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“You scream and I’m going to gag you.” His voice is harsh, and it sends fear through me. “Do you understand?”
I nod shakily, my body feeling numb and heavy, as if I could sink into the abyss and never come to the surface again.
Was it just this morning that Sergio held me and made love to me slowly? Even though there felt like a canyon between us when it came to the subject of Turning Pages, we still found the thread of love and lust between us and leaned into it. I hope, no matter what happens from here, he knows I didn’t do this to spite him, I did it to stand next to him, knowing he can’t fight my battles for me.
The man lets go of me slowly, there’s caution in his movements. When there’s enough slack in his hold of me, Iwrench myself away and spin around. The glare I give him would incinerate almost anyone, but he’s immune to it because he thinks he has the upper hand, he thinks he has the power.
Maybe he does, for now, but I know Sergio won’t rest until he finds me and the first place that he’ll look is the store. I glance at my grandfather and hope someone gets to him soon and gets him help. Because from the look on the face of the man in front of me, I’m not going to be here for much longer.
“I’m going to take you to my boss and you’re not going to put up a fight,” the man’s voice is ice cold.
“Okay,” I whisper brokenly.
He’s so much bigger than me. Not as big as Sergio, but I’m not stupid enough to try and fight him. Not now anyway. Not yet.
I glance down at my grandfather and shudder. “He needs help,” I try and persuade him.
“He shouldn’t have stood in the way of progress,” the man sneers.
“Progress?” I can feel myself becoming angry. “Ripping away the livelihoods of people who have worked their entire lives for something, who have become part of the community around them, is not progress.”
“You’re just a stupid little girl,” the man snarls. “I don’t understand what the boss sees in you except a hot little body.”
The way he looks at me, as if he is undressing me with his eyes, has my lips slamming shut and the fire in me quelling under ice water. I have a feeling the only thing protecting me from the wrath and sadism of this man is the job he has to do. It’s not morality, that’s for fucking sure.
But if that’s the only thing protecting me, then I need to bide my time.
As the man pulls me from the building that has been my home for most of my life and shoves me into the back of a fancy car, I don’t have to guess where I’m going. I can only hope that when I get there, I have a plan. Maybe Sergio will figure out where I am by then.
I keep trying to come up with something, some sort of plan, but I keep coming up short. I’m going to have to wing it and no matter how many books I’ve read, it hasn’t prepared me for this situation. I feel woefully underprepared, which only serves to make me more nervous about what is about to happen.
However, trying to think of all the different ways this could go is better than living within the fear. The fear of what is going to happen next. The fear of Sergio being too late. The fear of what could be taken from me—not only from my body, but from my life.
Lang creeped me out and I know he’s the kind of scary that will haunt me even if I get out of this. By the time we’ve pulled up to a fancy office building, one which hides many sins, I’m barely hanging on and it’s all I can do not to spiral into a full-blown panic attack.
Is my grandfather okay? Does Sergio know I’m gone by now? How the fuck am I going to get out of this?
The man who abducted me, wrenches the door open, his eyes narrow as he glares at me. “Don’t do anything stupid. You’re going to walk into this building as if nothing is wrong. If you don’t, you won’t like the consequences.”
I swallow hard because those consequences could be almost anything. Would they hurt my grandfather even more? Will theyhurt me? Right now I’m only scared, but that could take a turn quickly.
When I nod, the movement is jerky and belies my fear. It’s clear the man in front of me gets off on it by the way his lips curl into a grin to rival the devil himself. After he stands, he adjusts his cock in his pants, and I shudder before carefully stepping out of the back of the car.
The man doesn’t let me get far, leading me into the building which, on the surface, looks like any other office building where big business is going on. I know there is more under the surface here. Do the people who work here know why I’m really here? Do they even suspect?
The elevator ride feels like it takes forever, but it’s not nearly long enough because when the doors open, Lucius Lang is standing there and waiting for me as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. I want to slap the self-satisfied look off his face, but I don’t dare.
Not yet.
Bide your time, Marigold. You have a beast on your side and he’s going to come for you. It’s just a matter of time.
I square my shoulders and the grin on Mr. Lang’s face widens. As if he knows my thoughts. Maybe he does. His lack of concern is worrisome, but I can’t focus on that. I need to focus on surviving and getting the fuck out of this situation.
“Marigold,” he way he says my name is like oil against my skin and I desperately want to whisk it away, “so nice of you to join me here in my office.” I barely stop the sassy retort on my tongue. “Now we can get down to business. I have a lot of plans for you.”
He closes the distance between us and slides his hand down my arm as if he owns me. He doesn’t. My body tries to recoil, and I fight against it, not wanting to show how much I hate him and the way he makes me feel.
Don’t show weakness. Your beast is coming.
