It seemed like hours had passed before Adrian finally poked his head into the room again. His gaze slowly swept over her, from the dirt smudges in her face and hands, to her haphazardly bandaged feet. He raised an eyebrow. Ria ignored him completely, keeping her eyes fixed on the other side of the bed. "Are you hungry?" He asked. He seemed to have calmed down from earlier. "Dinner's ready." Ria stared stoically at the wall, choosing to ignore his existence. Adrian sighed, and stepped into the room. Slowly, like he didn't want to scare her, he sat at the edge of the bed, leaving a small space between them. "You didn't do a very good job with these," he said, gesturing to her bound feet. She didn't even look at him. He sighed again. "I'm going to wrap them well for you.” He said gently. “If I reach for you, please don't try to kick me." If it was someone else, maybe she would have laughed. If it was someone else, the way he was acting would have been cute. But it was him, and i
The house was quiet, and after the breakfast fiasco, Adrian hadn't returned to the bedroom he kept her tied up in. Ria's nails were broken and bleeding, but she had finally loosened the thick rope enough that she could slip her hands through. Her wrists were red and rubbed raw, but she didn't care. She was free. All that was left to do now was find a way to leave the house. The window was the most obvious option, but there were thick bars across it. Slowly, she crept towards the door, every muscle tense and alert. She turned the knob carefully and pushed it open, flinching when the hinges creaked softly.It wasn’t locked.That either meant Adrian didn’t think she’d ever manage to free herself from the ropes… or worse, that he thought even if she did, she wouldn’t get far.She peered out of the bedroom, her breath held and saw that the hallway was dark, but there was a faint light shining from what had to be the living room doorway. She moved quickly but quietly, crouching slightly
Ria woke slowly, her head throbbing painfully, and her arms were sore. She opened her eyes, blinking against the harsh morning light that streamed faintly through the window. Her hands were tied together in front of her, the rough rope digging painfully into her skin, and her arms ached from being bound too long.She realized she was on a bed, curled up on her side, and the rope around her wrists was tied securely to the bedframe. Her breath hitched.Where the hell was she? Then everything came rushing back to her, panic flooding her chest. She snapped upright— or at least tried to. With her hands tied, her balance was off, and she ended up falling back to the bed. Liam and Lena. Her babies.Where were they? She looked around the room frantically but there was no sign of them. She was alone, and she didn't recognize the space. She stretched to look out the window, but all she saw was a thick foliage of trees. Ria was getting frantic, her pulse pounded higher. Where was Antonio? W
Antonio knew something had gone horribly wrong when Ricardo came racing back to him with a pale face, after being gone for less than a minute. He had just been about to get into his car and drive to the station, but he slammed the door shut again, and hurried towards Ricardo. "What happened?" He thundered, his voice rough and urgent. "Is it the babies?" "No." Ricardo shook his head. "Ria... Ria..." Antonio felt his limbs go cold as he ran to the vehicle Ricardo was supposed to drive Ria home with. Before he even got to the side where the door was, he already saw a pair of legs on the ground. He stepped over the unconscious guard, and yanked the door of the car open, his heart pounding in his ears. Liam and Lena were in their car seats, Lena barely buckled in, like Ria hadn't gotten a chance to. Desperation clawed at his chest as he scanned the front passenger seat, hoping, irrationally, that she was hiding there.Ria wasn't in the vehicle. His chest squeezed painfully, and his t
There was no time to wait for a driver. Antonio hurried to the driver's side of the car, calling Ricardo as he did so. His jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles on his face twitched with restrained tension."Seatbelt," He told Ria as she got in beside him. "Hello?" Ricardo picked up, his tone alert. "Get ready to move now," Antonio said, speeding out of Molly's driveway. "I just got an anonymous tip. I'll send you the location. Call the police. I want the place surrounded before I get there." "Oka—"Antonio ended the call abruptly, and passed the phone to Ria, so he could focus on driving. "Forward my most recent text to Ricardo." he said, his tone steady but deep, like he was fighting to hold back a thousand emotions. Her hands were shaking slightly as she did as he asked, and the car was silent but tense. It was like the air was escaping her lungs, making her breathing shallow, and her hands sweat. "Oh God, oh God," she muttered under her breath, her eyes shut tight.
It was night, and the office was silent, save for the sound of his pen against paper as Antonio worked on something that absolutely didn't need to be worked on at that time. At this rate, he'd be all caught up, and have to invent new things to do just to keep his mind occupied. But he didn't care. His tie hung haphazardly around his neck, his suit jacket lay carelessly across the back of his chair, and a garment bag containing the clothes he'd changed out of that day lay on the couch. Sleep deprivation was doing a number on him, dulling his senses and leaving his body heavy. His head pounded steadily, and his eyes burned from staring at documents he wasn’t even processing anymore. He almost felt drunk from him. Sighing tiredly, he stood, and walked to the coffee maker for the millionth time in the past three days. He took his coffee black and strong, then returned to his desk. Just as he was about to get back to work, his phone rang. It was Ricardo. "We found something that migh