“Who the hell is this?” Gino demanded. “Are you fucking him? Because I swear—”
“He’s no one.” Bella waved a dismissive hand. “I was using him to help us get out of the country. He’s rich and had access to a private plane. I was going to call you to meet us at the airfield after I got the money, and then we’d ditch him and head to Rio. He doesn’t mean anything to me.”
And right at that moment, our simple kidnapping didn’t seem as simple anymore.
“Bella?” Ben got to his feet and took an unsteady step forward. “I don’t understand. I love you. I thought we were going to make a life together.”
“This is better drama than I ever saw in prison,” Emma whispered.
“He loves you?” Gino was almost vibrating with rage. He seemed more concerned that she was cheating on him than the fact that she was clearly planning to run off with the money. “Do you love him?”
“No, baby. I love you.” Bella held her ground. I had to hand it to her: I couldn’t handle one man, much less three, and mine wasn’t in the mob. “We’re going to get the money, jump on the plane, and live the life we dreamed about. Just like we planned.”
“Then we don’t need him?” Gino stared pointedly at Bella, and something passed between them that made the hair on the back of my neck prickle in warning.
“Not anymore. The plane’s been chartered and it’s all ready to go.” She gave the briefest of nods. Without a second of hesitation, Gino drew his weapon and shot Ben in the chest.
“No.” My hands rushed to cover my mouth. Chloe let out a sharp scream.
Ben staggered back into Gage, knocking him off balance. Emma moved to catch Gage and fell with them, their bodies toppling like dominoes to the floor.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. My ears were ringing from the echo of the gunshot, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would break a rib.
“Oh dear.” Bella walked past me to pick up the gun that had fallen from Gage’s hand. “Now you have nothing to bargain with. Solve that fucking problem.”
Twenty-Nine
I hate to say I told you so . . .”
“Then don’t say it.” I glared at Emma, tied to a barrel across from me, hands duct-taped behind her, feet bound in front. After rounding us up and forcing us to our knees at gunpoint, Bella had sent one of the non-Ginos out to the van. He’d come back with Cristian, our rope, and the roll of duct tape. Ten minutes later we were all tied to barrels like Emma and spaced far enough apart that we couldn’t help each other escape.
“What wouldn’t you do for twenty-five million dollars?” Emma said. “It’s a life-changing amount of money.”
“I wouldn’t poison a priest, steal from my Mafia boss father, shoot my boyfriend, or tie up my wedding planners and hide them behind a pile of barrels in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere on my wedding day.” I looked over at Gage, tied up and unconscious on the floor. After extricating himself from the pile of bodies, he had proven to be more than Bella and her companions could handle. Gino had finally hit him over the head with Emma’s tire iron, just to keep him still.
“I would.”
“That’s because you have no morals,” Cristian said. “I’m anti-violence for this very reason.”
“What reason? So you can scream and put up your hands when a dude with a gun comes to the van instead of driving away and calling for help?” Emma was in prime fighting form. Fear seemed to bring out the worst of her snark.
“I texted Anil after you left,” he said. “He didn’t respond, but he has the update. He knows what’s going on.”
My gaze cut to Cristian. “I told you to text Jack, too.”
“I thought they’d be together,” Cristian said. “Why send two texts when you can send only one?”
“They’d better be together or we’ll have to rely on Anil to rescue us.” Emma banged her head against the barrel. “Shoot me now.”
“He might surprise you.” Chloe shifted her weight, pulling at the rope they’d used to tie us to the barrels. “He’s proven to be very resourceful and we all know he’s seriously smart.”
“He’s young, naive, and lacks common sense,” Emma said. “It won’t occur to him to call the police if he sees the van empty. He’ll probably knock on the door and walk right in.”
I caught a soft moan and saw Ben move his head. He was still unconscious, his shirt soaked with blood, his skin sheet white. “What are we going to do about Ben? He’s going to die if we don’t get some help. This is on us. He wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t brought him into this.”
“She would have shot him anyway,” Emma said. “That bitch is made of ice. Why share twenty-five million when you can keep it for yourself? The only thing I don’t understand is why she needed Gino. He clearly has feelings for her, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t give a damn about him.”
“He could get into the safe,” I said, working it out as we talked. “He knew where it was, and he knew the combination. She was using him, just like she used Ben.”
“Maybe she does love him,” Chloe said. “You don’t know what’s in people’s hearts.”
Emma snorted a laugh. “Who needs love when you can have cash?”
“I still believe in love,” Chloe said firmly. “I believe that there is someone out there for each of us. Someone who will take your breath away and make your heart pound. Someone who would give up everything just to be with you.”
“Someone who lives in La La Land,” Emma spat out. “In the real world, the people you love most betray you, so you stop believing in love or even friendship. You learn to be alone. You learn to watch your own back because no one will do it for you.”
“Leave her alone,” I said. “You don’t know anything about her life.”
“It’s okay.” Chloe’s gentle voice took my anxiety down one notch. “She’s scared. I’m scared, too. I think we all are. And I do know about the real world. But I won’t let anyone take away all the things that make life beautiful. I’m going to keep believing until it becomes real.”
“You won’t be believing anything for long,” Cristian said. “They’re not going to leave any witnesses if Ben dies.”
Ben was still breathing. I didn’t need my mirror to see his chest rise. I may not have done well in my first aid course, but I still remembered a few things. “We need to put pressure on his wound. Who can reach him with their feet?”
Cristian angled his body and placed his legs on Ben’s chest. “You’re lucky I have abs of steel and an excellent cleaner who can get blood out of anything.”
Gage groaned and raised his head. Gino had used extra rope and extra tape to secure him to one of the barrels. “Stop yapping. You’re giving me a headache.”
“I think it was the tire iron,” Emma said. “They got you from behind.”
“What’s the plan?” He pushed himself to an unsteady seat and immediately began sawing his legs, stretching the tape around his ankles.