Beyond Ransom (The Ransom Series) (23 page)

Truth

The rest of the morning and afternoon
whirl
s
away in a haze of getting ready for the meet. 
I’m pulling out all the stops for this one, opting to wear a tiny red dress
that, in combination with my crimson hair and black heels, brings even the most
strong-willed men to their knees.

“You’re absolutely stunning,” Leo
observes as he walks me to the garage.

I smile, not only because of his
comment
,
but also because I know this is the last time
I’ll be walked blindfolded down these hallways and into a vehicle.  I can think
of many better uses for a blindfold.

I pull Leo to a stop and feel up his
chest until my hands find his face and I whisper, “I wanted to look good for
our grand exit.”

My fingers come to a stop at his chin
and pull his face to kiss me, my soft and sensual intent reciprocated with
Leo’s heavy and deep movements against my lips and tongue.

When we pull back from each other for a moment,
I smile again knowing
that
this is the
last time Leo will have to kiss me in the confines of this
awful
building.

When we’ve had our fill of each other
,
Leo’s hands linger down to my waist.  He guides me through the
rest
of the
path I’ve memorized to the garage.  The door opens to
a bustle of activity in the echoing space.  I can hear the creaking sounds of a
wooden crate
of ammo
being loaded into the same
vehicle that Leo is helping me climb into.

The entire drive to our destination
puts my nerves on edge.  I don’t think I was even this nervous before my first
mission with Phillips to get the black book from Ruiz.  My palms are sweaty,
and the only way I can keep myself from rubbing them together nervously is to
hold Leo’s hand between both of mine.  I can hear his subtle attempts to help
me breathe along with him, which he knows helps to calm me down.

This is my last ride in this vehicle. 
My last mission.  Leo’s last mission.  We’re about to start a new life
together.  We’ve created new life together.

So many thoughts pour through my head
as we drive that I’m pulled out of a bit of a stupor when we finally arrive at
our destination.  They wait until we’re out of the car and in the building
before Mark allows me to remove the blindfold.  A man is waiting for us,
greeting Mark and his men and even me before
frisking everyone for
weapons and
leading us into the space.

We’re in another industrial building
similar to Mark’s headquarters but more worn down and with a lot more
concrete.  It reminds me a lot of the prison.  I shiver and instantly walk
closer to Leo, my heels clicking loudly
against
the
floor.  My shoes will let Jack’s guy know we’re coming from a mile away.

The doorman motions us into a room,
supposedly an office with its plain metal desk and multiple metal chairs around
it, but it’s not at all a homey space like Mark’s office with its bookshelves
and art.  In fact, there’s nothing else in here but concrete walls and floors,
and it makes me uneasy.  I feel trapped and claustrophobic.  If Leo wasn’t
standing right next to me, I’d probably make for the door.

Mark and Leo take a seat in front of
the desk.  I stand between them, nervous out of my mind
while
trying to maintain the image of confidence, beauty, and power
that
I’m supposed to be exuding.  Two more of Mark’s men wait
in the back of the room behind us with our original chauffeur from the front
door.  We wait there in silence for minutes that pass by as slow as hours.

It seems like an eternity has passed
when a door opposite us opens with a loud cr
unch
in
its hinges.  There’s no doubt in my mind which one of the three men entering
the room is Jack’s guy.  He’s tall, dark-skinned, imposing.  His jet black hair
is slicked back to match the business-like appearance of his suit and tie.

“Mark Castili, I presume,” he greets
Mark, who stands up to shake his hand.

“Call me Mark.  And you must be Anthony
Russo.”

“Tony is fine.  No need for such
formalities among friends.”

Mark nods appreciatively before
gesturing to Leo.  “This is my associate, Leo Marini.”

Leo stands to shake Tony’s hand. 
“Pleasure.”

“Likewise.”

When the necessary introductions are
complete, Tony takes a seat behind the desk.  When his eyes lock on to me
,
my defenses go up immediately.  He looks me up and down, making no
effort to hide that he is checking out every curve of my body and every bit of
my
exposed skin.  Being browsed over like this is nothing new
for me, but it always fuels my aggression, and that anger overpowers my
nerves.  It almost always works in my favor.

Tony’s face breaks into a wide and
satisfied
grin
as he looks from me to Mark.  “Beautiful
woman.  I can see why you chose this one.”

“I’m not his woman,” I retort, slowly
sitting down on Leo’s lap.  His body instantly tenses beneath me as the gazes
of the room center on us.  I’m not usually so blatant with my attempts to show
which man around me I share a bed with, but today feels different.  The risk is
there
,
and I’m going to embrace it.

Tony’s eyes widen.  “I can see that.”  An
uncomfortable pause fills the air around us.  Tony hardly takes his piercing
gaze off me.  “I must admit, I’m intrigued by you.  This little spitfire
attitude of yours with that red dress is a bit overwhelming.”  He finally looks
away from me to address Mark, and I feel like I can breathe again.  “I know we
had some disagreement about pricing.  Perhaps if I could experience more of her
up close I would be more amenable to your requests.”

This isn’t the first time my role as
the only female in the room, or more likely the whole building, has led to me
being asked to touch or seduce a target during one of Mark’s business
meetings.  It’s part of my role.  This is all part of the act, although this
time I wonder if this is the first step in Jack’s plan to get me and Leo out. 
It’s a way to get me
away from Mark and
in Tony’s
hands.

I look to Mark for permission, as I
normally do, and Mark nods affirmatively.  Before I get up from Leo’s lap
,
I sneak my hand into his and squeeze lightly.  He knows I hate
this part of my role, but he also knows it’s a necessity.  It’s fulfilling
this
purpose
that has actually made me a valued member of Mark’s
crew over the last few months.

