Illicit Temptations (Tempted Series Book 1) (35 page)

I was going to die. God only knew where this man was going to take me, but wherever it was would be where he’d kill me. There was no one to save me. Mikey was gone, and I didn’t know if he had left me by choice or if he was in danger. I was going to pay the price for every choice my father had ever made. I robotically began to dress and not because I was willing to be the obedient hostage, but because I didn’t want to be shot dead in the nude. I had seen photos of my father’s associates after they had been killed. The press didn’t care what you looked like when they put you on the front page they just cared about selling papers.

I stood quickly knotting the back of my romper and slid my feet into my sandals just in time for the gunmen to press the barrel of the gun to my temple.

“Walk,” he ordered as his fingers dug into my hip. “If you say one word I swear to god I’ll shoot you dead.”

I obeyed biding my time hoping that someone would come home and see this man abducting me at gunpoint. Tears streamed down my face as he roughly pushed me down the stairs my grip on the banister keeping me from tumbling down them. He tucked his gun into the front of his pants and pulled my hands together.

“What’re you doing?” I asked my voice cracking with fear as I watched his gloved hands bind my wrists together with a zip tie. I flinched in pain as the plastic tightened around my dainty wrists marking my skin.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut the fuck up?” He said taking a fistful of my hair and yanking my head down. “Don’t let me gag that mouth of yours with something and ruin all the surprises I have in store for you.”

I bit my cheek to hold in my screams as he dragged me by my hair out the door. I tried to lift my head and search for someone to help me, but he pulled my head down so that I was forced to look at the concrete as he we walked. He released his hold on my hair my head throbbed from the constant pulling and opened the back doors to a black van.

“Get in,” he said kicking me behind my knees so that my legs buckled. I crawled into the back of the dirty van immediately hit with the stench of urine and fought back the urge to gag.

“Where are you taking me?” I cried desperately as he slammed the doors to the van shut.

The engine of the van started my body shifting along the dirty floor as my captor drove off speeding over the speed bumps. I cried out my sobs vibrating off the metal walls of the van reminding me I was alone. It was a horrible feeling knowing that you were the only person who could save you from your own doomed fate. I tried to pull myself together realizing I needed to come up with a plan. I wasn’t going to succumb to defeat. I might die, but I wasn’t going to die without a fight. I kicked my legs against the cage that separated me from the man who had held a gun to my head.

“Do you know who the fuck my father is?” I screamed, using my upper body strength to lift my legs and kick the cage with all my might again. He didn’t say a word and just continued to drive unaffected by my tantrum.

“My father is going to kill you. Do you hear me? You’re going to die. Just let me go before it’s too late. I don’t even know what you look like so it’s not like you have to worry about him finding out. Just leave me here… Please!” I screamed through my tears before falling back against the cold floor in defeat. Nothing I could say would change his mind. I was at his mercy and there wasn’t a damn thing I could say or do to change that. I closed my eyes and prayed to God, he’d make it quick.

Please don’t let me suffer.

I went to unlock the door only to discover I had never locked it to begin with. I shook my head at my negligence and placed my keys on the table, pausing when I saw my phone. I realized at that moment that I forgot to bring it with me when we went to the bar. I lifted it off the table, turning it around and glanced down at the screen. My eyes widened at the alert that said I had seven missed calls and one voicemail. I unlocked the home screen and first looked at the missed calls, noting they were all from “Don’t Answer”. Shit!

I ran my fingers through my hair knowing I fucked up and I’d have to listen to fucking Jimmy’s mouth now. I went to listen to the voicemail, but my finger lingered over the play button a sickening feeling creeping into the pit of my stomach. I glanced around the quiet house, my instincts shouting at me that something was off but I couldn’t place it. My gut clenched as I hit play…

“I don’t know why the fuck you aren’t answering the phone, but we were set up tonight. You have to get the fuck out of there. They know where you are….”

The phone slipped from my hands and I could faintly hear Jimmy’s voice continuing to dictate what my next move should be. I ran up the stairs climbing two at a time before barging into the bedroom where I had left her. My eyes frantically scanned the room, but she was gone. I braced myself against the doorjamb taking in the sheets in disarray on the bed and the fact that her clothing was missing too.

The door slammed downstairs startling me.

      
“Nikki?” I shouted out hopefully, hurrying to the stairs quickly making my way down only to find Aunt Gina, Burt, and Nana at the door.

“What’s wrong?” Aunt Gina asked reading my face.

“She’s gone,” I said, swallowing hard before bending down to grab my phone. My hands shook as I tried to call Jimmy. I lifted my head and looked at them. “Nikki’s gone. Someone took her.”

I closed my eyes as I listened to the phone ring waiting for Jimmy to pick up.

Please pick up.

I had no idea what the fuck to do. This was all my fault I should’ve never left her side. I fucking failed her. My call went to voicemail, so I tried again

“Are you sure someone took her?” Nana asked, looking out the window with her pistol in her hand.

“Kid did you get my message?” Jimmy answered. “You get out of--- “
      
“They took her! Someone took Nikki, she’s not here,” I said, cutting him off before leaning against the wall using it as an anchor to hold me up when all I wanted to do was drop to my knees and fucking scream.

