Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Vanessa,” Lorenzo hisses, “enough. I need to get home. I’m going to forward the certificate to my attorney, and he’ll start the process of getting it annulled. And if you’re lying and not on birth control, I’d recommend taking the morning-after pill because the last woman who trapped me disappeared, leaving me a single dad.”
Holy shit! I guess that answers the question as to where his son’s mother is.
Lorenzo glares at me one last time before he takes off toward the parking lot, rolling his overnight bag behind him.
I’m about to go after him and tell him the truth, beg him to protect me, when two men get out of a black town car and start heading my way.
Oh shit, it’s the men Eric sent.
I look around, unsure of where to go, knowing if I don’t get away from them, this is it. I’m going to be taken and never seen again.
I’ll become a statistic.
I spot Lorenzo sliding into the driver’s seat of his midnight-blue BMW sedan, and I rush over to him. From a distance, someone calls my name, but I don’t look back.
I’m in survival mode.
Fight or flight has made an appearance, and flight has taken over.
Adrenaline propels my legs forward and straight toward Lorenzo’s vehicle.
Just before he puts the car into drive, I swing the door open and jump into the passenger seat.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Lorenzo barks.
“Go, please!” I glance back at the two men, who are coming up on the car.
“Get out!”
“No! Please,” I beg. “They’re going to get me. Please, go.”
Lorenzo’s brow furrows, and he glances back just as the two men approach the vehicle.
One of them grabs the handle at the same time I swipe the lock.
“Open the door,” the guy says. “Mr. Vanderbilt said you need to go home.”
“Who the fuck are they?” Lorenzo asks incredulously.
“My stepfather’s men,” I cry out. “He’s trying to sell me to some guy he owes money to,” I blurt out, hoping it’s enough to convince him to drive away with me in the car.
Lorenzo curses under his breath, but thankfully, he takes off, leaving the two men behind.
He hits a button on his steering wheel and says, “Call Matteo,” and a second later, his phone rings over Bluetooth.
“Russo,” Matteo drawls. “Did I seriously see that crazy chick get into the car with you?”
Lorenzo glances at me. “Eric Vanderbilt sent two men to pick her up.”
“And? The last thing you want is to get involved in that family’s drama,” Matteo says, making my heart drop.
If he convinces Lorenzo to dump me on the side of the road, I’m screwed.
“It’s not family drama,” I choke out, knowing if I don’t tell them what’s going on, I have no chance of them helping me. “Eric owes some guy money, and I overheard Eric tell him that he would sell me to the guy in exchange for his debt being paid off.”
“Who?” Matteo asks.
“Santiago. I don’t know his last name. I just heard him call him Santiago.”
Lorenzo curses under his breath at the same time Matteo curses out loud.
“Please,” I say to them both. “I didn’t know what else to do or where else to go. He told him I was a virgin and worth millions.”
“Jesus fuck.” Lorenzo shakes his head. “That’s why you drugged and raped me?”
“I didn’t rape you,” I insist, refusing to admit we didn’t have sex and risk either of them telling anyone that I’m still a virgin.
I hate that he thinks we had sex and doesn’t remember it, but I’m not taking any chances. My life is literally on the line.
“Please,” I say to him. “I know what I did was fucked up, but I didn’t have any other choice. He’s going to sell me!” Sobs rack my body, and I cover my face with my hands, trying to calm my breathing. When it doesn’t work, I reach for my purse to grab my pills, only I don’t have them because I put everything in my luggage … which I left back at the dock.
“Shit,” I hiss.
“What?” Lorenzo asks.
“My pills—they’re in my luggage back at the dock.” I try to catch my breath, but I’ve had enough anxiety attacks to know that once I reach this point, the only way to help is by taking a pill.
“The pills you drugged me with?” Lorenzo accuses.
I try to suck in air, but each breath isn’t bringing enough oxygen to my lungs, and within a few seconds of my body not calming, I start to freak out, afraid of what’s to come.
“Lorenzo,” I gasp, my eyes meeting his, “I’m … having an … anxiety attack.”
His eyes go wide with concern.
“I’m … going to black out.”
“What?”
Black dots mar my vision.
My head turns fuzzy.
The world around me starts to spin.
“Please … don’t let … him take me.”
I’ve only just said the last word when everything goes dark, and I pray when I wake up, I won’t be on my way to be sex trafficked.