Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Uh… all right,” I croaked out, stupefied.
He continued, “You’ll be driven to my property and I am reaching out to your brothers through a mutual acquaintance. You’ll be made comfortable until they can arrive.”
Oh, thank God. Thank the good sweet Lord above. Relief washed over me, through me. Tears pricked my eyes.
Wait. What if he was lying? I fought to find words but stupidly just held the phone.
Please don’t let this be a lie.
“I’m being completely honest,” he assured. “If you want to increase the chances of being able to get to your home and your two sons, you’ll cooperate.”
“I will,” I replied, worried that he knew I had two sons. Was this a threat? Was I being ransomed? Or was this guy a friend to my family?
“I’m glad to hear that. Pass the phone to Rocco, please.”
“Okay.”
I handed it back to the suited guy.
What must have been many hours later, many hours of driving in silence, we were entering the gates of what looked like a very large residence, an estate, really. I’d nodded off over and over, fighting sleep most of the way there.
At one point, Rocco said, “Nothing is going to happen to you if you allow yourself to sleep.” As kind as he’d seemed when he said it, nothing would make me trust that, even if I wanted to. My body just kept jolting every time I’d drift off.
Finally, we had arrived. I sat up straighter as the gates swung closed behind us.
I silently prayed that things weren’t about to get worse.
I was ushered, by Rocco, to a comfortable guest room in a very lavish mansion, where I sat on a bed. A handsome man in a suit came in with a woman in blue scrubs.
He had thick dark hair, lots of it, and a stubbled jaw. He was very handsome. He belonged on an Armani billboard in Times Square in that tailored suit, his hair all messy-perfect.
His dark eyes assessed me. “I’m Alessandro. First, your brothers are being contacted today to arrange for you to be returned to them. Can you tell me what happened to you?”
I stared blankly for a second.
“Let me see that arm?” The lady in scrubs cut in.
“Will you allow Jimena to check your arm? She’s a doctor.”
I lifted my arm, offering it to her and she moved closer. I looked at Alessandro as she unwound the bandage. He had the angriest eyes I think I’d ever seen. When he saw my arm, they went even angrier.
I glanced down at my arm and saw the horrible lettering I’d seen each time the bandage had been changed in the past few days, which had at least been often. Those nasty nurses were doing their best. I guess. This time I saw what the lettering actually said.
“Am I in Mexico?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“I was taken from my car, put in some kind of video auction.”
“Did anyone touch you sexually? There or before that?” he asked me. His English wasn’t broken, nor was it heavily accented.
I stiffened and looked down at my hands on my lap.
“Yes,” I said in a small voice without making eye contact.
The doctor was applying ointment to my arm.
“On a one to ten scale, how badly did they touch you? One: groped you, ten, had sex with you against your will.”
“Ten.” I didn’t look up.
“One person or more than one persons? How many times?”
“One. Once.”
“I’ll leave Jimena to care for you. I’ll return soon with an update. You have nothing to fear here. You will be well taken care of until someone arrives to bring you home. This door will be locked but there’s an intercom on the wall by the bathroom door that will summon someone up if you push it.”
Thank God.
“Thanks, um, did my brothers hire you?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. We have some common ground, so I’ve just stepped in to help.” He turned on his heel and left the room.
I looked at the lady in scrubs. She was rifling through a first aid bag she’d set on the bed beside me and then she began to gently put a new bandage around my forearm.
I spent almost 48 hours there before Zack picked me up and during that time, I had been seen by the doctor and a housekeeper who brought food and drinks and towels. Alessandro had come in just once more, the day after I’d arrived to ask if I needed anything and to tell me that I’d be leaving the following day.
He had brought in a phone and let me speak to Dare briefly. Very briefly. And then the day I was to go, a housekeeper took me to a dining room for a quick lunch with a pretty teenaged blonde girl named Holly.
Two guards had been in the room the entire time, strangely standing sentry but not holding machine guns, just looking expressionless but watchful.