6. Luxtyn

6

LUXTYN

I t's been two days since I've heard from my mom. She was supposed to get back from her business trip yesterday, but she never showed up. I tracked her phone using the Find My app, and after doing a quick Google search, I determined her last known location was at a condo where I'm assuming her client is staying.

I don't fucking know.

When I called the police, they were useless, repeatedly transferring me from officer to officer, and by the time I got to a detective, he told me he would work on it and get back to me. The way he brushed me off infuriated me and left me with no other choice but to go to New York myself and figure out what's going on.

I hopped on the first available flight to New York City, and now three hours later, I'm in the most chaotic airport ever, which is only escalating the anxiety I've been experiencing for the last few days.

After retrieving my checked bag, I follow the signs to the rideshare area. According to the app, my driver should be here in five minutes in a silver Ford Fusion.

With my duffle bag hanging off my shoulder, I exit the terminal, taking in the sea of people working their way to their transportation. Out of habit, I grab my pocketknife from the side of my duffle bag and slip it into my purse. My mom always taught me to carry it on me, and now that I'm in a city I know nothing about, I'm more inclined to have it on me at all times.

I'm waiting by one of the several passenger pickup lanes when my phone dings.

Your Uber has been canceled.

"What the hell?" I mutter. Who cancels an Uber when they're a few minutes away?

I let out an annoyed sigh as I start to order another ride before I'm interrupted.

"Are you in need of a ride, ma'am?" I turn toward the voice and pinpoint a tall man in a dark expensive-looking suit standing only a few feet away.

Eyeing him suspiciously, I ask, "Are you an Uber driver?"

"I am."

I glance around with narrowed eyes at all of the people squeezing by one another as they make their way through the crowds, and notice a taxi driver only ten feet away, calling out to a passerby, asking if they need a lift somewhere. I guess approaching customers for rides is normal here.

I bring my attention back to the driver. "Which car is yours?"

"The G-Wagon," he says, pointing behind him to the blacked-out Mercedes Benz I know I can't afford to take.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to politely decline. Uber Black isn't in my budget. Thanks, though."

I turn my attention back to my phone so I can continue ordering another ride when the man speaks again. "The person I was picking up canceled, so I'm just heading back into the city. If you're headed toward the Upper East Side, I can bring you at the same price as a regular vehicle since I'm heading that way anyway."

I raise a brow and study him. He seems friendly enough with that pearly white smile he's worn ever since he came up to me. He's attractive with his freshly shaved face and his clean-cut hair style that's faded on the sides and styled longer up top. This would be a lot more convenient than having to order another ride.

"I have an address, but this is my first time here, so I'm not sure if it's in your direction."

"What's the address?" he asks.

I flash my phone to him, showing him the address of my mom's last known location. "Is this the Upper East Side?"

He takes a small step toward me, as if he's trying not to invade my personal space, and peers at my phone. "Lucky for you, it is," he responds without a hitch in his smile. He turns and holds his arm out toward the G-Wagon. "Shall we?"

Making my way to the back passenger door, he holds out his hand. "I can put your bag in the back."

I offer him an appreciative smile and a thank you before handing him the heavy duffle bag, which he takes effortlessly.

He holds the door open for me while I step up into the SUV and slide onto the black leather seat. I plop my purse onto my lap.

Upon shutting the door, the locks click, which sends a sense of eeriness through me, straightening my spine.

Relax, Lux. Cars lock. Totally normal.

"You should really be more aware of your surroundings," a smooth, deep voice says from beside me, causing me to shriek and my hand to fly up to my racing heart.

"Oh my gosh. I-I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"I'd say that's obvious," he grumbles.

Okay, asshole.

"Look, I didn't realize this Uber was already taken." I grab my purse and sling the strap over my shoulder. "I'm more than happy to order another one." As I go to unlock the door, the driver slides into his seat, but to my annoyance, this car is apparently too high-tech for me and I can't figure out how to unlock it.

The driver slides into his seat. "Can you unlock the door, please?" I call out to him. "I didn't realize you were already taking someone. I can just order another ride."

"No can do, pretty lady," the driver says with a chipper attitude before making eye contact with the other passenger in the rearview mirror. "We good?" he asks.

I finally take in the man who was crammed so far in the corner of the vehicle just moments before. Now that he's leaning forward slightly, the terminal lights peering in through the window allows me to get a better look at him, and holy crap . He might have no manners, but he's by far the most attractive man I've ever seen.

His thick dark hair is styled back, putting his loose waves on display, and it makes me want to comb my fingers through it. His facial hair is well kept and his dark eyes are, well, they're dark.

Menacing, actually.

A spark of annoyance seems to pass through them when he nods to the driver, which pulls me out of my distracted state of mind as the car begins to move.

"Could you please let me out of the car, sir?" I call out to the driver once more, which is proving to be useless, as he ignores me. Pulling on the door handle again, I look for the lock button. My heart rate picks up and my palms begin to sweat as I realize the situation I've gotten myself in .