The air feels cold, the breeze against
my skin chilling me to the bone, when I stand up and walk around the desk next
to Tony.  He remains seated, his face at the height of my breasts from his
position.  He stares at them for a moment before
placing
his hands over them around the outside of my dress.  His hands
slither down my stomach and across to my sides to hold me by the hips.

With one last look down my bare legs
,
his gaze returns to my eyes.  It takes a moment for me to
translate the look on his face.  It’s sorrowful, filled with regret.  He’s only
spent two minutes in the same room as me
,
and he
somehow feels sorry for me.  It’s the exact opposite look of someone who’s
about to save you.

In the blink of an eye, Tony throws me
backward
and I go crashing to
the floor behind him.  Before I can even scramble to my knees
,
Tony’s two men have me by each arm, pulling me roughly backward
toward the door.  An involuntary scream escapes me before I realize what’s really
going on.

This is it.  This is the kidnapping to
take me away from Mark.

I continue to play the part, struggling
against the grasp of the two men as Mark would expect me to.  I play it up with
yelling and kicking
and
as much insubordination as I
can muster, but then I hear it.  Something I shouldn’t be hearing.  Something
impossible.

Leo’s muffled cries.  I remember them
vividly from the last day at the prison, when Leo’s mouth was taped closed and
he was
wordlessly
begging me not to choose him over my
family and my old life.  I look up from my strained position on the floor to
Leo.

Two men hold him back as he struggles
with all of his power against them, one man holding a hand tightly over Leo’s
mouth.

The men are Mark’s men.  Our own crew.

And Mark is sitting completely still,
smiling.

My body and mind go into overdrive, my
blood pulsing so rapidly
through
my veins I think the
pathways might burst.  With every ounce of strength left in me
,
I fight against the hands that hold me back.  I scream all the
oxygen out of my lungs.  I push my body to its physical limits to break free
and get to Leo.

I will not lose him.  I can’t lose
everything like this.  After all we’ve been through, it has
come down to this.

Something hard smacks me across the
face, dazing me.  My eyes slowly close as my brain resets itself from the
blow
.  For a brief moment I wonder if this is a nightmare, if I’m
really just in bed and Leo is next to me and I’ll wake up to everything being
as fine as it has been.

When I open my eyes, I see Mark.

“We’re going to have such a great time,
Morgan.”  His image fades in and out of focus as he approaches me.  His hand
touches my cheek
,
and I try to cringe away but can’t. 
“You and I can finally become properly acquainted without
him
stealing
all your attention.”

Leo’s fighting even harder now.  I
can’t make out his face
,
but I can hear the struggle
in his
muffled
screams.

I’m destroying him.  I tried to save
him, but I’m only going to be the end of him.  I failed him.

Mark slaps my cheek sharply, bringing
me further into the conscious world, snapping me out of the blurry haze.  My
vision is suddenly in focus, my hearing acute, my body absorbing every
horrifying detail of the room around me.

Mark’s facing Leo, approaching him with
deadly intent.

He’s going to kill him right in front
of me.

I thrash and cry out and beg with
everything I have left.  “Stop!  Don’t hurt him!  Please!”  Tears cascade down
my face.  My throat burns from the screaming.

Mark continues on
, completely
unaffected.  “Oh, Leo.  My boy.  My son.” 
He’s within a
foot of him
, running his hand through Leo’s hair
affectionately.

Leo fights against Mark’s touch but
stops abruptly.  Mark has a knife to his throat.

 “I’ve cared for you for the majority
of your life,” Mark says calmly.  “I put a roof over your head and food on your
table.  I gave you employment.  I even set you up with the girl of your dreams,
and how do you repay me?  You
plot against me.  You try to run away and take my greatest prize
with you.”

Leo’s eyes are fiery.  I know without
seeing myself that they mimic my own.

“Taking her from you is going to be punishment
enough, but I’ll sweeten this deal even more.  I’m going to give you the truth,
the sad reality of your life and your family.”

Leo’s face blanches, and for a moment I
stop struggling and stop breathing.  I just listen.

“Your father was insubordinate.  He was
too good of a man
,
Leo,
and
not
right for this crew.  He stood up to me too many times, and he paid for it with
his life, the life of your mother, and your future.”

The air is completely still and
silent.  Even from this distance I can see Leo’s body shaking.

“I killed them, Leo.  I ordered your
parents’ murders and kept you all for myself
.  I
raised
you to be my best man, the man your father could never be in this
organization.  I stole your family and your life from you, and I’m about to
take the only thing you have left.”

Leo looks at me with hollow eyes, and
my heart breaks.  I’m shattered into tiny pieces that can never be put back
together because I can’t be there to comfort him.  I’ll likely never see him
again.  We’ll be incomplete for the rest of our lives, however long or short
they may be.  He’ll never hold me or kiss me or give me his heart again.

He’ll never see his baby.

I scream and wail the pain out of me,
pressing forward with all my strength to break free in a hopeless attempt to
get to Leo.  My body needs to be with him
, to
comfort
him and let him protect me, but we’re done.  It’s over.  Mark played us.  He
played Leo his entire life, and in the end Mark is getting exactly what he
wanted.

My eyes stay trained on Leo as the
men holding me
pull me back toward the door.  My
physical
strength is fading despite my resolve to break free.  I watch
Leo’s
panicked eyes and the tears down his face and
his renewed struggle to
escape the hands that hold him
as I’m now
at
the
open
door, painfully grasping
its
frame to prolong
this to get every last second of seeing him that I can.