Bad Move, Uncle. You Sent Your Princess to the Mob… Now Your Queen Runs It Novel

Chapter 3 The deafening music cut out instantly, and the girls on stage began filing out like ghosts. Skylar's panic spiked-she was seconds away from being marched out of that suite. If she blew this chance, she didn't know if she'd ever lay eyes on Everett again. As she passed right in front of him, Skylar reached up and ripped the mask off her face. But the exact moment the mask hit the floor, Everett's phone started buzzing. He glanced down at the coffee table to grab his phone, completely missing Skylar's silent plea for help.

Sitting right next to him, Thalia froze for a heartbeat the second she recognized Skylar. Skylar's mouth hung open, but thanks to the drugs, not a single sound escaped her throat. Cain, the unit leader, saw her acting out and lunged, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her violently out of the room. Cain hauled her down to the dungeon and strapped her into a metal chair rigged with electrodes. The second the juice hit, Skylar's fingers clawed into the armrests, veins bulging in her forehead as her entire body went rigid! Cain watched her writhe in the chair and spat on the floor in disgust.

"Goddamn it! I warned you a thousand times, and you still almost ruined Mr. Wilder's night! If he gets pissed, we're all dead men!" The paralysis finally began to wear off just as the shocks stopped. Drenched in sweat, Skylar managed to choke out: "I'm Everett Wilder's niece... he's my family! Just let me see him... he'll know it's me!" Cain let out a mocking snort. "You've lost your mind. A piece of trash like you thinks she can claim a man like Wilder?" "If you were really his niece, do you think he'd ever dump you in a shithole like this?" Those words hit her harder than the electricity.

He was right. If Everett truly saw her as family, would he have ever condemned her to this hell? Cain drew his pistol and leveled it right at Skylar's head. "Keeping you alive is more trouble than it's worth! Don't take it personally!" Skylar stared down the dark barrel and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the end. Cain pulled the trigger. BANG! The gunshot echoed through the dungeon like a thunderclap. The bullet tore through her thigh. The agony was so white-hot it blanked her mind, leaving her gasping for air. Cain holstered his weapon, his eyes cold as ice.

"If you weren't still worth a few bucks, that bullet would've gone through your skull." "Try another stunt like that..." He paused, pointing toward a dark corner. "And you'll end up like that pile of meat over there." Skylar followed his finger and saw a heap of unrecognizable remains. She didn't dare move another muscle. Cain threw her back into the cage and sent for a medic to patch her up. The medic was a local named Dr. Nguyen. He'd patched her up before, and they'd developed a grim sort of familiarity. "How'd you get it this bad this time?" Nguyen muttered.

"I told you, once you're in the Zone, you never leave. Just play the part and save yourself the pain..." Skylar stared blankly into space, barely hearing his rambling. Suddenly, the sky outside exploded with the sound of fireworks. Through the tiny basement window, they could see the sky lit up in brilliant colors. "It's Mrs. Wilder's birthday," Nguyen said to himself. "Mr. Wilder just handed her this entire compound as a gift. New boss in town starting tomorrow." "The way he spoils that woman is insane.

Mansions and diamonds are just the tip of the iceberg." "Word is he waited for her for years after they split. When her ex-husband started hitting her, Wilder went over there, snapped the guy's neck like a twig, and brought her and the kids home." "She didn't want more kids, so he got a vasectomy. He even gave her top-level clearance to his armory and signed everything over to her in his will..." "To be loved by a man like that... she must have done something right in a past life." Hearing that, Skylar remembered a time she'd caught a glimpse of a photo in Everett's wallet.

The edges were yellowed, he'd clearly kept it for years. She had asked him back then, "Uncle Everett, who is she?" Everett had traced the photo with his thumb, his expression a mix of longing and pain. "She's the love of my life." Skylar had felt a pang of jealousy. "And what about me?" Everett had just pinched her cheek. "You're my family, Sky. She's my heart. You both matter." admin