"You might as well stop trying to open the door. No matter what you do, it won't work," says the man next to me. The sinking feeling in my gut lights up with fury.

Turning back to the man, I ask, "What is this? A kidnapping?"

Is this what happened to my mom? Is this sort of thing common in New York City?

"Call it what you want," he says with a shrug. It's like he does this every single day. It doesn't even seem to affect him.

Think, Lux, think.

"Aww, c'mon, Matteo. Give the girl a break. Can't you tell you're scaring her?" the driver says before giving me a wink in the rearview mirror.

Is this a damn joke?

"Is that true, Little Lux. Am I scaring you?" the passenger asks in a condescending tone.

My eyes snap to his, narrowing in on him as he says my nickname that only my mom uses. "How the hell do you know my name?"

"I know a lot more about you than you think," he responds before gazing out the tinted window.

That's it? That's all he's going to say?

Taking a deep breath, I try to relax my nerves and calm the racing thump in my chest. Panicking will not get me anywhere in this situation. The only thing I can think to do is call the police, so I slowly reach for my phone in my purse, trying to be discreet.

Feeling around, I brush across my pocketknife and slip it into the sleeve of my sweatshirt. I silently send a thank you to my mom for always telling me to keep it on me at all times.

"You take your phone out and I take it away. Actually. . ." Matteo says before yanking my purse off my lap.

"Hey!" I shriek as I throw myself across the back seat, finding myself in his lap as I try to retrieve my purse. When I think I have a chance at pulling it out of his grasp, he manhandles me like some brute, overpowering me with his massive size, then spins my body around and slams my back against his chest. He wraps his arms around me, holding me in place, pinning my arms to my sides. The cool metal of the pocketknife presses into my forearm.

"Is this really necessary?" I exclaim, frustrated at how easy it was for him to treat me like a rag doll. "You realize this is kidnapping, right?" I attempt to wiggle myself free from him, but it proves to be useless, as his hold only tightens.

"Keep wiggling like that and you're going to have a bigger issue to deal with than finding your mom," he whispers in my ear. The heat of his breath sends a wave of goose bumps along my skin. His threat doesn't come across as intimidating, though. It comes across. . . suggestively?

The driver glances at us in the rearview mirror and smirks at our compromising position. Heat rises through my cheeks, not because I'm blushing, but because I'm pissed.

His arms loosen ever so slightly around me, so, catching him off guard, I rear my elbow back and jam it into his ribcage. I might not carry a torch to him in size, and that hit might've not had tremendous power behind it, but the shock factor takes him by surprise, causing him to release me as he grunts out a curse.

I roll off him back to my seat and lean as close to the door as I can, putting as much distance between us as possible. "How the hell do you know about my mom?"

The driver laughs while Matteo rights himself. "Fuck off, Enzo," he mutters.

Matteo and Enzo. Got it. I'm reporting these assholes as soon as I figure out how to get the hell out of here.

"What did you guys do to her? Kidnap her like you're kidnapping me?" I struggle to keep my voice from cracking with each octave.

"We're not kidnapping you, Luxtyn," Enzo says. I meet his gaze in the mirror before he brings his attention back to the dark road.

"No, let her think we're kidnapping her. A little fear might do her some good," Matteo snaps.

I glance between the two men; Enzo has a charismatic smile painted on his face, and the annoyingly ruggedly handsome one to my left has a look of annoyance prominent on his features as his mouth forms a straight line and his eyes harden into a glare.

I settle my gaze on Matteo. "I'd say locking me in this vehicle and not allowing me to leave is the definition of kidnapping. And you know my mom is missing. What kind of fucked-up situation is this?"

"So much for waiting for her dad, huh?" Enzo mutters.

My dad?

What the hell?

"One of you better start talking right now or I'll. . . I'll. . ."

"You'll what?" Matteo grinds out. "You have no leverage here. You're stuck in a car with no way out, and even if there was a way out, what're you going to do? Jump out of a moving vehicle onto a heavily populated interstate?"

He's right. I have no plan. He has my phone and my wallet. He's locked me in this damn car. Even if I could open the door, I'd just get hit by another car and die.

"Just calm the fuck down. We're almost to my penthouse, and when we get there, your dear ol' dad can break the exciting news to you."

I scoff. "You clearly have me mistaken for someone else. I don't have a dad."

Matteo clenches his jaw, something I'm surprised I can even notice through the shadow of his stubble and the dark of the night. "Everyone has a dad. How do you think you were brought into this world?"

I grind my teeth. This patronizing asshole.

"Just because you don't know who he is, doesn't mean he doesn't exist," he adds. "Now put your damn seatbelt on and keep quiet. You're giving me a headache."

He settles in his seat, takes his phone out, and types away on it, ignoring me, which only infuriates me more.

I don't know what the hell he's talking about when it comes to my dad, but he mentioned my mom, and if I want to find her, I need to do what he says and zip my lips for once. Allowing myself to get kidnapped by these guys might've been a terrible idea, but it also might get me a step closer to finding her.