Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
But I see the medusa underneath.
I snarl, “What an unlucky bastard to have met you.”
She hits me again, this time harder than before, raking her nails along my cheek until I bleed.
“You will pay for every inch of suffering you gave him,” she hisses. “In fact, I think I will keep you as a pet. Just like you did with Harper.” She eyes me up and down. “I will keep you alive only barely and make you watch me tear Harper’s baby to shreds until you beg me to kill you.”
I open my mouth to say something, but the sound of guards yelling up ahead stops me from doing so. Because there is one word I did not expect them to say.
Harper.
At first, I think it’s all in my head.
But then Molly turns her head to listen too. And within a hot second, she’s disappeared through the door.
Harper? Is she really here?
No, fuck, she can’t be. She wouldn’t endanger herself like that.
Or maybe she would … to save me.
Fuck!
Harper
Minutes ago
“What the fuck are you doing?” a guard spits at me as I approach the building. “Get lost, whore.”
“I’m not a whore,” I say. “But I will provide entertainment for Stefan.”
The fact that I not only know the Polish don’s name but know exactly where he is catches their attention. The two of them swiftly grab me by the arms and haul me inside.
“Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing here?” one of them says, shoving me against the wall. “Spill it.”
“My name is Harper. You know who I am. And I think you’ll want me to speak to Stefan in person,” I say, eyeballing them both. I’m not afraid of them. “I know he’s here.”
One of them makes a face and grabs me by the arm again, dragging me through the door, slamming it shut behind him. The darkness that envelops us is icy cold.
“Turn around.”
Even if it makes my skin crawl, I still do it, and he begins to pat me down. My heartbeat shoots through the roof while I try to remain calm and breathe steadily as he leaves nothing unscathed.
One soft swipe along my thigh, and the guy is grinning.
He rips open my trench coat with ease, inspecting the goods with a smirk on his face. He shoves up my dress and plunges his hand down my panties, making me gasp. Within seconds, he’s whipped out the gun I was hiding.
“You filthy little whore,” he says, laughing afterward.
“It’s for protection from filthy guys like you,” I spit back, giving him the side-eye.
He throws me a disgusting look, one that makes me want to retch. Then he goes down to his knees and knocks off my boots, shaking them until a knife drops out. He tilts his head up to meet my gaze, but I ignore it even though I’m fuming.
“What else are you hiding underneath that skirt, darling?” he muses.
When he tries to touch me, I slap him. “Hands off. It’s for Stefan only.”
His eyes narrow, and he stares at me for a moment like he’s contemplating whether to take me to him or pull me into a dark room and take me for himself. I hope the fuck not. I may not have any weapons, but I haven’t forgotten any of the self-defense classes, and I don’t think he’ll enjoy a girl’s heel in his balls.
When he’s done, he drags me along again by my arm, through a hallway that looks eerie with the lights flickering on and off again and again. But I stay calm, knowing that I still have that patch on my skin, and Mario is still listening. He’s my only anchor now.
The guard doesn’t stop pulling me along until we’re near a door he slams his fist against. He speaks a language I don’t understand—Polish, probably—and after a few seconds, the door opens.
“What do you want?” It’s a face I recognize from the auction, back before Marcello bought me. Stefan. The man sat right next to him. I remember because I wouldn’t forget any of the faces of the people who did nothing while I was put on sale.
When he looks at me, his eyes widen. “Where did you find her?”
“She was asking about you. Came walking to the door,” the guard answers with a thick accent.
Stefan looks me up and down like he can’t believe his eyes and then immediately wraps his hand around my arm and pulls me inside, closing the door behind him. The door is locked from the inside out. After a few seconds of breathing loudly, he turns to face me.
“You … came to a rivaling don’s lair out of your own free will?” he muses, stepping closer. A smile spreads on his face. “You must be insane.” His eyes take in their fill of my voluptuous body in this tight outfit. “Or insanely horny.”