He Left Me on Route 66, I Married a Mafia Don

Chapter 2

Tears and sweat streamed down my face, impossible to tell apart.

The sun was blinding. A metallic taste of blood rose in the back of my throat. I don't know how long I ran or how many times I fell. My legs went numb. After one last stumble over a jagged rock, I had nothing left to get up with.

I collapsed on the ground, my knees and elbows scraped raw. My hair was a wreck. In the dead heat of summer, I could hear something howling in the distance.

I lay on the burning asphalt at the side of the highway, and just as my vision started to go dark, a few male voices cut through.

"Hey there, sweetheart. What are you doing out here all alone?"

The sudden closeness made me snap my eyes open. Three filthy men stood around me, grinning. A sick feeling twisted in my stomach. I grabbed my phone, but the heat had killed it. The screen was all black. I couldn't even get it to turn on.

When I stayed silent, they exchanged glances. One of them let out a greasy laugh.

"Looks like she's mute. Our lucky day, boys."

They lunged. I rolled away and staggered to my feet, but my body gave out after only a few steps. I hit the ground again, my phone skidding out of reach.

"Get back. Get away from me. My boyfriend is coming to pick me up." I bit down on my lip, trying to stop the shaking. "He's the CEO of a public company. You touch me, and he'll bury you!"

"Yeah, right. A CEO. Someone's been reading too many of those little romance novels."

One of them picked up my phone and tossed it at my feet with a smirk. "If your boyfriend is such a hotshot CEO, why'd he leave you out here instead of taking his pretty princess home himself?"

They said they were homeless, just drifters. The knives in their hands caught the sun.

"Here's the deal. If he gives us 200k, you walk."

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. I hit the emergency contact.

The dial tone rang out into the empty stretch of road. A robotic female voice recited the standard message. My fingers clamped around the phone so hard that they went white. 'Pick up!' I begged inside my head. 'Please, please pick up!'

The blade pressed against my neck, just enough to break skin. A thin line of blood trickled down.

Right before the call dropped, he answered.

"Damian! Damian, help...!" My voice came out as a sob. "There are men on the highway. They have knives. I need you to send 200,000, or they won't let me go."

I could hear background noise on his end. An airport.

I screamed into the phone again, "Damian, please, you have to come get me!"

His voice came back flat and bored. "Elena, are you done with the theatrics?"

"I'm not..."

He cut me off. Or she did. The wet sound of a kiss, followed by Camilla's pouty little voice.

"Damian, you told me you've been waiting for me all these years. Who is that woman?"

"My friend's sister," he said, like he was talking about the weather. "Just some girl who won't take a hint."

I stood there, a pain in my chest so sharp I could barely breathe.

I couldn't tell which hurt more. The knife against my throat, or Damian calling me some girl who wouldn't take a hint.