Mob Boss’ Curvy Hostage by Lisa Lovell
Chapter Nine
Sophie
The sack is pulled off of my head. I take in the sight of the men in front of me. One older, one younger, and both look mean as mean can be.
My dress has been torn to ribbons. I hadn’t worn a bra today. I didn’t want it to ruin the lines of my dress. I’m completely exposed in front of two strange men. I think I’m going to be sick. There are only a few ways this can go, and none of them are good for me.
“Let’s start from the beginning,” the younger one says. “Why are you here?”
“I keep telling you, I’m here by mistake,” I plead. The mountain of a man with salt and pepper hair rolls his eyes.
“I don’t take kindly to liars, so you better start telling me the truth,” he snarls.
“Antonio,” the woman snaps. “Back off.”
“We need to know why she’s here.”
The woman steps closer until the man, Antonio, has no choice but to look her in the eye. “Are you deaf?” She hisses. “Back. Off.”
Tension grows between them until I’m sure things will come to blows. Eventually, Antonio backs away with a grunt. The woman, whoever she is, is the one with the real power here.
“Please,” I look up at her, hoping to appeal to her woman-to-woman, “This is just a huge misunderstanding.”
“No such thing.” She looks at me with even more malice than Antonio did.
“Boss is here,” a second man calls from the doorway.
Boss? If these men are with the Valente mob, then the boss has to be…
I scramble to remember rumors and headlines involving the Valente family. They have a front runner, but I’ve never seen him pictured before. His name starts with an R, I’m sure of that.
Just like Ryan.
“The two of you are going to watch her,” the woman snaps. “If either of you come within ten feet of this girl before the boss talks to her, I’ll break your fucking fingers.”
“Do you ever relax?” The second man asks. “Seriously? Forget a stick up the ass. You have a whole damn forest.”
This woman should be in the dictionary next to the phrase if looks could kill. They don’t even put phrases in the dictionary, but they should make an exception, just for her.
She steps into the hallway and closes the door, but it doesn’t completely latch. I can hear the sounds of someone else approaching. To steady my rapidly increasing heart rate, I try to take calm, controlled breaths. It doesn’t work the way I hoped it would.
I can’t lose my shit here. If I panic, cry, or act afraid, these people will just think I’m guilty of something. Not that they don’t already think that.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I should have just called Ryanand told him I had his wallet.
“Who is in there with her?” A man’s voice snarls. Not just any man’s voice. Ryan’s voice. I don’t know if I should feel relieved that he’s here or not. I know how to get into this building. I have access to some of his finances. Every mob movie I’ve ever seen tells me that I’m in a bad position.
“Antonio and Lucas,” the woman replies.
“I gave you instructions.” He’s angry. There’s no doubt about that. “Why didn’t you follow them?”
“And leave her alone?” The woman laughs. “Who is she anyway? Is she your lover?” Her second question is edged in suspicion.
“Who she is isn’t your concern. It’s mine.”
“A lover, hm?” Antonio says to his companion. “How about that.”
“Are you trying to get your fingers broken?” The other man, Lucas, snaps.
“Our little trespasser is cute. It might be worth it.”
“I’ll scream,” I blurt. “Come any closer to me and I will scream so loud the whole market hears me.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Quick as a viper, Antonio produces a roll of duct tape and slaps a thick piece over my mouth.
“What the fuck?” Lucas shouts.
“What’s going on in there?” Ryan flings open the door, his eyes filled with fire. “Antonio, step away from her this instant.”
I can’t keep calm anymore. Terrified tears roll down my cheeks, bringing swaths of mascara with them.
“I told you, I’d break your fucking fingers,” the woman hisses.
“She was going to scream,” Antonio says, unbothered. “We can’t have her drawing attention.”
“Out!” Ryan snarls. Antonio holds his ground for a moment but then storms out of the room. Lucas follows, but the woman remains. “I meant all of you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” the woman scoffs. “I caught her. My neck is on the line here, Ronnie. I deserve to know what’s going on.”
Wait, did she call him Ronnie? No, that’s impossible. I must have misheard her. If his name is Ronnie then that means…
No, I misheard her. There is no other explanation. Ryan will tell me exactly why he’s here, carry me out, and everything will be fine. It has to be.
“I will brief you when I know more,” Ryan says.
“What more do you need to know? She’s obviously working for someone. Just kill her. Make an example of her. Send a warning to anyone who would fuck with us.”
My broken wail is muffled by the duct tape.
“That’s not how we do things,” Ryan says.
“Bullshit!” The woman throws her arms out. “This is how things need to be done. You don’t think people have tried to run operations like ours in a gentle way? You know what happens to them? They all get taken out by a rain of gunfire.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
My phone rings from inside my purse kept on a desk on the other side of the room.
“What the fuck?” The woman pulls open my purse and roots around for my phone. It has to be Diane calling, just like I asked her to.
I shake my head and try to protest through the tape.
“See?” The woman gestures at me. “She doesn’t want us finding out about her contact.” Before Ryan can say anything, the woman answers the phone.
“Sophie, are you okay?” I can make out Diane’s voice through the speaker. “Did you do what you needed to do?”
“Hi!” The woman’s voice takes on a sweet, carefree tone. “Sophie told me she was expecting a call. She’s in a meeting right now. She told me to tell you not to worry and that everything is groovy.”
“Oh, good!” Diane replies. “Tell her I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, girlfriend,” the woman trills. “Bye!” She hangs up and tosses my phone back into my purse.
“Was that necessary?” Ryan sighs.
“We don’t want anyone looking for her until we know what to do with her,” the woman replies, once again made of ice.
“Thank you. I will take it from here,” he says. The woman is about to refuse again, but he silences her with a look.
“Fine.” She storms out of the room as if she’s just been fired.
Ryan turns back to me, his eyes filled with sorrow. “I really wish you hadn’t come here.”