AVA'S POV
The blond man's hands were on me before I could react. He grabbed my wrists and shoved me down onto the concrete floor, the cold surface scraping against my back through my shirt.
"No!" Elise's muffled screams came from behind the tape over her mouth. She was thrashing against the ropes binding her to the chair, tears streaming down her face.
"Let her go!" I tried to fight back, but he was stronger than me. "You have the money! Just take it and let us go!"
"The money was never really the point," he said, his voice calm and conversational as he pinned my arms above my head. "The money was just an excuse to get you here."
He nodded to one of his men, who walked over to Elise and backhanded her across the face. She cried out behind the tape, and I saw blood at the corner of her mouth.
"Don't touch her!" I screamed, struggling harder against his grip.
"Then stop fighting me," he said simply. "Be a good girl, and your sister won't get hurt any more than necessary."
I felt his free hand at the buttons of my shirt, and panic flooded through me. This couldn't be happening. Not here, not like this, not in front of Elise.
"Please," I whispered, hating myself for begging. "Please don't do this."
"Don't do what?" He smiled as he tore my shirt open, buttons scattering across the concrete. "Take what should have been mine from the beginning?"
My sister's screams got louder, more desperate. I could hear her trying to say my name through the tape.
"I've been thinking about this since that night," he continued, his hands moving to my jeans now. "Wondering what you felt like. What you tasted like. What sounds you'd make."
I closed my eyes tight, trying to disappear into myself. Tears leaked from under my lids, rolling down into my hair.
"Look at me," he commanded.
I kept my eyes closed.
"I said look at me!" He grabbed my face, forcing my eyes open.
I stared up at him, this man who had bid on me like I was livestock, who had lost to Gabriel and apparently never gotten over it.
"That's better." He smiled, and it was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen. "I've been so curious to see what I almost spent a hundred thousand dollars on. Now I can have it all to myself for free."
He was pulling at my jeans now, yanking them down my legs. The concrete scraped against my skin as he dragged me closer to him.
"Please," I whispered again. "Please don't."
"Bad luck for that jerk who paid a hundred and twenty-five thousand on you for just one night," he said, positioning himself between my legs. "I'm going to have you for as long as I want."
Behind him, I heard Elise gasp through her tears. Even through the tape, I could tell she was trying to say something.
He was fumbling with his belt now, his weight pressing me down into the cold concrete. I felt something sharp digging into my back, probably a piece of broken glass.
"This is going to hurt," he whispered in my ear. "But don't worry. You'll get used to it."
He was about to push himself into me when the sound of a gunshot exploded through the warehouse.
The man on top of me jerked forward, blood blooming across his white shirt. His eyes went wide with shock and pain before he collapsed on top of me, his weight crushing.
I screamed and pushed him off, scrambling backward across the concrete in just my underwear and torn shirt.
More gunshots rang out. I heard shouting, running footsteps, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.
Then Gabriel appeared in the doorway like something out of a nightmare. He was dressed all in black, holding a gun that looked military-grade. His face was cold, expressionless, terrifying.
Behind him were three other men, also armed, also dressed like they'd stepped out of an action movie.
"Clear the room," Gabriel said quietly, his voice deadly calm.
One of the men moved toward the other kidnappers. I heard more gunshots, brief struggles, then silence.
Gabriel walked over to me, his eyes scanning my nearly naked body for injuries. "Are you hurt?"
I couldn't speak. Just sat there on the concrete, shaking.
"Ava." His voice was sharper now. "Are you injured?"
I shook my head, still unable to find my voice.
Gabriel shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. It was warm and smelled like his cologne, a strange comfort in the middle of this nightmare.
"Get her sister," he told one of his men.
I watched as they cut Elise's bonds and removed the tape from her mouth. She was sobbing, reaching for me as soon as she was free.
"Ava! Oh God, Ava, are you okay?"
She threw her arms around me, and we held each other while Gabriel's men efficiently cleaned up around us. I could hear them talking in low voices about "disposal" and "cleanup" and "making sure there's no trace."
"We need to go," Gabriel said. "Now."
One of his men helped us to our feet. My legs were shaking so badly I could barely stand.
"Can you walk?" Gabriel asked.
I nodded, though I wasn't sure it was true.
Gabriel kept one hand on my back as we made our way out of the warehouse. Outside, there were two black SUVs waiting with their engines running.
"Put them in the second vehicle," Gabriel instructed. "Take them to the safe house."
"What about you?" one of his men asked.
"I'll be along shortly. I need to make sure this is finished."
He helped Elise and me into the back seat of one of the SUVs. The interior was luxurious, all leather and tinted windows. Nothing like the concrete hell we'd just escaped.
As we pulled away from the warehouse, I finally found my voice.
"Gabriel," I said quietly.
He looked at me through the partition separating the front and back seats.
"You're in the Mafia, aren't you?"