Chapter 21: Completely Unhinged 

*Layla*

I thought I could hear Dante’s breathing over the phone, the cadence suggested that he was trying his best to remain calm.

"Penny, what do you think you are doing?"

"What am I doing?" Penny repeated through clenched teeth. "I'm taking what's mine, DeLuca. What you've owed me for years."

She panned the camera over to Sophia and me, tied up and gagged on the floor. I could hear Dante's sharp intake of breath.

"Layla?" he said. "Sophia? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I tried to speak, to reassure him that we were alright, but the gag muffled my words, turning them into a meaningless jumble of sounds.

"They're fine," Penny said dismissively, turning the camera back to herself. "For now, anyway. But that could change very quickly, depending on how cooperative you decide to be."

"What do you want?" Dante asked, his voice tight with barely controlled anger. "Money? Is that what this is about?"