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Chantilly was mine…for now.
Chapter Three
Chantilly
What the hell had just happened?
I’d been about to enjoy a one night stand when the barbarian—Valentino—I’d been fantasizing about had appeared inside my bedroom, threatening William with a gun. That William had run off without even attempting to protect me hadn’t really surprised me.
He wasn’t like the men I’d escaped from.
Valentino was everything like those men. He took what he wanted without regrets. My stomach contracted. I didn’t doubt he killed in the exact same manner.
I exhaled wearily. I also didn’t doubt he was a hitman who’d been sent here to return me to Sean. That Sean hadn’t used his trusted enforcer was a mystery I couldn’t unravel. Was he injured or dead? It wasn’t uncommon for the mafia or their rivals to make someone disappear, but the risk multiplied as an enforcer.
Valentino returned then, his expression unreadable. “Pack a bag. We’re leaving.”
Nausea swirled and made my throat thick. I’d been planning to leave, but not with him. And I certainly hadn’t planned on returning to Sean. “Where are we going?” I asked, anything to put off the inevitable.
“You’ll see,” he grunted.
I climbed off my bed and stalked to my closet, aware of his eyes on me. Did he like what he saw? My pulse surged, beating like a drum in my ears. Of course he did. I hadn’t yet met a woman-loving-man who didn’t appreciate my form. It was why Sean had taken me away from my family with nothing more than a wad of cash to quiet their outraged cries.
Could I use this man’s attraction to my advantage?
I snorted. He wasn’t stupid. He’d know my ploy. But whether he’d enjoy using me for a few days first was another matter, days in which I might genuinely have a chance to escape again.
I dressed into a white mini-skirt that barely covered my ass and a silver crop top that showed off my midriff, before I stuck my feet into heels. I didn’t bother with underwear. If there was even a smidgen of a possibility to seduce him and sway his mindset, then I’d do everything I could to improve my chances.
No doubt he was getting paid a whole lot of cash to return me. But what if he preferred a whole lot of pleasure? Sex might be something he’d get on a regular basis, but was he bored by it all? Passion was fleeting, but his fascination with me was strong.
If I could hold the attention of Sean for over five years, maybe I could prolong this man’s interest too?
Suddenly he was behind me, his big body pressing against mine as he reached the top of the closet to drag down a bag. “You’d best hurry,” he advised. “William might not be who you think he is.”
I stiffened. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I think you know exactly what it means,” he said. “He wouldn’t be the first man lured to a life of wealth, women and drugs at the expense of someone else’s fate.”
I inhaled sharply. “You think he’s an associate of Sean’s?”
“Why don’t we hang around for a few minutes and find out?” he said harshly. “I’m sure a gun fight should be proof enough.”
I didn’t waste any more time. I threw clothes into the bag along with my purse. Though it held no identification inside, nothing to link me to my past life with Sean, it did have some cash. It’d be handy if—when—I managed to escape again.
Minutes later I was led through the rear of the apartment block’s tiny back yard, my bag slung over Valentino’s shoulder. At the shadowed picket fence, Valentino threw the bag over, then hoisted me next before he effortlessly catapulted after me and re-secured the bag.
A dog barked somewhere behind us, a muffled shout then filling the air. It wasn’t until a gunshot cracked like a whip that I froze, my lungs incapable of drawing breath while my overstimulated brain imagined every future horrific thing happening to me possible.
“Look at me,” Valentino said harshly. I did as he asked, his dark eyes then holding mine in the near-darkness. “You need to focus more than ever now.” At my jerky nod he took my hand in his, lending me untold strength. “Let’s go.”
I followed him down a laneway that reeked of piss and mold. Old buildings loomed either side of us as we skirted bits of garbage and straggling grass sprouting through cracks in the asphalt. Only once we’d stepped off the laneway and turned right onto a concrete pathway did I notice a black sedan parked ahead.
It’d been a few minutes at most, but it was enough time for me to wrangle my emotions back into some semblance of order, my fear becoming nothing more than a fleeting reaction as calm settled over me.
A man in a suit climbed out of the driver’s seat to open the back passenger door for us. His eyes widened momentarily at seeing me before his face settled into its previously impassive expression, Valentino nodding at him before ushering me inside.
I sat back against the new leather, my nostrils flaring at the luxurious scent that’d once been so familiar to me. The mafia enjoyed the latest and best in luxury cars. Wealth and prestige was a statement, a finger to the outside world, reminding others no one could touch them.
