Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

I groaned and dropped my eyes to the floor; I didn’t look up as Jimmy shoved a pair of jeans and a black top in my hands. “Get dressed. We need to leave,” he ordered.

I nodded at the guys all standing there watching me. “You really want me to change here, in front of everyone?” I asked sarcastically.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’m sure you don’t have anything we haven’t seen before,” one guy mocked, sneering at me, looking like he was already taking my pyjamas off with his eyes.

I smiled sweetly. “Okay, it’s your funeral, I guess. When Carter finds out you all watched me undress he’s not going to be best pleased. If that’s what you want…” I shrugged and reached down to grab the bottom of my tank top, starting to pull it up.

A collective gasp filled the room. “No, wait! You can get dressed in the bathroom,” a blond guy said quickly; his name was Lukas if I remembered correctly.

I smiled and followed him to the bathroom that was off the hall. There was a small window in this bathroom that led to the hallway at the front. I smiled and locked the door behind me, shrugging out of my clothes and putting the jeans and T-shirt on as quickly as possible. Once dressed, I boosted up on the sink and quietly pried the window open. I stuck my head out and saw there was no one there, so I boosted myself up and over, dropping down to the floor silently in my bare feet.

“Very clever,” Lukas stated from the front door, making me scream as I jumped about a mile into the air. He tossed a pair of sneakers at me. “Better put those on too, don’t want you to cut your feet,” he said sarcastically.

I frowned and pulled them on. There had to be something else; if there weren’t so many of them then I could have fought them. One of their guns would give me a chance, but would I actually be able to shoot someone like Ashton had taught me? I didn’t know the answer. Shooting a human being was miles apart from shooting a paper target.

The blond guy grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the building. My emotions got the better of me again, the tears started to flow when I saw the first body of the new agents that had been sent to protect me. They were all lying, broken and still bleeding, on the way out of the building.

“Are they all dead?” I whispered to Lukas.

He nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, you had a lot of guards, but then I guess you are the first daughter now. It’s a shame that one who was posing as your boyfriend wasn’t here. Carter didn’t like his hands on you, even if it was all a fake,” he said, shrugging casually.

I closed my eyes, thinking of Ashton, allowing myself to be led along. “He wasn’t my boyfriend. We had to act like that. My father made us. He was just a bodyguard,” I lied desperately.

He chuckled darkly. “Oh, Carter knows that, if he didn’t know that then that ass**le would be dead already,” he stated, watching me intently.

I didn’t say anything as he led us to a black car at the front of the building and held the door open for me. I felt sick as I climbed in the car.

We drove for about an hour or so through the back streets until we came to a derelict-looking building. I looked around but didn’t recognise the place at all. The sun was coming up just as we pulled into the underground parking lot. As we parked up, I closed my eyes. Please God, let me get through this, I prayed silently.

Jimmy opened my door for me, motioning for me to get out. “Come on, Anna.”

I climbed out and looked around quickly. There were only four of them now; this was definitely worth a try. I knew that they wouldn’t be expecting me to be any trouble, so their underestimation of me would work to my advantage. I punched Jimmy in the stomach, and as he bent over in pain, I kicked the other guy in the groin, hard, making him grunt and fall to the floor in agony. I turned and readied myself as saw another guy approaching, but Jimmy had righted himself and wrapped his arms around me from behind, grabbing my arms and pinning them down. I struggled and thrashed, but I couldn’t get free, so I gave up. I wasn’t getting out of here just yet.

“That was f**king stupid, Anna. Just calm down or you’ll get yourself hurt!” Jimmy growled warningly in my ear. I sighed and nodded as he opened a fire door and started leading me up the stairs.

“Where are we? What is this place?” I asked, desperately looking around. It looked like an old factory or something; there were sewing machines, desks and tables all over the place. A thick layer of dust and dirt covered everything in sight, proving that this place hadn’t been used for a while. Crude graffiti stained the walls, most of the windows were boarded up and the plaster on the walls was peeling and cracked. I had no hope of a caretaker or someone stopping by to check on the building and just so happen to rescue me; this place hadn’t been used in years by the look of it.

My gaze immediately landed on a phone as I was led past one of the desks. If I can just get to one of those phones! But who should I call, and what should I say? I don’t even know where I am!

Jimmy was still holding my arms tightly as he guided me through the different levels and doors of the maze-like place. With each passing step, my hope of ever getting out of here faded a little more. I probably just needed to accept the fact that this was my fate and that I wasn’t going to be able to escape his men, there were too many of them. Jimmy shoved me roughly through another door and into a room that looked like some kind of disused office. I glanced around quickly, taking in my surroundings. There was one window, one door and no phone. It was hopeless. The door slammed shut behind me and I jumped at the click of the lock. Not ready to give up yet, I turned and hammered on the door. “Jimmy, please let me out, please!” I begged unashamedly as tears flowed freely down my cheeks.