Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 47758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
There was no weapon in sight. She rushed over to the vanity table where the mirror had been removed to find a little note.
There’s nothing here to hurt yourself or me. Have a nice sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning.
She rushed over to the curtains and threw them open. The curtains hid some doors. She unflicked the lock, stepped outside, and saw it was a long way down.
“Fuck!”
Running fingers through her hair, she felt the grease as she hadn’t gotten a chance to wash it. She probably stunk. She worked hard and always built up a sweat between her two jobs.
She rubbed her temple and groaned. She felt a little sick, but she had no doubt it was from all the drugging. The son of a bitch was going to pay, and big.
“There’s no chance of you ever escaping. You can stop thinking about it now,” the man said.
She turned to look at him. “You want to tell me what this is all about?”
“I told you on the jet. You can help me.”
“How?”
This time, the man who’d taken her wasn’t alone. There were two other men with him. They looked similar and there was no way in hell she was talking.
“You don’t have to be afraid.”
“I don’t know, one woman in a room full of three scary-looking men, I’ll be afraid if I want to.”
“You’re right, she’s nothing like Sarah.”
“You called me that,” she said. “I don’t even know your names.”
“Rick Denton,” the man who’d taken her said, coming forward.
She took a step back.
Rick smiled. “That there is my nephew, Jacob Denton, and the other guy, Gabriel Colton.”
“Why do they look like brothers?” she asked.
“They are. They’re half-brothers. My brother had a little affair. Let’s call it that, shall we?”
“I’m the family drama,” Gabriel said.
“She looks exactly like her, apart from the hair,” Jacob said. “And she what, served you? You’re a waitress?”
“I want to know why I’m here. Why you took me, and why I should ever answer any of your questions.”
Rick pulled something from his pocket and held it out. “If you want to have some answers, you’re going to have to come a little closer to understand the truth.”
She hesitated. “I want to go home.”
“Not happening. We need you. All of it will become clear. Take the photo.”
She’d never been one to back down from a fight, and she wasn’t about to start now. Stepping closer, she took the photo and looked down at it with a frown.
The girl.
She was her, only she wasn’t her. This made no sense at all. “That’s not me.”
“We know that. Her name was Sarah Smith. The boy she was with, let’s just say he’s causing us some trouble. She belonged to him.”
“Belonged to him? She was some kind of present to him?”
“The Denton men, and we have yet to know if it will extend to Gabriel, we have a certain … affliction.”
“Affliction?”
“You do know what these words mean, don’t you?” Jacob asked.
“Yes, I know what they fucking mean.” She glared at him.
“Please, no arguing.” Rick thrust his hands into his pants. “We know who our women are before they do. When we see the woman who’s meant to be ours for life, we have this feeling. It’s like an impulse, a need. We can’t control it. We need to claim her, put a ring on her finger, make her ours. It’s what we have to do. Sarah was Landon’s, but I’ve got a feeling she wasn’t, not really.”
She looked at each man in turn. “Okay, I’m going to let you stop right there.” She pointed the photo at each of them. “I think it’s time you went to the doctors and got on some meds or something. I mean seriously, this isn’t real.”
“Oh, it’s very real,” Rick said. “You’re Landon’s woman, and we need your help to bring him in.”
“Wait a second, you think I can help you to bring in some psycho? First of all, this isn’t me. The next point, no matter how desperate my situation may look to any of you, I’m not going to be second best, ever.” She pointed at the guy in the picture. “This is the guy you’re after, right? He’s looking at her as if she walks on water or something.”
“It’s not the truth.”
“Yeah, truth or not.” She tore the picture up. “I’m not helping you.”
“Okay then.” Rick got up and the two men followed him.
“Let me go home.”
“Not happening.” He slammed the door closed and she heard the lock flick into place. She was royally fucked.
Chapter Three
“I don’t know if I like her or not,” Jacob said.
“I do. She’s different, and considering Landon’s issues, I’d say that’s a plus in our favor,” Gabriel said, taking a seat in the office.
Rick looked at his two nephews. He hadn’t wanted to have kids where his now-dead brother Maddox had six of them, seven if you counted Gabriel, and whatever children he hadn’t laid claim to. For him, he just couldn’t bring himself to share Mandy. The fact they had to work was enough of a problem, getting in his way. He wasn’t about to add a brat into it as well.