It’s not Lucian. It’s not anybody I’ve ever seen before, at least not that I remember. He reminds me of Alexei, though. Big, broad-shouldered, dark hair, dark eyes. “Lucian sent me. You’re supposed to come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’re not supposed to ask questions. You just do what he says. Let’s go.” He looks around the apartment, and it’s pretty clear he doesn’t care for what he sees. I know it’s not much, but his dismissive expression makes me want to slap him. It’s still my home, and it’s all I can afford.
I grab my purse and keys, then remember my phone on the sofa. “Hurry up,” the man growls, which only makes me want to take my time just to piss him off.
Though word could get back to Lucian, and I don’t feel like being punished. Just the thought of it makes me cringe.
There’s a black SUV waiting outside, and at least he opens the back door for me and gives me a hand so I can climb up inside. Then he closes the door without a word, sliding in behind the wheel a moment later.
Once again, I can’t help but think of myself as a lamb being led to slaughter. “You’re not going to tell me anything about where we’re going?”
“You’ll know when we get there.” His eyes are hard when they meet mine in the rearview mirror. “Enough talk.” Okay, then. I’m supposed to sit back and let everything be decided for me.
Then again, I know that’s what I signed on for when I agree to this. If I could only go back in time and tell Alexei where he could stick his money. It makes me sick to think about him and all his fake helpfulness. His sympathy, all of it a tactic intended to lure me in. I wonder how many other girls he’s lured that way and how many more men like him are on Lucian’s payroll.
It doesn’t matter how many times I tell myself I would’ve done things differently.The fact is, when Alexei found me, I was literally at the end of my rope. Completely helpless, wondering somewhere in the back of my mind whether it would really be so bad to walk out into traffic.
After a few minutes, we leave the city behind. The houses out here are bigger, well-maintained, sitting in the middle of emerald green lawns. The sort of houses for people whose parents are together, or at least both in the picture. Houses where the parents are healthy, where they don’t die from cancer and leave their kids on their own.
Still, I wouldn’t imagine Lucian living in one of these houses. I can’t imagine him living in a neighborhood at all, really. He doesn’t strike me as somebody who would participate in the neighborhood cookout. I can’t imagine him bringing a case of beer to his buddy’s house to watch the game on a Sunday afternoon.
After several minutes, the houses start moving farther apart. Some of them are behind gates, iron fences. A few of them are so far back and half-hidden by oak trees that I can barely see them from the road. Yes, this strikes me as being more his speed, and sure enough, the driver turns the car toward an open gate and starts rolling down a gravel driveway.
He’s taking me to Lucian’s house. That’s what this has to be about. Unless I’m being loaned out to somebody else, which I guess is possible but isn’t anything Lucian warned me about before now. I wish he would have. The sense of my entire life being in his hands is not one I enjoy. I hate not knowing what’s going to come next.
But I also have no power in this situation, so all I can do is sit with my hands tightly clenched between my knees, trying to make myself stop shaking.
We pull into a large roundabout in front of a mansion that brings to mind the wordobscene. It’s absolutely massive, with two wings jutting out from a central structure. It’s not tacky, though—there are pretty little shrubs and rose bushes in front, carefully trimmed hedges. He does like things a certain way, doesn’t he? Everything has to be in its place.
So, where the hell do I fit into all of this?
I don’t have to wait long to find out. The driver opens the back door and holds out a hand to me, which I take as a signal to climb out. Once that’s done, he leads me through the front door and into an entryway with an enormous iron chandelier in the center. The floors here are marble, polished until they shine, almost slippery as I trot behind the man whose name I never learned. Not that it matters. It’s not like I want to see him again.
He leads me up a sweeping staircase that curves in a semicircular shape, then down a long hallway. There are so many rooms. I wonder how many people live here. My entire apartment could fit into the entryway, easy.
At the end of the hall, there’s a pair of closed doors set in a wood-paneled wall. It’s all very masculine, for sure, but also warm. Almost comforting. I wouldn’t have expected that. The few times I’ve imagined Lucian’s life outside of the club, I always pictured him in some cold, soulless penthouse suite.
“Come in,” Lucian calls out when the man knocks on the door. Just the soundof his voice brings everything flooding back, our entire last encounter. My confusion, shame, fear.
The driver steps aside to let me into the room, which I can tell at a glance has to be Lucian’s bedroom. But it isn’t the king-sized, four-poster bed that draws my attention at first.
It’s the woman standing next to Lucian at the foot of the bed, silent as I enter.
He never once mentioned anything about adding a woman. There are a lot of things I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.
He notices my apprehension, probably because I can’t take my eyes off her. She’s older than me, probably closer to his age, and not exactly ugly but still not my preference. I guess he decides to take pity on me. “Not to worry,” he says, clasping his hands in front of him. “She’s a doctor. I brought her over to examine you.”
I don’t know whether or not I’m supposed to speak, so I decide to keep my thoughts to myself. So he wants me examined. Like he’s not sure if I’m healthy, I guess. I would get insulted, but I’m too nervous. Being around Lucian does that to me.
He’s probably thinking about what he did, what he made me do. Will he want more of that later? Why else go to the trouble of bringing me out here? He could’ve had the doctor call me into her office.
“Don’t worry,” the doctor assures me with a smile. “It won’t involve anything you haven’t been through before, I’m sure. I need you to undress for me.”
I glance toward Lucian. Either he reads my mind, or he never planned on sticking around in the first place. He leaves the room without saying anything else or even looking at me. I can hear his footfalls fading down the hall as I take off my T-shirt.
She’s right. This is nothing I haven’t been through before. First, she draws a few vials of blood—when I look surprised, she only waves a hand. “To make sure your vitamin levels are where they need to be. You do look a little sallow. Do you get enough sun?”
