REBORN My Second Life I Became The Villianess (Nyxara) novel Chapter 133

The metal doors slammed shut with a heavy, echoing thud right behind me, sealing the darkness around me as the van tires squealed against the concrete floor, peeling out of the garage before I could even figure out who had just made the biggest mistake of their lives.

The back of the van smelled like cheap air freshener and old dust. I stayed down on the dirty floorboards, letting my eyes adjust to the dim light filtering through the tiny gap where the back doors didn't quite shut all the way. My wrists were tied tight behind my back with heavy zip ties, biting into my skin every time the van hit a pothole.

Up front, two guys were arguing in low, rough voices.

"You sure boss wants her brought straight to the old yard?" the driver asked, keeping his eyes glued to the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, just drive. Russo said we grab a the Valteri wife and we secure the perimeter. This little chick was walking out of Cipher Core alone like she owned the place. Easiest damn job all week," the guy in the passenger seat laughed, turning around to glance back at me.

I kept my face blank, staring right back at him through the gloom. Russo. So the pathetic old man was still trying to play chess even after losing his main pieces. He thought he had just hit the jackpot by snatching someone tied to Dario and Pedro, completely clueless about the fact that he had just invited a walking disaster straight into his own living room.

The van bounced hard as we took a sharp turn off the main road and onto a gravel road. The engine revved down, and a few seconds later, we rolled to a stop inside what felt like an old, abandoned shipping warehouse.

The side door slid open with a screech of rusted metal.

"Get up, princess," the passenger grunted, reaching in and grabbing me roughly by the arm. He hauled me up onto my feet and shoved me forward out of the van.

I stumbled once on the gravel, catching my balance before my knees could hit the ground, and let them march me deep inside the dark, drafty building. The air smelled like rust, damp concrete, and bad decisions.

They dragged me over to a heavy wooden chair sitting right in the middle of a circle of flickering overhead lights. Without a word, they shoved me down into the seat, wrapped another length of thick rope around my chest and the back of the chair, and knotted it tight so I couldn't lean or shift my weight.

"Sit tight," the first guy sneered, tapping the side of my face mockingly with two fingers. "The boss will be down in a minute to see what we caught."

They both walked off toward a rusted metal staircase in the corner, laughing among themselves as they disappeared upstairs.

I let out a slow, quiet breath through my nose. I didn't panic. I shifted my wrists behind the back of the chair, testing the plastic zip ties. They were thick, industrial grade, but the plastic was already slightly strained from the way they had yanked my arms earlier.

A few minutes later, heavy footsteps echoed down the metal stairs.

Russo stepped out into the light. He was older than his had thinning hair, his eyes were sunken, and desperate. He walked with a slight limp, holding a lit cigar between his fingers, looking down at me like a king inspecting a peasant.

"Well, well, well," Russo said, taking a slow puff of his cigar and letting out a gray cloud of smoke that drifted up toward the high rafters. "Look who decided to wander right into my backyard. Dario's little pet."

I didn't flinch, I just leaned back against the chair, tilted my head, and gave him a slow, bored smile.

"You look terrible, Russo," I said, my voice cutting easily through the empty warehouse space. "Did your last few brain cells finally give up on you?"

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