The Woman from the Past (Grassi Framily)

There was no one else it could be, though.

The Calgary Family.

The Scottish version of the mafia.

Guys who were so crazy and dangerous that the actual Italian mafia was worried about them gaining any more power.

Maybe they didn’t want a meeting with me. Maybe they just wanted to grab me, torture and question me for details on Colin’s operation as well as where the money they were promised was hidden. Then kill me and deal with the rest themselves.

I guess that made a lot more sense than just keeping me alive, right?

Close.

Damnit, I was so, so close to getting free.

Only to have it snatched away at the last possible second.

No.

Nope.

I couldn’t let my mind go there.

It wasn’t hopeless, not completely.

I wasn’t alone.

I had Massimo and his brothers.

Except, of course, they were out of town. And there would be no way for them to know that something happened to me until I missed Massimo’s calls.

Even then, would he think something was genuinely wrong? Or would he assume I just missed his call? Or that I was avoiding him because we’d hooked up?

Tears, useless and unwanted, flooded my eyes.

If this was the Calgary Family, I was on my own with them. Because if Massimo couldn’t get in touch with me, it was still a full day before he carried out his plan to handle Colin and his organization. And that was when he would realize I wasn’t avoiding him, that I wasn’t there at all.

By then, who knew what could have happened to me.

A pathetic little whimper escaped me before the car took a hard left, making my body roll and slam against the trunk.

“Damnit,” I hissed, but was glad for the pain because it seemed to help me focus.

If I couldn’t escape immediately after getting out of the trunk, then I would have to try to play it smart. Tease them with what I had to offer.

I couldn’t give them what they wanted. Because then they would have no reason to keep me alive.

But if I didn’t give them enough, they might try to torture the information out of me.

I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough for that.

But I had to try.

I couldn’t break.

Massimo would come for me.

If I could just stick it out long enough, he would come to save me.