“That’s between you and him. Time to go.”
He grabbed my arm firmly and pulled me into the hall. My legs moved quickly to keep up with his long strides. I yanked my hoodie up and ducked my head, trying to avoid the hushed whispers and wide-eyed stares of students hanging out in the hallway, playing music.
Outside, the cold night air smacked me in the face. A black SUV waited, the engine idling.
“Get in,” he ordered.
I climbed into the back seat. Inside, two more men sat waiting, one behind the wheel, the other in the passenger seat. The two who’d dragged me here boxed me in on either side.
Pressing my palms together, I tried to control my breathing. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe they had the wrong girl, even though they’d said my name.
I prayed I was right.
I knew I hadn't done anything wrong or offended anyone. How could I, when I went out of my way to avoid people?
The silence inside the SUV was suffocating. Every second that passed made my gut twist tighter. Twenty long minutes later, the SUV rolled to a stop in front of what looked like a closed nightclub. The man who’d grabbed me at the dorm climbed out first and left the door open.
I stepped out, and the other man followed close behind. Wordlessly, I trailed between both men as we entered the club and took a flight of stairs. We stopped at the last door in the hall. The one who’d taken me knocked twice on the door.
“Come in,” a male voice snapped from inside.
The man opened the door and jerked his chin toward it. I hesitated, then stepped inside. The door shut behind me, sealing me in. I scanned the room, and my gaze fell on him. Leaning against the front of the desk, arms folded across his chest, his intense, icy-blue stare made it impossible for me to look away even as my heart rate spiked.
Even from where I stood, I could tell he was tall, over six feet, maybe six-three. His thick black hair was slicked back, not a strand out of place. His jaw was clean-shaven, and his suit with no tie molded perfectly to his well-toned body. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and dangerous, the kind of seductiveman Mandy read about in her romance novels. Only this wasn’t fiction, and there was nothing seductive about the way he was looking at me.
“Miss Romonoff, thank you for coming,” he said, his face blank.
I scoffed before I could stop myself. “You say that like I had a choice.”
“Then thank you for making it easy for my men to bring you to me.”
“Why am I here, Mr…?”
“Call me Avit.”
I folded my arms. “Mr. Avit. Why am I here?”
“You’re here to pay your father's debt. He owes my family one hundred grand.”
I gasped, eyes widening. “I must not have heard you right, Mr. Avit. I'm here to pay his debt of one hundred grand?”
“You are.”
How on earth did my father rack up debt like that?
“I don't know what my father told you, but I work in a café. I don't make much money.”
“You're not here to pay with money, Ms. Romonoff. You are the payment.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“What? This has to be some kind of joke. Me, as in a human being, in this day and age, am being used to pay a debt?”
“You are.”
I nodded slowly, placing my hands on my hips as I began to pace in front of the door. “Right. Okay. Sienna, you mustbe dreaming. You probably picked up one of Mandy’s romance books, started reading, and drifted off. Now you’re stuck in a dream with a handsome guy who probably wants to use you as a sex slave, and by the end, the two of you fall in love and live happily ever after.”
“Ms. Romonoff, this is no dream.” His voice cut through my spiral with a hint of amusement before hardening. “Your father gave you to me after I discovered he’d stolen medication from one of the operations my siblings and I oversee.”
