Chapter 2 In His Hands

Elena's POV

Everything stopped.

The man in the expensive suit. The one who just killed someone. His head snapped up.

Those ice-blue eyes looked straight at me. Straight to where I was hiding.

He saw me.

Oh God, he saw me.

My brain screamed one word. Run.

I jumped up from behind the dumpster. My legs almost gave out. But fear pushed me forward.

I ran.

Didn't look back. Didn't think. Just ran as fast as my legs could move.

My feet pounded against the pavement. My breath came in gasps. My heart felt like it would explode.

Behind me, I heard shouting. Heavy footsteps and it was getting closer.

They were chasing me.

I turned down another alley. My shoes slipped on something wet and I almost fell but caught myself against a wall.

Keep running. Don't stop. Don't look back.

I could see the main street ahead.

Just a little further.

A hand grabbed my jacket from behind. Yanked me backward hard.

I screamed. Tried to pull away.

But another hand grabbed my arm. Then my other arm.

Two huge men. The bodyguards from the warehouse.

I fought. Tried everything to break free.

It didn't matter. They were too strong.

One of them lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing. Turned me around. Started dragging me back.

Back toward the warehouse. Back toward the body.

No. No no no.

I kept fighting. Kept screaming. Even though I knew no one would come. No one was around to help.

They pulled me into the alley.

Right next to where Marco's body lay on the ground.

They threw me down. My knees hit the pavement. Pain shot through my legs.

I looked up.

He was standing there. The man who killed my brother.

Luca De Santis. The Blood King.

Tall. Powerful. Those ice-blue eyes staring down at me without any emotion at all.

He had put the knife away. His hands were clean now. The white cloth gone. Like he hadn't just murdered someone.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. My eyes kept moving to Marco's body lying three feet away.

Luca tilted his head slightly. Studying me.

Then he spoke. His voice was calm. Quiet. But it made my skin crawl.

"You saw."

It wasn't a question. He knew I saw everything.

I couldn't answer. My throat was too tight. Fear choking me.

He took a step closer. Crouched down so we were at the same eye level.

His eyes moved over my face. Slowly, carefully. Looking at every detail.

Then his expression changed. Just a little. Confusion flickered across his features.

"I know you."

The words made my blood freeze.

No. He couldn't know me. We'd never met. Never been in the same room before tonight.

I shook my head hard. Found my voice somehow.

"No. You don't. I've never seen you before in my life."

His eyes narrowed. He leaned closer.

"I've seen your face before. I remember faces. Every single one. And I've seen yours."

My heart pounded. How? Where could he have seen me?

Then it hit me. Marco. Did he see me at Marco's funeral three years ago? Did someone take pictures?

No. That funeral was tiny. Just me and a few people from the neighborhood.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Luca stared at me for a long moment. Then stood up. Looked down at me with those cold eyes.

"It'll come to me. I never forget."

He turned to his bodyguards.

"Take her."

Wait. What?

One of the huge men grabbed my arm. Started pulling me up.

"Wait! Where are you taking me?"

Luca didn't answer. Just walked toward the black SUV. Like I didn't exist.

"No! Please!"

I tried to fight again but it was useless. The bodyguard lifted me easily. Carried me toward the car.

I looked back at Marco. At his body lying in that dirty alley.

"Please!" I screamed.

"Please don't do this! I won't tell anyone! I swear!"

The bodyguard threw me into the back seat of the SUV. Climbed in beside me. The door slammed shut.

Everything went dark. The windows were tinted so black I couldn't see outside.

The other bodyguard got in the driver's seat. Luca sat in the front passenger side.

The car started moving.

I tried the door handle, it was locked just as I expected.

I pounded on the window.

"Let me out! Please! Someone help!"

Nobody responded. The car just kept moving.

I pressed my face against the window. Tried to see where we were going. But it was too dark.

My mind raced. This was it. They were taking me somewhere to kill me. Somewhere private. Somewhere no one would find my body.

I was going to die tonight.

Just like Marco.

Tears started falling. I couldn't stop them.

I pressed my hands over my face. Tried to breathe. Tried to think.

I'm FBI. I could tell them. Maybe that would save me.

No. That would definitely get me killed. Faster probably.

I could promise not to tell. Promise to forget everything I saw.

Who would believe that? I saw a murder. Witnessed everything. They couldn't let me live.

The car drove for what felt like forever.

I lost track of where we were. Lost track of time.

Finally, the car stopped.

I heard the front doors open. Luca and the driver got out.

Then my door opened. The bodyguard beside me grabbed my arm. Pulled me out.

We were in a garage.Expensive cars everywhere.

The bodyguard dragged me toward an elevator. Pressed a button.

The doors opened. He pushed me inside. Got in with me then pressed another button.

The elevator started going up fast. My stomach dropped.

Numbers above the door lit up. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. Forty.

How high were we going?

The elevator finally stopped. The number said sixty-eight.

Sixty-eight floors up.

The doors opened.

A hallway. Wide and expensive with white marble floors. Art on the walls.

The bodyguard pulled me down the hall. To a door at the end.

He unlocked it and pushed it open. Shoved me inside.

I stumbled. Caught myself before I fell.

Then I heard the door close behind me. Lock clicking.

I spun around. Ran to the door. Tried the handle.

Locked.

I pounded on it with both fists.

"Let me out! You can't do this! Let me out!"

No answer.

I kept pounding. Kept yelling. Until my hands hurt and my voice went hoarse.

Still nothing.

Finally, I stopped. Turned around.

And looked at where I was.

A bedroom, huge. Maybe three times the size of my entire apartment.

A massive bed with white sheets. A sitting area with a couch and chairs.

Everything was expensive, clean and perfect.

Like a luxury hotel room.

Except the door was locked from the outside. And the windows wouldn't open.

I walked to the windows. Pressed my hands against the glass.

The city sparkled below. So far down it made me dizzy.

Even if I could break the glass, even if I could climb out, I'd fall to my death.

There was no escape.

I slid down to the floor. My back against the window. Pulled my knees to my chest.

And finally let myself cry.

Really cry. For Marco, for myself, for everything.

My brother was dead. Murdered. And I'd watched it happen.

And now I was a prisoner. Locked in a room sixty-eight floors above the city.

Held captive by the man who killed him.

Luca De Santis. The Blood King.

The most dangerous criminal in the city.

And he thought he knew me from somewhere.

I pressed my face against my knees. Tried to breathe. Tried to think.

I was FBI, I had training, I could handle this, I could survive.

But the training never covered this. Never told me what to do when you witness your dead brother get murdered. When you get kidnapped by a mafia boss. When you're locked seventy floors above the ground with no way out.

I had no weapon, no phone. They'd taken everything when they threw me in the car.

No one knew where I was. Iris would wonder why I didn't report back. But by the time she realized something was wrong, it would be too late.

I was completely alone.

In the hands of a killer.

Who for some reason hadn't killed me yet.

But probably would soon.

I closed my eyes. I tried to stop shaking. Tried to be strong.

But it was working, I kept seeing Marco's face.

Never got to ask him why. Why he faked his death. Why he joined the mafia. Why he threw his life away.

Now I'd never know.

All I knew was that he was gone. And I was trapped.

With the man who took him from me.