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I knelt down, my fingers dragging through her silky hair, wishing things could be different, but they couldn’t. If I allowed myself to act on this attraction, to let it go any further, I already knew that the only possible outcome would be the destruction of the both of us.
So I lifted her up in my arms, and carried her toward the empty room right next to mine, my heart pounding in my chest, pushing me to take her to my bed, to keep her there, to make her mine, but I couldn’t.
As soon as I laid her down on the bed, I pulled the covers over her, telling myself that the lingering looks I threw her way were only to make sure she was still asleep. I exited the room, closing the door behind me as I left. Heading straight toward the bar in the living room, I felt Christian’s eyes on my back as I poured myself a glass full of vodka, downing it in one gulp.
This was for the best.
She couldn’t be mine.
6
EVELYN
Haveyou ever jolted awake from a nightmare, heart racing and body drenched in sweat? Countless times, I've experienced this terror, and once again, my eyes flew open with fear so deep in my gut that I tumbled out of bed, collapsing in a tangle of limbs and blankets on the floor. Gasping for air, my lungs working overtime, my head pounding and muscles aching. I struggled to get up, squinting against the bright sunlight that filtered through the window, indicating that it was much later in the day than I normally rose.
Although I was not a morning person, I still set my alarm even on my days off, knowing that sleeping the day away would only result in an irritable Evelyn. My hair was a mess, and my mind was struggling to remember what had happened and how I'd ended up in this bed.
As I looked down at myself, still clad in last night's clothing, with all my limbs intact and very much alive, I was at a loss as to what had transpired. Had I dreamt the entire encounter? Had the man I thought I'd seen been a figment of my imagination? The confusion lingered, leaving me with more questions than answers.
In a matter of seconds, I came to the stark realization that I was not in my own room, nor my own fucking apartment. The terror that I had been attempting to shake off returned with a vengeance, leaving me frozen and incapable of uttering a word as I remained seated on the floor, still entangled in the sheets.
Through the floor to ceiling windows, the stunning view of the river flowing on the other side of the city was on full display, a world apart from the Farlow District and my dingy little apartment. The hues of this room stood in stark contrast to the bland white walls of my bedroom, with the nightstands and makeup table adorned with soft golden tones, opposite the bed.
The absence of photographs, plants, or any other personal belongings in the room made it clear that nobody truly lived here.
My eyes scanned the room with a sense of urgency, desperately searching for any semblance of a clue that could shed light on my location, but my efforts proved fruitless. With a slow and cautious approach, I began to pull myself up from the floor, my mind set on finding my phone, though I knew deep down that it wasn't here. It was probably still lying in my apartment, where the man had found me last night.
I didn’t have to be a psychic to know that this was probably his place, and if the look in his eyes last night was anything to go by, this would be my last resting place as well.
I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and approached the door with caution. As my hand reached for the handle, a small gasp escaped my lips as I discovered that it was unlocked, sending a shockwave of surprise through my entire body.
Wincing at the creaking sound as the doors opened, I hurriedly stepped outside into a brightly lit hallway, and as I looked to my left, I saw another floor to ceiling window, illuminating the entire place. Another set of doors was located right next to the room where I'd slept last night, and as I tuned my senses to hear any sounds, I realized I was completely and utterly alone.
Maybe they wouldn’t kill me.
Maybe he would wait for the boss to come to finish the job, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit around and wait for that to happen.
Without a second to spare, I sprinted to my right, entering what seemed like a living room, my eyes frantically looking for an exit. My gaze landed on a small hallway on the opposite side, and strength I didn’t know I possessed rushed through me, pushing me toward, what I hoped was, an exit. My heart thundered in my chest, slamming against my ribs as my sock covered feet skid over the marble floors, and I couldn’t hear anything but the rushing of blood in my ears as I found myself standing in front of what looked like elevator doors.
There were no buttons, only a darkened panel, and as I pressed my finger over the screen, a beeping sound crushed all my hopes of ever getting out of here.
Please enter the passcode, the robotic voice echoed around me, showing the digital key panel on the screen.
“Fuck!” I slammed my hand against the wall, barely feeling the pain in my palm. “Fuck, fuck, fuck—”
“Going somewhere?” That same deep voice from last night suddenly piped up behind me, and everything screeched to a halt. My heart, my breathing, the attempts of fleeing this place. I turned around much slower than I usually would, my eyes latching onto the man standing in front of me, looking much better than me.
My mouth opened and closed as he perused me with his eyes, dragging them over my body as if he had any right to do so. My stomach clenched when he finally looked up at me, our gazes clashing in a silent war. Neither of us moved as the robotic voice from the panel kept repeating to enter the motherfucking passcode.
His broad shoulders looked even wider in the daylight, and the tattoo on his neck was more sinister than when my eyes first landed on it, reminding me that I was in much bigger trouble than I first thought.
His lips lifted at the corners, almost smiling at me, but it never quite reached his eyes. He took a step forward, and I took one step back, trying to create some distance between us. I didn’t trust myself around him; I didn’t trust my body, because while my mind screamed at me to get the fuck out of here, to run, my body wanted me to stay, to let him touch me, to find out if he was as strong as he looked.
I felt like a mouse, trapped in a box with a predator and nowhere to run. My back pressed against the wall behind me, and his nostrils flared, his entire body humming with pent up frustration as he finally came to a stop right in front of me, with mere inches separating our bodies.
My chest rose and fell with each breath I took, my knees weakening when he lifted his hand toward my face, dragging his thumb over my cheek, following the movement with his eyes—his bloodshot eyes. I would blame my thoughts on the lack of sleep and all the adrenaline still coursing through my veins, but the pain flickering in those amber colored depths made me want to ask questions.
The words were stuck on my tongue as he wrapped his hand around my throat with no real pressure, but the message was clear enough—he had me right where he wanted me.