“Fuck! Where the fuck were you when they took her?” He shouted at me.

“I went for a drive,” I said, swiping a hand down my miserable face. “I’m sorry Jimmy. I’m so fucking sorry,” I said, my voice breaking a little more with each word. “What do I do? Just tell me what to do to get her back.”

“We don’t even know where the fuck they took her,” he paused a minute. I didn’t know if he was talking to someone or if he was just trying to calm down and rationalize the situation.

“I’ll go look for her,” I said, knowing that I sounded like a moron a ridiculous moron.

“No. You just stay the fuck where you are in case by some sort of miracle she tries to reach out to you.”

“I can’t just sit here Jimmy. She needs me! I have to find her,” I hollered demanding that he listen to me.

“No she needs her father since she got kidnapped on your watch. Now do as I fucking say and stay put and don’t think for one fucking minute I won’t make an example out of your ass. Unlike Vic I don’t give a rat’s ass whose son you are.”

Anger boiled in my veins, but there was nothing I could say in my defense he was right. Nikki was in danger because of me and me alone. It was my job to protect her and keep her safe and like everything else in my life, I pissed it all away. If I wasn’t so, fucking consumed by my guilt and fear for her safety I’d laugh at the whole idea that while she was being kidnapped I was starting to believe I was the right man for her. Who the fuck was I kidding?

“Jimmy what’re they going to do to her?” I said, breaking down feeling the hot tears fall from my eyes onto my cheeks.

“I don’t know, but the man who took Nikki didn’t take her out of the goodness of his heart. He’s a stone cold animal. If we don’t find her soon, I don’t know what he’ll do to her. That man is capable of anything.”

I pictured her face that smile of hers haunting me when I closed my eyes. I had never been more frightened in my life. I dropped the phone and slid to the floor bringing my knees to my chest as I prayed to my parents asking them to watch over the woman I loved.

It’s true what they say when one of your five senses is impaired the others work overtime for you. I know this now because after my father’s enemy abducted me, he had taken me to an abandoned warehouse and only allowed me a few moments to take in the hell that I was in before he tied me to a metal chair and blindfolded me. He robbed me of my vision, forcing me to rely on my other senses to get me through this ordeal. Not being able to see caused everything to seem louder, especially the droplets of water that leaked from the roof onto the concrete almost sounding as if someone was tap dancing. My sense of smell was working overtime the stench of urine so strong along with the foul smell of something that I chose to label as a dead animal my brain refusing to think that there were human remains anywhere near me.

My body stiffened automatically going on high alert at the sound of someone’s feet padding across the concrete. I whimpered realizing he was back. He had been relatively easy on me sparing me all the horrible mortifying things I feared he’d ultimately do to me, but there was only so long he’d wait before he inflicted the torture planned for me.

He hovered over me, his scent making me wonder if I made it out of this if I would always remember the way he smelled. I shuddered at the thought that I’d take the memory of him forever with me. I held my breath as I felt his fingers on the back of my head. Was this it?

He untied the blindfold giving me back my vision. My eyes slowly opened, blinking as they tried to focus. I lifted my head as the man’s shadow loomed over me and tried to make him out. My heart sank as his face came into focus, realizing that he had taken his mask off unveiling his identity to me knowing that it could only mean that if he let me see him he had no intention of letting me go free.

He wasn’t older and by older I meant that I had envisioned him to be around my dad’s age. If I had to guess, I’d say he was in his forties. His green eyes held me captive as they locked with mine his hands working on pulling out a bagel wrapped in wax paper. He held the food to my lips and tipped his chin.

“Eat,” he demanded.

My eyes diverted from his to the bagel he was offering me. I swirled whatever saliva was left pooling in the sides of my mouth and spat on the food before lifting my eyes back to his.

“Fuck you,” I hissed. If I was going to be at his mercy, I was going to go down swinging with everything left inside of me.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Daddy taught you well,” he said throwing the bagel onto the floor. “Suit yourself. I don’t give a fuck if you starve,” he pulled out a chair, turning
it around backwards and sat down in front of me. “Time to make a phone call.”

I drew my eyebrows together as I watched him pull his phone out of his back pocket lifting it up and waving it in my face.

“It’s time to make my demands clear to your old man. It would be good if you sounded scared and if you can’t do that then I’ll just have to put a little fright in you,” he reached behind him again pulling out his gun and aiming it at me.

“You know what I think? I think you’re full of shit because if you were going to kill me, you would’ve done it already, but you don’t have the balls to kill me.” I said gravely.

He cocked his head to the side, contemplating my words. “It’s a good theory, but make no mistake I will kill you if I have to. However, if I kill you now then it’s not likely daddy will deliver what I need from him.”

He took the phone and quickly worked his fingers making his phone call all the while holding his gun steady on me. I don’t think I ever hated someone as much as I hated the person before me. The sound of the phone ringing echoed off the walls of the warehouse as we waited in silence for someone to answer.

“Hello?” My father’s frantic voice filled the room, bringing tears to my eyes. I fought to hold them back to hold it together at the sound of his voice. I had never heard my father’s voice sound so full of fear before.

He shoved the phone in my face. “Talk,” he whispered harshly as he lifted the gun to my temple.