Captured by the Criminal (Taken)

How could someone be so horrific?

I glance at Dean, and he nods, inching closer.

“Yes, I killed your mother. And your father wouldn’t stop looking for who did it. He was getting close to catching me. I had to fake my own death.”

My mother gains her composure, standing upright and dropping Bianca’s hair. “I’ll take her, Bishop. This is money well spent. And it’s not even my money.” She laughs, thinking she’s the funniest woman on the planet.

My only concern right now is getting Bianca home safe. “Why don’t you let her go?” I tell my mother.

She lifts a brow. “I paid good money for this little whore.”

My heart hammers in my chest, and I aim my gun higher, trained right at my mother’s head. I don’t want to kill her, but I’ll do whatever’s necessary to bring Bianca home in one piece. “Let her go or you’ll die where you stand.”

“Is that any way to talk to your mother?”

I shrug. “I’ve already mourned your death once.”

Bishop interjects, “Now, now, maybe we can come to some sort of arrangement.” Bishop turns his attention to Dean. “I can offer you more money than you could imagine, if you hand over the other daughters to me.”

“Over my dead body,” Sebastian says, stepping closer.

“That can be arranged.”

One of Bishop’s men aims his gun at Sebastian and takes the shot.

And Sebastian falls to the ground in one quick motion.

Twenty-One

Bianca

* * *

Ever had that moment in your life where everything moves in slow motion? Where chaos ensues, but you’re not a part of it, only a bystander watching the action take place, trying your best to make sense of it all around you.

A man falls to the floor, blood seeping onto the concrete, and somewhere someone is screaming at the top of their lungs.

It takes a full minute before I realize that person is me.

I snap my mouth shut as men shuffle around me, taking shots at one another and some go down with the bullets.

Costi grabs me, chair and all, and shuffles me toward the back of the warehouse, behind a pile of boxes. “Stay here,” he says, aiming his gun around the large cardboard box.

I laugh, even though the situation is far from funny, because with my hands and ankles tied, there’s nowhere I could go.

I don’t know where anyone is, except Costi.

“Don’t leave me,” I rush out as tears fall down my cheeks.

He stares at me, really seeing me, and pulls out a knife from his pocket, releasing me from my ties. “Stay here. I’ll be back.” He kisses me square on the lips, and as soon as he pulls back, I miss the feel of his mouth against mine.

If he thinks I’m staying here, he has another thing to learn about me. I have no weapon, but I can’t just sit here, waiting for someone to capture me again.

I head off in the other direction. The direction Costi didn’t go, staying close to the ground as I rush toward the other side of the room. The place where Esmerelda rushed off to.

I leave the main room, heading down a darkened hallway. There’s minimal light, but enough to keep me moving forward.

I hear her shoes click across the floor ahead of me. “I know you’re there,” I call out into the darkness.

The clicking stops, and Esmerelda moves into the sliver of moonlight. “Ah, my property has come to find me.”

I hate how snarky she is. Such a bitch. And I plan on showing her just what I think of her. “My mother was a good woman. My father loved her so much. He’d never love someone like you.” I hate her, but at the same time, I cry a little for what this is probably doing to Constantine.

“Your mother was a thief. She took everything from me,” Esmerelda screams.

She lunges for me, and I grab at her. It all happens so fast but next thing I know, I have her on the ground, my hands holding her down.

One of Costi’s men rushes into the hallway, aiming his gun at her. “I’ve got her from here,” he calls out. “Costi is looking for you.”

“Is it over?”

He nods.

I don’t release my hold on her until he takes her from me.

I run back into the main room.

Dean Maddox, owner of the security company my father employs, leans down to the man who’s been shot. I recognize the man. I think he’s from the New York family, but I can’t remember his name. Simon or Sebastian. Something like that.

Bishop lies dead in the center of the room, and I breathe a sigh of relief once I spot Costi standing over him, assessing his body.

When he looks up and sees me, relief washes over his features. He rushes over to me, wrapping me into his arms and kissing the top of my head. “Everything is ok.”