Stan

Fuck. Stan.

Everything came flooding back, making my stomach churn as I realized I was in the Mercedes that I’d stolen a bag from.

“I—”

“Shut up!” the man from the front shouted, his tone so deep and scary it effectively glued my lips together.

I slowly sat up, shaking my arm out, and stared out of the window. I had no idea where I was, but I knew the neighborhood we were driving through was nothing like the one we’d come from. The houses were bigger here, gates closing each of them off.

“He’s not answering,” the guy up front said as the tires squealed when he took a corner. My head smacked against the window and I winced, reaching up, and feeling fresh blood as well as dried blood.

He’d hit me. What had he hit me with? Whatever it was, it had knocked me out. I closed my eyes, pressing my hand to my stomach. I should have known that something like this would happen. It was only a matter of time. This fresh start absolutely sucked.

I shunted forward as the brakes were slammed on. The guy beside me stretched his arm out and my chest smacked into it. He’d acted on instinct, and if the expression on his face when I turned to look at him was anything to go by, he hadn’t meant to. Either way, it had stopped me from face planting into the back of the driver’s seat.

Looking up, I saw a man walk to the car. Where had he come from? The guy in the front said something to him then the man walked back to a huge set of gates. Gigantic B’s were bent into the metal, painted gold. Where the hell were we?

The guy up front huffed and held something to his ear. “Are you with Lorenzo?” Lorenzo? Who was that? “Let us in. We have a problem.” He looked in the rearview mirror, meeting my gaze for the first time. “A real big fuckin’ problem.”

I wasn’t sure what to do, how to act, but I knew I had to get away. I couldn’t stay in this car with these two men. For all I knew they were taking me to my death. Fuck. I had to get away.

My eyes soaked in every little thing as the gates opened and he drove us through them. He pulled to a stop outside two big doors that were the entrance to the biggest mansion I’d ever seen. A tall water feature took up space in the middle of a circular driveway, surrounded by rose bushes and trees blocking anyone from seeing onto the land.

I swallowed as the guy got out of the car, leaving me with just the one sitting next to me. I turned, staring at the side of his face. He didn’t look much older than me, but his privilege was clear to see. His clothes may have looked like street wear but they were designer. His hair was styled perfectly in short waves, the dark-brown gleaming.

I wasn’t sure how long it took for him to turn his head, but when his gray eyes met mine, I raised a brow. I wasn’t sure gray did them justice, they were almost see through. I didn’t know why, but I was sure he wouldn’t hurt me. He had a softness to him.

He opened his mouth but snapped it shut as the guy from the front darted back out of the huge doors. He stormed around to my door, opened it, then grabbed me by the arm.

“Ow.” I tried to pull back from him, but he didn’t let up, hauling me out of the car and dragging me toward the doors. “Where are you taking me?” I asked, trying to sound confident, but even I could hear the tremor in my voice.

“Shut up,” he barked.

“Romeo,” the other guy said, and I realized that he was following us. I turned my head, trying to meet his stare again, but he wasn’t focused on me. “You’re hurting her.”

So his name was Romeo.

Romeo laughed. “You think this is hurting her?” He stopped outside a door inside the mansion. I darted my gaze around, hoping that someone would see what he was doing to me and intervene, but it was empty. “You’ve got no idea what Lorenzo is gonna do to her.” He pushed the door open but didn’t move to go inside. “You first, Rafael. We’re going to the basement.”

Gray eyes—Rafael—stepped forward, his shoulders drooping as he walked through the room. We followed him, but I wasn’t quick enough to take everything in, only the big black desk sitting loud and proud in the middle of the room.

Rafael opened another door. My heart sped up as Romeo pulled me through it and down some stairs. Maybe they really were taking me to my death. My breaths sawed in and out of me as the situation became clearer.

I’d stolen from these men. I’d taken something that wasn’t mine. And they’d caught me.

I tripped down the last step, but Romeo’s hold on me kept me upright. My vision blurred, and it took me several seconds to realize they were tears. My body was shutting down, sensing the danger surrounding me.

Rafael moved to the side, revealing a foreboding man in the middle of the room. He stared at me, his eyes taking everything in, but he didn’t say a word. He was analyzing me, and if I would have been clever, I would have done the same, but I was too occupied with the thought that he could be the last person I saw before I took my final breath.

You weren’t taken down to a basement only for a little chat. This was serious.

“Do you know who I am?” the man asked, his deep voice ricocheting off the bare brick walls.

“I…no.” It was a whisper, but I knew he heard me.

He took one step forward, still leaving a few feet of distance between us. He towered over me, his height making me feel even smaller

Tags: Abigail Davies Unseen Underground Dark
Source: readsnovelonline.net