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She laughed and said, “Oh honey, don’t you know big things can fit into tight spaces?”
An army of men dressed in all black come to attention when Nick parks the car in front of an elevator.
One of them comes to my side and opens the door for me. “Miss Burrows,” he addresses me formally and inclines his head.
Nick steps out of the car and goes to the trunk for my bag. I cringe a little because in this light, he’ll be able to see how beat up it is.
He hands it to me as I exit. “Have a nice evening.”
“Thanks. You too.”
“This way, Miss Burrows,” the man in black tells me as he extends his hand toward the elevator.
Yet another guy slides a card in front of an electronic key reader and the elevator doors open.
I clutch the bag to my chest as I enter all by myself. The guard leans in and presses a button, sliding his key card once again before looking at me. He smiles, though I’m not sure if it’s out of friendliness or pity. I doubt they see the help going up this way often.
Then the doors shut and I’m left struggling to breathe. It’s all I can do not to press the stop button.
The display shows the ascent to the penthouse, and the higher the floor number shown, the faster my heart beats in my chest.
Forty. Forty-one. Forty-two.
Blood rushes to my head and I back into the wall.
Forty-three. Forty-four.
“You can do this, Andie. It’s just sex.” With a man that stirs something inside me I thought was dead and buried in spite of the blackmail.
Or maybe it’s because of it.
That unheeded thought frightens me more than anything else. What if I’m so broken, the only way I can feel anything with a man, is if he threatens me?
Blood rushes to my head, the sound of it so loud in my ears I barely hear the ding of the elevator reaching its destination.
The doors slide open as if in slow motion to reveal Gavin waiting for me in the foyer.
“Welcome back, Andie.”
“Gavin.” I take a step forward, but stop when he raises his hand.
“This is your last chance to make a choice.” His voice deepens. “Once your foot touches this floor, you are mine in every way. Do you understand what that means?”
My mouth goes completely dry because it’s very clear to me what he means, but something tells me I’m fooling myself if I believe that’s all there is to it. “Yes.”
“Choose then. The police. Or me.”
I swallow down hard. Both terrify me. But only one allows me a future with Lola.
So, I walk inside, and give myself to Gavin Alexander.
5
GAVIN
“Good choice.” I can’t help the smile that spreads over my lips.
She says nothing. Instead, she scans the room while she nervously wrings the handle of her beat-up duffle bag. It’s as if she’s been handed a sentence and is about to be taken into custody.
