Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Finally, he lets out a trembling gasp and pulls me on top of him, his wilting manhood slipping out of me. I slide into his embrace, putting my cheek against his naked chest, feeling and listening to his heartbeat.
“I never thought losing my virginity would feel so good,” I whisper.
He kisses the top of my head, squeezing my shoulder. “You were so damn sexy” He sighs when his cell phone rings. “It’s Gray, the head of the security team. I better get this.”
I tighten my grip against Alex’s bare stomach. Please don’t let Damien ruin this moment.
“What do you mean you can’t find her?” Alex growls. “You’re supposed to be the best security team in the goddamn city. So she slipped away, did she?”
He sits up, looking furious.
My phone buzzes from the floor, my coat pocket. Dread swirls through me as I reach down for it. It’s a text from Mom’s number with an image attached.
I almost don’t want to open it. It’d be easier to stay in this bedroom, to pretend none of this is happening. Terror threatens to paralyze me, but somehow, I know the text and phone call are related.
When I open the image, I almost drop my phone.
Mom, tied to a chair, blood smeared down the side of her face. She has a gag stuffed in her mouth.
A moment later, a text arrives with an address: a beach house less than a mile away. Then another text.
Unknown: If I see your security, the bitch gets it. Come here. Come alone. Come now.
My hand trembles as I show Alex the screen. He clenches his fist around his phone.
“We can’t tell them,” I whisper.
He grinds his teeth, then nods. “Gray, it’s all good,” he says. “Tori just heard from her mother. She’s fine. She just wanted some alone time. No, I won’t tell you where she is. You don’t need to sweat it.”
He hangs up.
“Fuck. What the hell is going on?”
“How would he get to her without the security seeing?”
“They’re probably only watching the front of the building,” he muses. “He could’ve used a back entrance. Or maybe he lured her out somehow. So much for the best goddamn agency in the city. Fuck.”
I put my hand on his chest. “We need to slow down. Think.”
My phone buzzes again.
Unknown: Tick tock…
“Why is he doing this?” I snap. “Okay, so Mom cheated on his dad. Fine. But to go this far? Isn’t that just insane? Pathetic? Deluded?”
“It’s all those things and more,” Alex says. “But the sad fact is, there are insane, pathetic, and deluded people in this world who will happily hurt others to make themselves feel better.”
“I have to go to her,” I say. “I can’t just leave her there.”
“I’m not letting you go alone,” Alex growls.
“You saw the text—”
“I can’t let you go alone,” he snaps. “Get that out of your head. If I let you go alone and something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself. That’s not happening. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it together.”
“He can’t see you,” I whisper. “He can’t know you’re there. You’ll have to let me go into that house alone…”
When he shakes his head, I grab his hands and squeeze them tightly. “My mom isn’t perfect. We’ve had our problems. I won’t pretend otherwise, but if I lost her…” I shudder, tears welling in my eyes. “I can’t lose her. You have to let me save her.”
“You’re not going alone,” he snaps.
“Then we need to think of a compromise and think fast,” I snap. “I can’t let him do this. Mom is the only family I’ve got left.”
He grinds his teeth.
“Listen,” I say. “You say you’ll never forgive yourself if something happens to me. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to Mom.”
“I’m going to be there,” he growls. “Let me see that address.”
I show him my phone.
He sighs darkly. “I don’t like this, Tori, but if we’re going to do it, I might have an idea. He doesn’t want to see any security, but he can’t police who uses the beach. I’ll put on some running gear and a hoodie so he won’t know it’s me and jog up and down the beach nearby. Lure him to the back porch…”
I nod quickly, my heart pounding as I mentally prepare for this. “Okay, we can do that.”
“And if you need me, scream, okay?” he says urgently. “I’ll be in there in two seconds flat. I’ll tear his arms from his goddamn body if he even thinks about hurting you.”
“What are you going to tell the security?” I ask.
“I’ll tell them I want them to stay here, watch the front and the back of the property, to make sure nobody can hurt Elliot. I’ll say we want some alone time. I hired them so they won’t press the issue. But Tori—”