Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
I whispered, “How did you get that?”
“Like I said, we’ve been watching this house, as well as Mr. Dombruso’s. All we had to do was hack into the doorbell cameras of your neighbors across the street, and we had round-the-clock surveillance. Funnily enough, our facial recognition software almost sent us after your second cousin Mike a few weeks back, but we caught the mistake before collecting the wrong man.”
Suddenly, all the guns swiveled around so they were pointed at Dante. I had no idea what he’d been up to since he was behind me, but Cavendish clicked his tongue and said, “Now, now, Mr. Dombruso, this isn’t really the time to try to be a hero, is it? Not with your beloved grandmother in the line of fire.”
Dante snarled, “I’ll fucking kill you,” which seemed to amuse Cavendish.
“Let’s not be ridiculous. I know you’re used to being a big fish in a small pond, but now you’re swimming with sharks.” He turned to me and said, “We really must go, Mr. di Pietro. Bring your lover and follow me.”
He left the kitchen, but the men with guns remained. I didn’t know what to do, but when I turned to Armando, he got up and took my hand. “Let’s go,” he whispered. “We can’t let them hurt your family.”
Another thug was waiting by the front door, holding our overnight bags. He said, “I need your phones,” and when we handed them over, he opened the door and followed us out.
There were two black SUVs with tinted windows double-parked in the street. My heart was pounding, and Armando’s breath sounded quick and shallow beside me as we slowly walked to the vehicle the thug indicated. I wracked my brain, trying to think of some solution to this, but I came up empty. There were still men inside the house with guns pointed at my family, and if we tried anything, someone might get hurt. I had to believe a chance to escape would present itself at some point, but all we could do for now was follow instructions.
We climbed into the back seat, and the man with our bags shut the door behind us, which locked automatically. There were two men in the front seats. The one who wasn’t driving held up a gun and said, “Don’t get any ideas. I don’t want to shoot you, because it’s a pain in the ass to get blood stains out of leather upholstery.”
Once the SUV started moving, I turned to Armando and said, “I’m so fucking sorry.”
Armando whispered, “What’s going on, Tory? I feel like I’m in a nightmare that I can’t wake up from.”
“Remember when you and I agreed to make up fake back stories?” When he nodded, I said, “I… didn’t.”
“What?”
“That was all true. I really was an art forger. I worked for my uncle, who trained me from the time I was fifteen. He was in charge. He hired thieves to steal artwork and replace it with my forgeries. This went on for years, until he tried to rip off a very powerful man named Ashcroft. Our thief got caught, and I’ve been on the run ever since. Or, I was. Until today.”
Armando slumped in his seat and whispered, “I really am in a nightmare.”
“Again, I’m so sorry. I really believed they couldn’t find me, so I didn’t think I was putting you in danger.” Instead of replying, he wrapped his arms around himself, turned his head, and stared out the window.
I felt nauseous. As bad as this was, the fact that he’d gotten dragged into it made it a thousand times worse.
Sometime later, we arrived at a small airport. A private jet was waiting on the tarmac. When we climbed out of the SUV, the man who’d taken our phones joined us. He handed me our bags, which were unzipped and had obviously been searched, and accompanied us to the plane.
We found Cavendish waiting for us when we boarded, along with three armed men, who were sitting expressionlessly by the door to the cockpit. He was seated at a small table, and he gestured at the two seats opposite him. When we sat down, he smiled pleasantly and said, “Now, let’s get down to business.”
“Not before I know my family is okay.”
“Fair enough.” He took our phones from his pocket and said, “I’ll hold it, if you don’t mind. Go ahead and call Mr. Dombruso. Put it on speaker.”
I reached across the table, unlocked my phone, and called Dante, who answered with, “Are you and Armando okay, Sal?”
“So far. What about you, Nana, and Bunny?”
“We’re fine, although Nana is spitting mad. Those men left five minutes after you did. Where are you?”
“On a plane with Cavendish. I have no idea where we’re going.”
Cavendish turned the phone to face him and said, “As long as Mr. di Pietro cooperates, we have every intention of returning him and his lover to you safe and sound. Now, be a dear and don’t cause trouble, for his sake.”