“Hello, beauty,” he murmurs into my ear. It’s the guy from the bar. The leering one. I stifle a shudder. “Seems you could use some help.”
“Thank you. I’m fine,” I reply, trying not to slur. I fail. He chuckles and pulls me closer.
“Aww, don’t be like that,” he says. His breath stinks of whisky, and it’s hot on my neck. “I can’t let you leave in this condition. It wouldn’t be gentlemanly.” I try to raise a mocking eyebrow. There’s nothing gentlemanly about this guy. Despite my resistance, he’s steering me out across the foyer to the entrance of the hotel.
“I said I’m fine!” I say more sharply, drawing curious stares from other guests around us. His grip is now painful. I’m suddenly aware of another presence behind me. The other guys are hot on our heels. I’m almost being dragged out.
“Hey!” I half-shout. And then something jabs into the soft flesh below my ribcage. I don’t know if it’s a knife or a gun, but it shuts me up in a second.
“Keep your mouth shut,” the heavy guy says. I bite my lip to stop from crying out. Could this night get any fucking worse? First, my father tells me he’s gambled me away, and now I’m being dragged who-knows-where by a band of thugs.
I move on unwilling feet to the entrance of the foyer. Beyond those doors lies certain danger, but I have no idea how to remain in the safety of the hotel. I look around frantically. I’m desperate to catch the eye of someone who might help. It’s no use. Everyone is going about their business or intent on cramming their life savings into slot machines.
The thick pile of the carpet is soft beneath my sneakers – I’d been so self-conscious of the fact that I’d arrived in a t-shirt and sweats after my father’s call. There’d been no time to dress appropriately for the upscale hotel before I left. I hadn’t meant to stick around long anyhow. Now I couldn’t care less. I’m in trouble.
As we reach the door, a burly security guard looks over. I mouth the word “help,” but he flicks a look at the man beside me and turns his eyes away.
Oh my God!
He’s going to let them take me. I want to throw up! We reach the stairs leading down to the parking area, and I’m frog marched down by two of the men. I drag my feet as we head to the parking area, but it makes no difference. When we reach a black SUV parked in the shadows, my original attacker pushes me up against the side of the car.
“Let’s see what’s under this, shall we, baby?” he says, licking his lips. His hands are pushing up under my shirt. I didn’t have time to put on a bra. He heaves out a breath when his fingers meet my bare breasts.
“Ahh…these titties,” he hisses, pinching at my nipples. “You’ve been torturing me with these all night, haven’t you, my beauty?”
I don’t know what he’s talking about. All I’d done was sit at the bar with my father. I wouldn’t have even done that if he hadn’t forced me to go there. I just want to be home in bed. My father’s call had pulled me out of my apartment minutes after I’d returned from a double shift. I’m exhausted. I’m shattered. And now this asshole is trying to get his hands in my pants.
The other two men have taken up positions on either end of the car. Sentries on duty while their associate assaults me. I can’t believe this is happening. I feel him fumbling for the door of the car behind me and realize he’s planning to push me into the back seat. I can’t tell if he intends to take me right here in the parking lot or ferry me away somewhere. I’m not going without a fight.
I scream and kick out at him, then rake a hand at his cheek. My nails connect with stubbled skin. I’m rewarded with a backhand that sends me crashing against the car.
“Bitch!” he spits out. “Wanna play rough, huh?” He pushes himself against me so hard it knocks the breath from me. With a fist around my throat, he drags my sweatpants down my hips and shoves a hand between my thighs.
“Stop it…please!” I manage to choke out. But he’s fumbling with the front of his pants, and I hear the metallic snick of his zipper. Dear God, he’s going to do it right here. I’m about to be raped in front of this goddamn hotel, and nobody’s stopping it. I screw my eyes shut and stiffen every muscle in anticipation.
And then suddenly, he’s gone. I hear him bite out a curse, but when I open my eyes, he’s meters away. He’s dangling from the front of his shirt. Being swung by a figure that I can only describe as some kind of giant. In my half-drunk, half-hysterical state, I stare in speechless confusion. There’s an exchange of words that barely make sense.
“No!” my attacker is saying. “Fuck you, Caraldi! I can—”
The other man, who has his back to me, slaps his face like he’s chastising an unruly child. Then he responds in a voice that sounds like gravel and smoke.
“What have I told you, Edoardo? My place. My property. Keep your hands off!”
The asshole I now know as Edoardo is no lightweight, but he’s being slung about like a ragdoll. There’s more angry cursing, and then he’s thrown to the ground. I see him pull himself to his feet, dusting off his clothes. His expression is pure murder as he turns to the other men. He shouts something out to them in Italian, and they stalk away from the car.
I slump back, my legs sagging as I clasp a hand to my throat. It’s all I can do to scrabble at the waistband of my pants to pull them back up. Then the figure turns, and I’m staring into a face that’s part savior, part devil. Hard lines and craggy features beneath a wave of thick, dark hair. Eyes as gray and unwavering as a wolf’s rove over my face and then down over the rest of me. I shiver.
“You good?” he asks.
I nod. But then my knees give out. Before I hit the ground, I’m swept up against a body made of muscle over steel. It’s all too much…the booze, the shock of my dad’s betrayal, the terror of what just happened. My eyes flutter shut as my head drops back, and in an instant, everything goes dark.
Chapter 2
Nikki Love
“God!” I sit up abruptly and look around. Where am I?
“Easy now,” a gravelly voice says. I twist to locate the source.
