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Or a ticket back to the States.
I stared down at the credit card on the desk as the saleswoman wrapped up my purchases and tucked the receipt into the bag. She pushed the bags across to me and I snaked out my hand to grab the card, but she was faster, tucking it out of reach. Her eyes were blank as she offered me a plastic smile.
“Mr. Esposito asked me to hold the card for him,” she said.
Fuck him, he’d thought of everything. He probably kidnapped women all the time and brought them here to buy them pretty things. Like lambs, fattened up and slaughtered.
“Didn’t he say to give me what I asked for?” I asked, desperately.
She nodded. “Yes, but it’s Mr. Esposito’s name on the card, ma’am.”
Those words hit me like a wall of bricks tumbling down and burying me until my breath felt like it was being squeezed from my lungs. My head spun as I pivoted to look through the glass door to the street outside.
I was helpless. Really, truly helpless. He was the brother of my father’s boss, one of the most powerful men in our city. I was nothing, a complete nobody. I didn’t have his kind of money or influence and what little I did have wouldn’t save me.
He had paid for my clothes just like he’d snapped his fingers and a boat and a private island appeared.
I turned, defeated. He appeared on the other side of the glass door, striding confidently up the sidewalk and entering the shop. He pushed his phone into his pocket and took off his sunglasses just long enough to scan my bags. I balked, suddenly guilty and then confused about feeling guilty.
“Did you get everything?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
His gaze slid from my head to my toes and it seemed to warm, like it was slowly heating up until it simmered like coals. It was still hard to glean his emotions from his face and body.
“Do you have panties?” he asked, his voice like silk. “And bras? Or would you like to go without?”
Indignant, I ducked away from the saleswoman and shot out the door only to have the guard step in front of me. Duran followed me at an easy pace and lifted his hand and his guard allowed me move past him to the curb.
“Come on, princess,” he said coolly. “Let’s get the rest of what you need.”
I simmered as I followed him across the street. For the first time, I had no smart remark as a counter punch. He was right, I did need undergarments. I wasn’t angry with him about bringing it up. I was just confused by the way my body reacted when he talked about it intimately. And I was even more confused by the way his gaze flickered over me, all dark and warm like his mouth beneath the sheets had been.
We went to a lingerie boutique, which wasn’t what I had in mind. I wanted a cotton bra and panties, but clearly he had different ideas.
I stole a glance at him as we stepped inside and it occurred to me that this wasn’t the first time he’d bought intimate items for a woman.
“Do you do this a lot?” I asked quietly.
“Hmm?” His eyes skimmed over the room. He was being pointedly dismissive.
“Do you buy kidnapped women lingerie often?”
His jaw worked and then he shrugged. “Not under these circumstances, but this is my first time kidnapping someone so this is all new to me. How am I doing?”
“I wouldn’t quit your day job,” I said.
He sighed. “That’s tough feedback for someone in my line of work.”
I shook my head, trying to suppress my smile, but he saw it before I could look away. A flicker of triumph passed over his face and that stopped me short. Was he making smart remarks to hurt me or…was he trying to get a more positive reaction?
And why would he do that?
“Here,” he said, pointing to a table at the center laden with piles of folded silk and lace panties. “Pick something out and go have the salesperson help you with your bras. And please get something you can wear with a formal dress as well because that’s what you’re getting next.”
I jerked around. “What? Why?”
“I need a date,” he said. “I have a business meeting tomorrow night and I’m taking you. I told you I needed arm candy.”
