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I rise to my feet. “Sleep. Don’t leave this room.”
“What are you going to do with me?” she suddenly cries, sitting up.
“Don’t break my rules, Grace, and you’ll live to see another day.”
I go down to the kitchen, where Maria is making lunch. Igor is eating as usual but stands when he spots me. “Boss,” he murmurs in greeting.
“Go to the first floor and watch she doesn’t leave the room.”
“And if she does?”
I smirk. “Call for me.”
“You don’t want me to lock the door?” he asks.
I shake my head. I’m testing her. It’s a test I know she’ll fail, and that excites me more than anything.
“Should I make her lunch?” asks Maria.
I shake my head. “No. She won’t be eating today, Maria.” Because I already know she’ll need punishment.
GRACE
I lay for ten minutes staring up at the white ceiling before I glance around the room. It’s clean but plain, with all white walls and not a drop of colour. I sit, letting my feet touch the soft carpet then rise to my feet and carefully move across the room until I’m by the window, where I peer down into the garden below. There’re men chatting right below my window. A high wall surrounds the property along with large iron gates where men stand guard with dogs. I groan. How the hell am I going to get out of this?
I curse Danny for the hundredth time. If only he hadn’t have stolen the damn wallet. Then my heart twists, remembering the price he’s paid, and tears fill my eyes again. I’d told him so many times it wasn’t worth the hassle. Not unless you were somewhere crowded, where it would be impossible to pinpoint when a wallet went missing or who took it.
I move to a door next to the exit and carefully open it, trying to be as quiet as possible. Inside there’s a bathroom, so I close it again and turn to the exit. I know it’s unlocked because I didn’t hear him lock it when he left. My hand hovers over the doorknob as I replay his words in my head. I know I won’t make it downstairs and out the front door without being noticed, but maybe I can check out the other side of the house. Men might not patrol there, meaning I can at least try to climb the wall. I just need to get into a room overlooking that side.
I quietly open the door, slowly peering out into the hall. There’s no one immediately outside my room, and I breathe a sigh of relief. There’s a door opposite this one and I pray it’s another bedroom as I creep across the landing.
IVAN
“I can have this girl on a boat by ten this evening,” Maxim tells me, swirling his whiskey around in the tumbler.
I sigh heavily. “Why are you so keen to get rid of her?”
“It’s unusual for us to keep hold of a woman we intend to sell on. She’s seen us, heard our names. Aren’t you a little concerned?”
I smirk, pouring myself a glass of water. “Why would I be concerned?”
“She’s not on drugs, she’s thinking clearly, and she witnessed a murder.”
“And she won’t get out of here to tell a living soul, so what’s the problem?”
“So, you don’t plan on selling her?”
I sigh. “Yes, Maxim, I plan to sell her to a very good man in Russia. But not yet. First, I want to entertain myself.”
He frowns. “Why?” When I don’t reply, he leans a little closer. “I can’t help but notice how she looks like—”
I slam my hand on the table and fix him with a glare. “Don’t finish that sentence,” I growl. “Stop questioning my decisions.”
He sits back, nodding once. “Okay. Sorry, boss.”
There’s a knock at the door. “What?” I snap.
It opens and Igor steps in. “She’s left the room, boss,” he tells me, and I grin.
