Chapter 27: Now You’re Mine: Chapter 27

I sit straight up, catching Sebastian’s attention. “What’s wrong, Miss Calista?”

“I know her,” I say, pointing to the child. “Where’s her mother? She’d never leave Erika alone.”

Before Sebastian can react, I throw open the door and sprint across the street. Erika rounds a corner and disappears from sight. My heart lurches in my chest.

I pump my arms at my sides and increase my speed, fueled by adrenaline and fear. As I turn down the alley and skid to a halt. Erika stands fifteen feet from me, her eyes wide with terror. A man dressed entirely in black has one hand clamped over the child’s mouth while the other holds a gun to her head.

“Come with me, or she’s dead,” he says, his voice muffled behind the ski mask.

I slowly raise my hands. “Please don’t hurt her. If you let her go, I’ll do anything you want.”

“Get your ass over here,” the man says.

“Everything is going to be okay, Erika. Just stay calm.”

She nods at me. Tears spill down the girl’s cheeks, making my heart twist inside my chest. Once I’m standing next to the stranger, he pushes the child away, forcing her to the pavement. He grabs my upper arm and digs the nozzle of the pistol into my side.

“Move.”

“Okay,” I say quietly, putting on a calm facade for Erika. She watches me from the concrete as she slowly gets to her feet. “Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Calista.” She sniffs. “He told me my mommy was here.”

“It’s going to be all right. I’m sure she’s looking for you. Find a police officer to help you, alright?”

I watch her hesitate before she bolts. The man takes a step, pulling me along while keeping his firearm pressed against my ribcage. My heart thumps so loudly it drowns out the sounds of the city around us and I can’t do anything except focus on that, willing the organ to not give out.

Until I hear my name.

Sebastian shouts my name for a second time and appears at the entrance of the alleyway like an avenging angel, his weapon drawn. The expression of ire on his face shifts into something ferocious when it lands on the man holding me captive.

“Let her go,” he says, the demand echoing in the tight space between the buildings.

The stranger scoffs. “Fuck off.” The man shoves me to the side and takes up a stance behind me, with the nozzle now digging into my spine. When Sebastian doesn’t react, the man raises his voice. “I said, back the fuck off. If you don’t, I’ll kill her.”

Sebastian shakes his head. “No, you won’t. Someone paid you to take her alive. If not, you’d already have shot her.”

“You’re right,” the man says.

My captive adjusts the firearm from my back to the space between my arm and body. I scream when the gun goes off. Sebastian shouts in pain and throws himself behind a dumpster lining the brick wall. But not before I catch the blood spreading across his abdomen.

As soon as my bodyguard disappears from sight, the shooter yanks me backwards, leading me deeper into the alley. I struggle against his hold, yelling and kicking until he slaps me on the side of the head with his pistol.

Stars light up my vision, blurring everything in front of me. I close my eyes and concentrate on not throwing up from the onslaught of pain. My captor grips me just underneath my armpits and drags me.

My inner fortitude screams at me to fight. Once I’m taken away, my chances of survival decrease drastically. With a burst of desperation, I lean down and bite the man’s wrist. He grunts in pain, loosening his grip. I plant my feet and wrench free, every part of me focused on escape.

He tackles me to the ground, and my head hits the pavement with a sickening crunch. The pain that explodes in my head is enough to debilitate me to the point that I don’t move when he picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder. Only when he deposits me in the vehicle do I finally succumb to the darkness looming over me.

My last thought before I pass out is of Hayden.

“I didn’t want to love you, Callie, but fuck me, I do. Possessively. Irrevocably. Completely.”

I wake slowly, both my head and heart pounding.

For different reasons.

When I try to move, I can’t. Not because I’m bound, but due to the fact that I’m groggy.

No, it’s more than that. I compare this feeling to the lethargy I felt on the night of my assault, and my breaths quicken. Or struggle to.

I’ve been drugged.

I crack open my eyelids a sliver and take in my surroundings as my vision comes into focus, albeit still hazy. The living room is sparsely furnished with a faded green couch and a coffee table that has more scratches than the veneer covering the surface. The wallpaper is peeling in some places, and the color scheme is severely outdated, but the man standing a few feet away is impeccably dressed. The designer suit doesn’t belong in this decrepit house, but then again, neither do I.

“Awake at last, Miss Green,” he says, his voice smooth. It drips over me like oil, staining me where I’m lying on the threadbare carpet. “You slept for a long time. So long, in fact, I began to worry.”

I open my mouth to speak, but I only manage a pained croak. He frowns and tilts his head, studying me. “Hmm. I’m not ready for you to overdose just yet.”

Fear coils within me, combining with the disgust roiling in my gut. Knowing I’m at this monster’s mercy is one thing, but knowing he’s definitely going to kill me is another.

He snaps his fingers, startling me. A henchman, the one who kidnapped me, appears with a glass of water. The man in the suit takes it and walks over to me, crouching down. He holds the rim to my lips, and I drink. The chemical taste in my mouth remains, and my body is still sluggish, but at least I’m a little more coherent.

He sets the glass on the coffee table and braces his forearms on the tops of his thighs. He smiles at me, the cruelty gleaming in his brown eyes. “Looks like putting that redhead in the hospital was enough to draw you out. I was having a hell of a time finding you and Mr. Bennett.”

“What?”

He continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “You are very pretty. Too pretty, in fact. I haven’t forgotten you, you know.”

Even though everything inside me wants to hide, I force myself to meet his gaze head-on. I won’t show him how intimidated I am, no matter what he has planned for me. If I’m going to die, it’ll be with my pride intact.

“I assume you don’t remember me, or you would’ve contacted me by now, Calista.”

I can’t stop the shudder that streaks through my body. The way he says my name is with a familiarity that’s disturbing. My tongue is heavy in my mouth, but I force myself to speak, my need for answers bubbling up in my throat.

“What… what do you want?” I manage to rasp out. “Who are you?”

“I saw you once at a political party when you were very young.” The man’s smile widens, taking on a malicious edge. “I knew your father very well.”

“Thomas Russell.”

He nods. “Guilty. Once Mr. Bennett arrives, all of your questions will be answered.”

“Hayden? What does he have to do with this?”

“He has everything to do with this.”