Prologue
~Valentina~
I pushed forward, and ran as fast as a drugged person could. My head felt fuzzy, the world seemed to double, yet I pushed forward.
Two masked men were after me and the fact they aren't even bothered to actually chase me, scared me. They knew I was drugged. I couldn't outrun them, yet I would delay as long as I could before help comes.
My blood boiled in anger. I shouldn't be in this position. I should have trusted my instincts. Meeting with him was a mistake I would pay dearly for. What on earth did he even put in my coffee?
Fear gripped me as I turned to a dead end. Despite knowing it's over for me, I mustered my last strength and ran to the brick wall that marked my demise. I slumped against it and closed my eyes, nearly giving in to the call of unconsciousness.
I knew they had caught up to me, when a mocking voice reached my ears.
"Is the little princess tired, already?", one of the men tsked, his voice laced with a Spanish accent.
"I guess she is, man", the other said, as he let out a humourless laugh.
Fighting the unconsciousness, I opened my eyes to view my soon-to-be-captors. That's if they even want me alive.
They were both big guys with broad chests and arms the size of my thigh. They wore similar leather vests with gang signs encrypted on them.
They pulled off their masks and I grimaced. If I managed to survive today, I wonder if I would have preferred to know the faces behind the masks or forever be hunted by the hideous masks alone.
One of them was bald and he had a vicious scar that extended from his left brow to his jaw. He wore a sick smirk on his face as he advanced towards me. His friend, on the other hand, looked ready to tear me apart, limb for limb. My gaze dropped to see the hilt of a knife protruding from his shoulder. My knife to be more specific.
The guy caught me staring at my knife and his scowl deepened.
"You don't mind if I get that back, right?", I asked, my eyes barely open as a little smirk touched my lips.
"You b***h!", he growled as he covered the little space between. He slapped me across the face causing my eyes to jolt open.
"What the f**k?!", I cursed, as my cheek burned from the contact.
"Don't push your luck here, princess", the scarred guy said, as he placed a hand on his partner.
"Let me go", I hissed. "My husband will come after both of you. He'll make you beg for death, but wouldn't give it. I promise to show mercy if you walk away, right now."
I watched as they exchanged a look before letting out a cruel laugh that made my stomach sink.
"She has no idea...", the stabbed one started saying as his laughter died down, but I could barely grasp much as my head grew fuzzier.
"Hey, princess", one of them shook me, "We can't have you asleep while we have our fun. It would just worsen our sins".
My bones chilled at his words and I tried to shuffle away from his grasp on my shoulder, but there was nowhere else to go.
His grin widened at my struggle and I nearly emptied my stomach's contents as I watched him stroke his junk.
"Please, don't do this", I tried begging since my attempted threat was futile. They know something I didn't and my cloudy thoughts couldn't decipher that.
They laughed at me again.
"Sorry, princess, as much as this isn't part of the job, you really don't expect us to miss such an opportunity. The praise of your beauty and endowment precedes you greatly", the scarred on said, as he licked his lips.
"Men salivate over the thought of you. To have you in our hands is a chance we can't miss", his partner continues, his grubby hands brushing my cheek. Disgust crawled over me.
The stabbed one stood over me and began to unbuckle his belt.
"Please", I begged, silently willing unconsciousness to be a form of mercy, " Don't do—"
My body froze as a gunshot ran through the air.
My eyes fluttered open and caught sight of a bullet between the eyes of the man I stabbed.
His partner quickly turned around and I couldn't see who was there but relief flooded my system instantly.
My husband was here. He had co—
I'm once again frozen by the sight of a man who was anything but my husband.
If the black scarf wrapped around his head wasn't already a dead give away, the way he moved with such precision and assertiveness as he fought the scarred guy. Like he knew the guy he was fighting wasn't a competition. He fought like an... assassin.
It took my fuzzy brain more seconds than I could spare to put the pieces together. The fear that once evaded me rushed back with a blinding force.
There was only one assassin group I really knew of and the black scarf thing confirmed all I needed to know.
My bones were too weak to move so I was forced to watch as this assassin ended the life of my supposed captor.
He turned to me and I froze. It wasn't just because of the look in his eyes that was absolutely feral. But the familiarity of those eyes.
He made his way towards me, his movements so silent I wouldn't know he was moving if I wasn't watching him.
He crouched in front of me and held my gaze like he was expecting me to say or do something.
When I just stared back, he let out a sigh and shook his head at me.
I stiffened as he began to unravel his scarf. No one sees the face behind an assassin's scarf and lives to tell the story.
But when the scarf finally fell off, I gasped.
No. Way.
♣♣♣
