Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“You ever delivered a baby before?” I ask.
“Not delivered, but I’ve assisted.” Her sea-green eyes find mine, and I feel a strange sensation tingle in the pit of my stomach. She’s beautiful. The kind of beauty that gets you all knotted up inside.
“The previous doctor who was looking after her, did he keep any records?”
Lily walks over to a set of drawers on the other side of the room, where she picks up a file and hands it to me.
Dr. Jerimiah kept good records. They are handwritten and surprisingly legible, not to mention thorough. I flip through the pages trying to ignore the pounding pain against my brain.
According to her file, Sunshine is forty-one weeks pregnant, breach but with no underlying medical conditions. A previous attempt to turn the baby at thirty-nine weeks failed, and Dr. Jerimiah determined she needed a C-section to give birth.
I consider performing an ECV, an external cephalic version, but without the right equipment or the medication, I don’t like the chances it’ll work.
I look at my watch, and it’s a little before midnight.
“You’re in the early stages of labor, so this baby isn’t coming tonight. I want you to try and get some sleep. You’re going to need all your strength when your labor intensifies.”
“Sure thing, Doc.” She smiles cautiously. “And thanks.”
I look at Max. “I suggest you get some sleep too.”
What I need is for everyone to sleep so I can find a way out of here.
But Max isn’t easily fooled.
“In good time.” He begins to walk away and then turns back. “Please, make yourself at home. You’re free to use the kitchen but don’t venture far. You’re to stay with Sunshine to monitor her progress. Oh, and in case you’re entertaining ideas for an escape… don’t. Five armed men are patrolling the perimeter, and there are alarms on all of the exit doors. You can’t escape, Doc, and I’d hate for you to die trying.”
His grin is evil, and anger curdles with the nausea in my stomach.
I turn to look at Lily biting her lip in the most distracting way. “Come on,” she says. “I’ll show you to where you can freshen up.”
In the bathroom attached to the room, I splash water on my face and rub my wet palm along the back of my neck. I have no intention of getting any shut-eye. The only thing on my mind is escaping this bizarre place.
I don’t care about Max and his five-armed men patrolling the perimeter, I need to find an escape route, and I need to do it now.
My plan is simple—I’ll wait and pretend to sleep, then sneak out of the room.
But somehow, after I cram all six feet two inches of me into a chair to fake some shut-eye, I actually fall asleep. Which is hardly surprising, given I’ve been knocked out and drugged only hours earlier.
I sleep fitfully and startle awake sometime in the early hours of the morning, and it takes me a moment to gather my bearings. My body is cramped and stiff, and my head throbs with a dull ache. For a few seconds, I have no idea where I am or what the hell I’m doing stuffed into a small chair in an outdated hotel room.
I sit up and look around, squinting as my eyes adjust to the light, and the events of the previous day slowly come back to me.
The abduction.
The fucking insane president of the Inferno.
The beautiful girl with the sea-green eyes.
Running my hand over the back of my neck, I attempt to rub out the kink in my shoulders and get my head straight.
I need coffee, and my stomach is roiling with hunger.
Across the room, Sunshine is asleep on the bed. Beside her, Lily sleeps in a chair, her knees to her chest and her long curly hair spilling over her ample chest. I try not to notice her full lips, or the slender slope of her throat, or the way the gentle swell of her breasts rise and fall with every soft breath she takes.
I look away and continue to massage the stiffness in my shoulders, not liking the way my body responds to the Inferno princess and her flawless features.
Clearly, I’m still suffering the aftereffects of the ketamine and the brain stun.
I stand and stretch, then cross the room to the window and look out into the bleak morning. It’s still dark outside, but there is a hint of dawn in the sky, and it’s cold as fuck. I can’t see any faces, but I can see the frosty breath of Max’s men patrolling the perimeter. The Inferno is a big club and has more than enough men to patrol the area effectively.
I consider leaving the room to check out the rest of the hotel, to see if there is a flaw in Max’s security and if an escape route is possible. But I’ve probably missed my chance. Max or his men are probably lurking in the hallway waiting for me to attempt an escape.