The Abduction
1364 Words
The night air was colder than it should have been.
Ariana wrapped her coat tighter around her body as she stepped out of the subway station. The city lights flickered against the glossy pavement, painting the street in broken reflections of yellow and blue. She moved quickly, her steps sharp and anxious.
Ever since Damian Moretti had appeared in her apartment shadows, cold warning, dark intensity she hadn’t slept. His voice replayed in her mind like an endless echo.
“From today onward, you’re a target.”
Those words clung to her skin like frost.
But she refused to let fear cage her. Not when Elena was still missing. Not when she was this close to finding the truth.
Still… she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following her.
Every footstep behind her made her flinch. Every passing car made her heart jerk. The street was too quiet, too empty for New York.
She pulled out her phone, pretending to check messages while scanning her surroundings through the darkened screen reflection.
That was when she saw him.
A tall figure in a black jacket, standing at the corner near the lamppost, unmoving, half-hidden by the dim glow. She couldn’t make out his face, but his posture, still, deliberately sent a ripple of alarm down her spine.
She kept walking. Her pace quickened.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
Matching her speed.
Her pulse shot upward.
She crossed the street, weaving between cars, hoping to lose him but the footsteps followed, growing clearer, firmer, closer.
Not again, she thought. Please, not again.
She turned a corner sharply.
Big mistake.
A van screeched to a stop right in front of her.
“Hey!” Ariana shouted, stumbling back.
Too late.
Two men jumped out. Masks. Gloves. Broad shoulders.
Fear shot up her spine like electric current.
“Get away from me!” she yelled, bolting back the way she came.
She didn’t make it two steps.
A strong arm grabbed her waist from behind, yanking her backward so hard she lost her breath. Her phone slipped from her hand and clattered onto the sidewalk.
“Nono, let me go!” she screamed, kicking, twisting, fighting with everything she had.
But the man behind her lifted her as if she weighed nothing. Another grabbed her legs. They carried her toward the open van doors while she thrashed like a cornered animal.
“Dammit, she’s loud,” one of the men growled.
“Doesn’t matter,” the other snapped. “The boss said alive. Not quiet.”
A thick cloth suddenly covered her mouth.
Chloroform.
Her panic spiked. She held her breath, shaking her head violently, but they clamped her jaw and nose until she had no choice.
Her lungs gave out.
The sharp, chemical sweetness filled her senses.
Her vision blurred.
Her body weakened.
Everything dimmed.
Through the haze, she thought she saw a car turn sharply onto the street, headlights slicing through the darkness like twin blades.
Then nothing.
Blackness swallowed her whole.
Ariana woke up to darkness.
Thick, suffocating darkness.
Her wrists were tied behind her back with something roughrope. Her ankles too. A blindfold cut across her eyes, pressing against her lashes.
Her head throbbed. Her mouth tasted of chemicals and fear.
She sucked in a trembling breath.
“Hello?” she whispered.
Only silence answered.
She listened harder. There was a faint rumble beneath her, a vibrating hum.
A vehicle.
She was inside a moving vehicle.
Her heartbeat quickened. Her breathing turned shallow. Not knowing where she was or who had taken her made the fear claw deeper inside her chest.
Then she heard voices. Muffled. Up front.
“Is she awake yet?”
“Probably. Doesn’t matter. We will hand her over soon.”
“Can’t believe he actually wants her.”
“It's not our job to question why.”
A chill crept through Ariana’s body.
He wants her.
Who?
Damian?
Or someone worse?
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to listen.
“You think the Moretti heir will come after her?”
A laugh. “Let him try. He’s not the only monster in this city.”
Ariana’s stomach twisted.
This wasn’t Damian.
These men weren’t Moretti men.
Which meant… someone else wanted her. Someone who knew she’d been investigating the mafia. Someone who wanted leverage over Damian? Over the Moretti throne? Or over the city’s crime web?
She tugged at her restraints, pain biting into her wrists.
No use.
Panic pressed against her lungs, threatening to break her apart.
Then the van slowed. The voices quieted. The air shifted.
The vehicle stopped.
Doors opened.
Hands grabbed her, dragging her out roughly. Cold air slapped against her skin, carrying the smell of damp earth and gasoline.
They pulled her across gravel she could hear crunch beneath their boots and slammed her against what felt like a wooden chair.
More rope. More knots.
A door creaked open in front of her.
Footsteps. Calm. Controlled.
A new voice smooth and chilling filled the room.
“Well, well… Ms. Lopez. You’ve caused quite a stir.”
Ariana’s blood froze.
“Who are you?” she demanded, trying to keep her voice from cracking.
A slow chuckle.
“I’m the man who’s going to use you to bring Damian Moretti to his knees.”
Her breath caught.
Then fingers gripped her chinfirm, possessiveforcing her face upward even through the blindfold.
“Take it off,” the man ordered.
The cloth was yanked away.
Light pierced her eyes, making her blink rapidly.
When her vision cleared, she nearly stopped breathing.
A man in his forties stood before her. Expensive suit. Dark hair streaked with silver. Eyes cold and predatory. A scar ran from the side of his jaw to his collarbone.
Marco Cervantes.
Head of the Cervantes crime family.
Rival to the Moretti dynasty.
She’d seen pictures of him file after file but nothing captured the danger radiating off him now.
“You’ve been very busy,” Marco said, circling her like a wolf. “Digging into Moretti affairs. Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Ariana glared at him despite her fear. “Let me go.”
He smirked. “Bold. I admire that.”
She spat the words out. “I’m not your leverage.”
“Oh, but you are,” Marco whispered, crouching in front of her. “You’re more valuable than you know.”
Her pulse hammered painfully.
Marco leaned in until she felt his breath on her skin.
“Damian Moretti broke the rules. He interfered where he shouldn’t. And now… he will come for you. That is his weakness.”
Ariana’s chest tightened. “I’m not important to him.”
Marco chuckled darkly. “Is that what you think?”
He stood up, brushing off his suit as if the conversation bored him.
“Prepare her,” he ordered his men. “And call Moretti.”
Her heart skipped.
Call… Damian?
No.
No, no, no.
She didn’t want him dragged into this. She didn’t want anyone hurt because of her.
But it was already too late.
One of the men pulled out a phone and dialed.
A moment later, he spoke into it.
“We’ve got the girl.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Your move, Moretti.”
Miles away, inside a black-tinted Maybach speeding through the city, Damian Moretti heard those words and his world snapped into razor focus.
For the first time in years, his voice shook with pure, lethal rage.
“Where is she?”
A mocking laugh spilled through the speakers.
“You want her alive? Come get her.”
Damian’s grip tightened around the phone until the metal creaked.
“Ariana,” he whispered just once, but the name carried the weight of thunder.
His driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
“Boss?”
Damian’s eyes darkened, cold and murderous.
“We’re going to war.”
He leaned back, jaw sharp enough to cut through bone.
“No one touches what’s mine.”
And as the Maybach accelerated, slicing through the city like a predator unleashed, it became clear
This wouldn’t end with negotiations.
It wouldn’t end with warnings.
This would end with blood.
- Writer
