Page 28 of Ash

“That’s enough nonsense for today; I have more work to do,” I said.

“And, as a punishment for all of your teasing, you can clean this mess up for Nonna,” I chuckled as I took in the mess we’d made.

“Typical!” she shouted as I headed towards the door. Another potato whizzed past my head and hit the wall, making me laugh louder.

“Oh, and her name is Gracie, by the way!” she shouted after me, and I immediately did an about-turn!

I quirked an eyebrow at her. “Say what?”

“Her name is Gracie,” she repeated, “I heard Derrick call her that a few times.”

“Anything else you know about her that you haven’t told me?” I questioned, giving her a hard stare, annoyed it had taken her so long to mention this.

She shook her head, looking contrite. “Sorry.”

I huffed and left the room, a mixture of annoyance and elation warring inside. Elation won, and I smiled widely. I finally had a name for Little Miss Hot Mess. Gracie! I liked it, but I still couldn’t help thinking of her as my Little Miss Hot Mess.

Armed with her name, I called Exquisite Events again, hoping to speak to Derrick. But my elation was short-lived when I found out that not only was Marcie still on holiday, but Derrick was also off for a few more days. Seriously? It should not be this hard to get a number for my Little Miss Hot Mess. It was as if fate was conspiring against me.

There had to be another way. I mulled it over for a few minutes then smiled. I lifted the phone and called Anton. One of his men was Derrick’s boyfriend. I asked him to find out form him all he could about Gracie, and he promised to call me back with whatever information he could get.

Finally on Friday morning Anton called me back. He’d come through for me and managed to find out where Gracie worked.

Yes!I cried in triumph after putting the phone down.

Finally, I knew where to find Little Miss Hot Mess. The sexy little waitress and that cream-covered kiss had haunted my dreams all week, and I was determined to get another taste of those luscious lips again. Tonight. I wouldn’t wait any longer.

Anton had said that Gracie would be working at a pub called the Old Bell Tavern this evening, which was perfect as I was due to meet with another Somali informant at a location that was not far from there.

I planned on popping into the pub afterwards. If it went to plan, I could apologise for my behaviour, blame it on being distracted with important family business, charm her phone number out of her, and grab another kiss. Hopefully, if I was really fortunate, I’d even get to take her home. I liked that part of the plan, and so did my semi, who made an appearance again at the thought.

The rest of the day went by in a flash, and before I knew it, I was headed to the meeting. Romi scowled as I drove off, leaving him standing at the door. He wasn’t happy that I was going to the meeting alone, but I was adamant, and he knew how stubborn I could be, so after a brief argument, he finally gave in.

“You’d better bloody check in as soon as it’s over!” he shouted, his words ringing in my ears as I turned the music up and headed down the drive.

I parked near the meeting location and jumped out, feeling that strange sense of excitement again. Just like I’d felt on Saturday night when I met my Little Miss Hot Mess. Since nothing else of note had happened that evening, it had to be because of her. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but I was looking forward to finding out.

I saw Mohammed the moment I walked into the alley. Good, he was on time. I wanted to get this meeting over with so I could head to the Old Bell Tavern.

I couldn’t wait to see how a certain blue-eyed blonde would react when I walked up to her bar and ordered a drink. My heart sped up at the thought of seeing her again. That’s when I heard someone behind me. Shit! I was distracted and not paying proper attention. A stupid mistake. I felt him getting closer. I reacted, but just a little too late and I got sucker punched. I fell to the ground as the world went black.

After being knocked out, I’d finally come round only to find that not only were my hands and feet tied, but I was hanging from a hook in the ceiling of a small room which looked like the basement of an abandoned building. I hadn’t had time to process much apart from the excruciating pain in my arms before I was hit in the face by a big black dude I didn’t know.

He must have been the one who managed to sneak up behind me. Shit, I really felt like an idiot.

Firstly, I had told Romi not to come with me to the meeting because I wanted to sweet-talk Little Miss Hot Mess afterwards without him tagging along. Secondly, I’d allowed myself to be distracted by thoughts of her and let my guard down. I never did that. I knew better than to do that. Well, now I was reaping the benefits of my stupidity. I berated myself as the asshole hit me again.

“Where is your lab located?”

“What lab?” I asked, feigning innocence.

“Don’t play dumb with me, you Russian piece of shit!” he shouted, then punched me in the stomach. I grunted. Fuck, that was a sore one!

“Where the fuck is it?” he screamed at me.

I didn’t answer. If he thought beating me would make me talk, then he was a bloody fool. I wouldn’t talk, no matter what they did. No matter how much pain I endured. There was nothing I couldn’t bear to keep my family and our business safe, so I was prepared to take a lot of pain. In fact, I expected it. This was only the beginning. I would take whatever the assholes had to dish out. If they tortured me right, that might mean days of pain.

My family would come for me. I only hoped they would find me before I died. I could deal with the thought of death, but I prayed my family wouldn’t end up suffering further because of my thoughtless actions. They’d suffered enough. I should never have gone to the meeting alone.