Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty-eight
ARA
I wanted to rip my dress in shreds and scream out my rage to the high heavens.
Why me? Why did it always have to be me?
How did Darius manage to plan all of this? It was all Maggie. She'd been the one to leak Liliana's location to Darius.
All because she didn't want to be an ex-wife.
In my heels, my steps were slow, but Darius' men didn't care. They forced me to walk like the devil was hot on our tails.
The black gate swung open, and I immediately thought Thayne had finally come.
Hope shrivelled in my chest as I realized it was just more of Darius' men driving into the compound.
“Say goodbye to your eyes for a few hours, darling." Darius said behind me.
I was still trying to make meaning of the words when a thick blindfold was slapped over my eyes.
“No!" I gasped, lifting my arm so I could claw the black material off.
But my hands were bound by ropes and so I could only curse and swear in all the languages I knew.
Where would they take me from here?
I couldn't see anything, the world had instantly darkened the moment the blindfold came on.
My feet left the ground and I shrieked when rough hands carried me and flung me as if I was trash meant to be discarded.
I went flying like a rag doll, and a strangled scream left my throat when I landed with a thud in what felt like a small, confined space.
My head throbbed, and I couldn't massage the spot in order to prevent a bump from growing afterwards.
“Where are you taking me, you bastards?" I yelled, trying to get up to my feet.
"Untie me, assholes. Darius!" I screamed like a wild senile patient, and one of the men shouted at me to shut my yapper up.
“I hope you get ridden with bullets as your manner of death, you prison material!" I flung the insult at the man.
My head hit something as I tried to push myself up. I fell sideways, and the sharp smell of leather seats assaulted my nostrils.
Something was slammed shut over my head, and that was when the bone-chilling truth dawned on me.
They'd thrown me in the trunk!
At least Thayne had kept me in the backseat beside him when he'd taken me.
“Open the fucking trunk. I can't breathe!" I kicked, I rolled. But I only succeeded in scratching myself and giving myself bruises.
The car bounced up and down, and few seconds later, doors were slammed shut.
The loud roar of the car's engine swallowed my next scream.
Was this not a cruel fate? To be manhandled and passed from hand to hand like a pet?
I decided to save my voice for when I would really need it. I kept mute throughout the ride, my head spinning and my blood boiling.
If I shut my mouth, perhaps they would think I was exhausted and underestimate me.
They wouldn't expect my next move.
I tried not to fall asleep, so I was happy with myself for trying when the car ground to a halt what felt like many hours later.
I couldn't tell how long I'd spent in the trunk, but all my joints had gone stiff.
My body felt foreign to me, and I was starting to experience problems with breathing after being locked in the trunk for so long.
Someone climbed out of the car, then many others.
The sound of footsteps on gravel told me we weren't on even land.
I couldn't hear anything else, only footsteps. I waited, my heart pounding in my chest, threatening to burst free.
‘Get ready, Ara.’ The voice in my head alerted me.
I loosened my stiff position and pretended to be knocked out.
Soon, the footsteps came to a stop, and the lid of the trunk whined as it was being lifted up.
“Look at all that creamy skin. Mind if we play a little with her, Charlie? Bossman won't know a thing." The person standing over the trunk said.
Where was Darius? He hadn't come with us?
My heart was beating faster, my mind reeling with all the dirty kinds of things these people were capable of doing.
“I could do with some feisty sucking on my cock right now, I think. Maybe we should go at once to save time?" The ‘Charlie’ suggested in a gruffy voice.
The smell of stale cigarette wafted into the trunk and I fought the overwhelming urge to gag.
“Let's take her to the holding room. And then we have our fun with her. We can make a video and send to that billionaire bastard to torture him.” The first man said, snorting and laughing sadistically.
Two hands reached for my arms, and I waited until I was almost out of the trunk before twisting my head suddenly and sinking my teeth into the arm holding me.
“Fuck this bitch!" Charlie howled, letting go of me instantly.
I twisted my body to the side and fell off, gravel biting into my skin as I rolled like an oversized rolling pin.
I got up to my feet and ran into a wall of sweat and flesh.
Fuck. I was so foolish. Escaping with the blindfold on?
A hand whipped out and struck me across the face. I stumbled from the impact, tasting copper in my mouth.
“Foolish girl. Escaping with your blindfold on. Now we'll just have to fuck that clumsiness out of you." The man who had blocked me said.
“Bossman says he wants her in the holding room five minutes from now or he'll blow someone's brains out.” A voice yelled.
"Fuck. We don't have time. Grab her. We need to do the transfer immediately." The man said to Charlie who grunted.
I didn't fight this time, I simply let them lift me off the ground. My body swayed for a few seconds, and then they let me go.
I bit into my lip to clamp down on my scream as I landed painfully on what felt like floor made of metal.
The metallic odor in the new space made me understand I was in a freshly painted truck. I was familiar with the smell.
I moved carefully to the side, suspecting I was in the back of the truck.
“We'll see you at the holding room, bitch. Let's see if you have any bite in you left by then." Charlie's gruffy voice startled me, and when I tried to move backwards, a hand jerked me forward.
My head was turned to the side, and something thin and sharp pierced my neck.
An injection?
The effects kicked in even before my body system had the time to fight what it was.
Though I was already blindfolded, the darkness thickened and I lost all sense of my surroundings.
Whatever they'd injected me with, it was too potent. Too strong.
I felt myself falling to the side, and Charlie's harsh laughter chased me all the way down the dark corridor of unconsciousness.
The last thing that crossed my mind just before I succumbed to the hands pulling me under was Thayne.