Was I? I didn’t think so, but the man didn’t seem like a threat to me. It could be that he took the protection of my honor to extremes.
Or am I so lonely that I’d become blind?
“Hello? Are you there?” Violet’s voice pulled me out of my monologue. “Do I need to come and rescue you?”
“I’m here, and there is no need for rescuing.”Yet. “Plus, remember what I told you? He saved me twice.”
“You crazy woman, he’s the head of the Albanian mafia and the Brazilian cartel.”
My ears still buzzed with adrenaline. “I misheard you. Say that again.”
“Kian Cortes runs the Albanian mafia and the Brazilian cartel. He’s a hard-core criminal.”
My eyes snapped down the stairs where all the tools, hooks, and chains suddenly made sense.
Imports and exports, my fucking ass.
I gulped.
“Sophie, did you hear what?—”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you.”
My mind splintered into a hundred different directions, each thought racing ahead of the last, colliding and collapsing into a tangled mess I couldn’t untangle fast enough.
“He’s not like…”
I barely registered the rest of what she was saying. One question kept echoing louder than the others, sharp and unwelcome.
Was he working with Jacqueline?
The idea lodged itself deep, unsettling everything. I replayed every conversation, every pause, every look. He didn’t seem to be a danger to me, but I couldn’t swear my life on it.
Jesus Christ, why couldn’t I catch a break?
The sound of the door opening echoed through the dungeon and I whirled around.
“I have to go,” I whispered, then ended the call without waiting for her response, my eyes locked on the door opening until a familiar set of dark brown hair and eyes came into view.
I exhaled loudly. “Dina, you scared the living daylights out of me.”
Wearing white pants and a pink crewneck shirt, she looked around slowly before settling her gaze on me. “What are you doing here?”
“Kian said I could explore. He didn’t set any boundaries,” I rattled on, nervous energy coursing through me. I extended my arms. “Besides, what the heck is this place?”
“A hidden door is usually a clue that a space is off-limits,” she retorted, ignoring my question.
“Well, too fucking late now,” I hissed, my hands landing on my hips defensively. “He left me alone to roam after plucking me from my hotel. Now I find a man here beaten and I learn Kian is a criminal! I should have been informed of that before he brought me here.”
“That man down there harassed you,” she argued. “And hurt many other women. Hurt thembadly.” She sighed. “We did our due diligence before bringing him in. We have credible evidence pointing to him being a rapist.”
Okay, it wasn’t a bad argument, but hiding him in a basement was just creepy. “Kian should have turned him in to the police.”
“So? What are you going to do about it?” she challenged. She didn’t seem bothered by her boss’s occupation at all.
Maybe she was violent too?
Technically, I could take her on. I was bigger and taller than her. Shit, I hoped she didn’t know some self-defense techniques. My aunt took me to a karate class once and I cut it short… after five minutes.
