LOGINEnzo:“Enzo, Enzo… my dear Enzo,” Collin chuckled, his voice loud in my ear. “And what makes you think that you are in any position to make demands. I’m with Tabby here, and I will dictate where she goes or stays.”“I want to make sure that she is alive,” I growled, fighting to keep my anger under control. For a long time, there was silence. My heart was racing in m y chest. What the hell was that bastard up to? “My boys will be there in twenty minutes to pick everything up, and you better make sure that it is what we are looking for, else we’ll be speaking about your lover in the past tense.”The line went dead, but I hurriedly dialed it again. It rang and stopped, a female voice telling me that the number I was dialling didn’t exist. “Shit!” I slammed the phone hard on the table. “Shit, shit shit!” I dropped onto the old couch and ran my hands frantically through my hair. That son of a bitch better not have hurt her. “What do we do now?” Steve asked, stepping forward. “We wait fo
Tabitha:Everything hurt. My bones felt like they were filled with bags of cement. I tried to sit up, but a hard throbbing in my head forced me back down to the ground. I whimpered in pain. I wasn’t sure how long I slept. I wasn’t even sure if it was day yet. No one had come to wake me. Collin did say that he needed me up early.I pulled myself up, and a loud sneeze shook my body. “Shit, I caught a cold,” I muttered, sniffling, feeling the mucus running down inside my nose. It was expected. This place was damp and cold. The door clicked, but I couldn’t scramble to my feet fast enough. “Rise and shine, sweetie.”Collin walked in, spinning the key around his finger. He was in a deep crimson suit with a matching tie. He looked down at me, and his smile faded into something else. “What are you doing on the floor?” he asked, slowly lowering himself to my level. My heart raced in my chest, and I backed away instinctively as his hand reached out to touch my face. “I fell asleep on the f
Enzo:Everyone was in the study, shirts over their noses, backed away from the wall. I did the same and entered the room slowly. My jaw dropped at the hole in the wall. It had been smashed through, and behind it were stacks of a pale blue power, tightly packed, looking like bricks. “Is that…”“PH-C4,” I added, cutting Riley off and taking a step forward. There had to be about a hundred or so bricks stuffed in there. Were there more stashes around the house? How long had it been here?“Let’s take it in as evidence. We all heard when the Mafia guy called. This must be what he wanted us to find.”Chase stepped forward, but I stopped him and pulled him back. “We are not going to turn this in. They have Tabitha, and if this is what they want to get her back, then so be it.”“You are aiding and abetting a crime," Chase argued, snatching his hand back. “I am trying to save the one person that I care about,” I retorted. “Besides, what good will it do for the police? I hear that you guys al
Tabitha:“You will be sleeping here tonight.”Collin opened a door for me and led me into a room. It was beautiful, with a high ceiling and beautiful bedding on a queen-sized bed. “I hope this is to your taste,” he said, sitting on a sofa in the corner, his eyes not leaving me. “Might be smaller than you are used to, but you are still a captive after all.”My feet shook, unable to take a step forward. Everything felt… wrong. Being alone with him in this room felt uncomfortable.“Why are you doing all this?” I asked, turning around to look at him. “I’m a prisoner; why are you treating me like I’m some kind of guest?”A smile crept on his lips, and he slowly undid his tie, biting his lower lip gently as he took me in. “So you want to be treated like a prisoner?”“I didn’t say that. I’m just saying…”He stood up and walked over to me, still smiling, removing his cufflinks and unbuttoning his shirt. I backed away, my eyes wide, alarms going off in my head. “The room is fine… thank you.
Enzo:“No!” My phone went flying across the room. “No, no, no, no, no!”The room began to spin, and my knees gave out from under me. They took her. They actually took her, and I was the cause. I was a fool. Something was off. I knew that something was off, but I didn't do anything. “I was such a fool!”My fists came down hard on the wooden floor, and pain shot through my arm. I didn’t care. They took her. Nothing made sense anymore. The one thing that Vincent asked me to do for him before he died, and I had failed him. “What do we do now?”There was a murmur all around me, whispering voices weaving into my thoughts along with Collin’s twisted voice. If he did anything to her, if he even thought of hurting one frail hair on her head, I was going to make sure I tracked him down and ended him. “Mr. Ross?...”A hand touched my shoulder, but I shrugged it away. The person didn’t leave and was still crouching next to me, watching me. “...What do we do now? Are the Mafia coming here? Wha
Tabitha:The fountain pen shook in my hands; tears streamed down my face. I glanced at Collin, who was looking down at me with a sinister smile. “I’m sorry… Enzo… I should have listened.” My voice cracked, and more tears streamed down. “I should have…”“Stop talking.” His voice was shaking, too. “Did they hurt you? Did he hurt you?”“N-No. But he has a gun, and it’s…”“I think that’s enough,” Collin chuckled, pulling the phone away, smiling at me. He put the phone on speaker and plopped down in the empty seat next to me, the gun still pointed at the side of my head. “My requests are simple, Enzo, if you want to see your darling again.”“You animal!” he roared. “Leave her out of this! This is supposed to be between me, you and Vincent!”“Vincent is dead, so I am making his daughter stand in as his proxy,” he replied, looking down at the paper I had been transcribing, and smiled. “She has been very helpful so far. I’m just finding out that she and Vince have a secret language. If all o
Tabitha:I couldn't explain how happy I was when work was finally over. As I cleared my desk, Nora walked in. She was looking considerably relaxed regardless of Natasha's attitude during lunch break. “I'm so sorry that I was unable to properly stand up for you,” I said regrettably, taking her hand
Enzo:The silence yesterday was unbearable. Walking in and seeing Tabitha on the couch stirred something inside of me. She was safe, and all I wanted to do was hold her and tell her how sorry I was for everything. On the car ride home, I had been seeing the trending pictures of Natasha and me on s
Tabitha:I lay on the couch, the TV was blaring, but I wasn’t paying any attention. It was late, past 7 pm, and Enzo wasn’t even back. He never stayed out this long, and if he had, he would have let me know. My phone was on the table silent. I didn’t want to hear another beep notification. I had h
Enzo:I sent everyone home for the day. The letter couldn't wait, and if it was what I thought it was, then Tabitha was in bigger trouble than I realized. I clutched the letter tightly as I headed to my car, my heart racing even though I tried to keep a straight face. "Good evening, Mr....." "Ha







