Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
When his attention snaps back to me with no warning, I sit up a little straighter like a kid who got caught daydreaming in class. Though I doubt my teacher would have killed me for something like that.
“What is this?”
I shake my head frantically even though it hurts like hell. “I swear, I have no idea. I told you. They didn’t tell me what I was picking up, only that it was a package, and they told me where I could find it. That is all I know.”
Again, he brings to mind a snake when he lunges at me all at once, pressing me against the back of the couch before wrapping a hand around my throat. The pressure causes my air to cut off and my eyes to bulge.
Leaning into my ear, he says, “I’m going to ask you again, Elena. What is in that package?”
How am I supposed to answer when I can’t even breathe? I feel the pressure building in my head, and my lungs are starting to burn with the need for air. I open my mouth, but all that comes out is a gargling noise—and to my horror, he smiles at the sound.
But he also lets up a little. All the color floods back into the world as I gulp in a grateful breath, then another.
“Now. What’s in the package? Exactly what is that product?”
My heart sinks with dismay, unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I thought things were bad when I couldn’t pay my tuition? What a joke. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t help you. I would if I could,” I quickly add.
But he only shakes his head, his scowl deepening into something closer to a snarl. He squeezes harder, and again there’s nothing to do but hope he’ll let go before it’s too late. I slap weakly at his hand, which only makes him take both of my wrists in the other one and squeeze them until my bones grind together and tears roll down my cheeks.
“You’re trying my patience,” he whispers, and his face is starting to get a little blurry.
I have to breathe. I need to breathe!
But then he eases back some, and I sip air through a thin straw while my head swims. Our eyes meet for the briefest of moments, but it’s long enough for something to throb inside me. It has to be the way my head is all foggy now, that’s all. I’m losing it.
“You expect me to believe that your father sent you to the very warehouse he was supposed to be meeting me, dressed like a two-bit hooker while carrying a brick of cocaine? I don’t know much about Josef Alvarez, but this doesn’t seem like him. What does he expect by sending you in his place?”
I shake my head, narrowing my eyes in confusion. But then, a past conversation resurfaces. I remember Elena telling me that she and one of her cousins shared a name. Something about all the daughters being named after their abuela.
Is that who her cousin is—the daughter of the man who I was supposed to be working for?
“Hm?” he asks when I don’t say a word.
How can I? I’m speechless, and this quick job just got ten times more complicated.
Taking my silence as an answer, he says, “That’s okay. You’ll have another chance to give me what I want.” His eyes narrow as his grip begins to tighten, and my heart races faster, harder than ever.
Although, right now, I’m not sure why—is it the fear, or is it the way my pussy is starting to moisten? I’m so ashamed. At least there’s no way either of the men could know.
Though they would if they put their hands on me down there. If this dark monster took his hand from my throat and slipped it inside my panties, he’d be able to tell right away how I really feel about this little game he’s playing. All the thought does is make me wetter.
I tense up all over when he squeezes harder than before, my head is pounding, and I hear my heartbeat in my ears, each beat slower than the last. He has my life in his hands, and he knows it.
And he likes it.
What’s worse, so do I.
He leans in close, examining me like he’d be able to see if I’m lying. All I can do is fight to hold on for as long as I can until everything goes gray and a rattling noise comes out of my mouth without me trying.
He throws me aside, leaving me slumped over, gagging, coughing, and rubbing my throat. A swipe at my wet cheeks leaves my hand streaked with eye makeup. I must look like a total disaster.
But when I sneak a glance toward the man who almost killed me, he’s smiling in a way that tells me he likes what he sees. And all I know is that if I want to stay alive, my only option might be to remain Elena.