone, bloody my hands in any way to protect her.
“Let her go,” I say through clenched teeth, surprised that the words don’t come out as an animalistic growl.
“Hand over the papers first,” Xander orders like I’m one of his men. Matteo nods to Karl, one of his guys, and he starts walking toward the space between our two groups. Damon takes a few steps forward, meeting Karl and snatches the papers from him.
He looks over them quickly before motioning to Xander that it’s all good. Instead of letting Dove go right away, which would be the smart thing to do, Xander pulls her closer to him, leans down, and whispers something into the shell of her ear.
That’s it. He’s going to die…
Taking a step forward, I’m fully prepared to wrap my hands around the fucker’s neck when Matteo and one of his goons, grab me by the arms, holding me back. I shrug them off, giving both of them a look that says don’t fucking touch me.
When I turn my attention back to Xander and Dove, he lets her go.
As soon as he releases her, she runs toward me, almost losing her balance with her hands tied behind her back. A moment later, her slim body slams into mine. She buries her face in my chest, and I wrap my arms around her protectively. Before I do anything, I bury my face into the crook of her neck and inhale deeply. This moment is like seeing the sun after a long cold winter. Like tasting water after a drought. It’s indescribable but all the words at once.
“I missed you so much,” she mumbles into my chest. “I thought you were dead.”
“I missed you too,” I reply, stroking a hand down her back. I want to strip her bare, look her over, and worship every inch of her body. I want to ask her what happened, if she’s okay, if she is hungry, tired, or hurt, but I also just want to stand here like this, doing nothing more than holding her.
“Let’s go,” Matteo says, nudging me in the side. I’m tempted to tell him to fuck off, but I bite my tongue. Getting Dove away from these guys is what I need to do. Now that I have her back in my arms, protecting her and ensuring her safety is my number one priority. Nothing in this world will ever separate us again.
Matteo offers me his knife, and I take it, cutting the plastic zip ties binding her wrists. As soon as her hands are free, she wraps her arms around me. There is nothing like feeling her tiny arms wrapped around me. It’s so strange that once upon a time, she tried to escape me, but now she holds me close as if I’m her savior.