Page 20 of Secret Seduction

“Fuck no, you can’t. I don’t want you anywhere near me or my son.”

I swallow thickly, trying to quickly figure this out.

In my head, we’d get married, and he—along with everyone else, including my stepfather—would think we had sex. I would go home with him, where I would be protected until my stepfather found another way to pay back his debt, and then I’d file for an annulment and go back to college to continue with my life.

“Okay, but⁠—”

Before I can try a different angle, the bridge that links the yacht and the dock is let down, and everyone starts to pile off the ship.

“Wait, Lorenzo!” I plead, starting to panic.

I grab his arm, but he shakes me off.

“Vanessa,” Nicole utters, “stop it! You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“I can’t!” I cry out as everyone exits the yacht. “Lorenzo, please!” I yell, grabbing my carry-on and racing to catch up with him.

My overnight bag is heavy, so I end up leaving it on the dock so it doesn’t slow me down. My heart is pounding so hard that I can feel it in my ears. The world around me is starting to blur, and I know I’m about to have an anxiety attack.

“Vanessa,” Lorenzo hisses, “enough. I need to get home. I’m going to forward the certificate to my attorney, and he’ll start the process of getting it annulled. And if you’re lying and not on birth control, I’d recommend taking the morning-after pill because the last woman who trapped me disappeared, leaving me a single dad.”

Holy shit! I guess that answers the question as to where his son’s mother is.

Lorenzo glares at me one last time before he takes off toward the parking lot, rolling his overnight bag behind him.

I’m about to go after him and tell him the truth, beg him to protect me, when two men get out of a black town car and start heading my way.

Oh shit, it’s the men Eric sent.

I look around, unsure of where to go, knowing if I don’t get away from them, this is it. I’m going to be taken and never seen again.

I’ll become a statistic.

I spot Lorenzo sliding into the driver’s seat of his midnight-blue BMW sedan, and I rush over to him. From a distance, someone calls my name, but I don’t look back.

I’m in survival mode.

Fight or flight has made an appearance, and flight has taken over.

Adrenaline propels my legs forward and straight toward Lorenzo’s vehicle.

Just before he puts the car into drive, I swing the door open and jump into the passenger seat.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Lorenzo barks.

“Go, please!” I glance back at the two men, who are coming up on the car.

“Get out!”

“No! Please,” I beg. “They’re going to get me. Please, go.”

Lorenzo’s brow furrows, and he glances back just as the two men approach the vehicle.

One of them grabs the handle at the same time I swipe the lock.

“Open the door,” the guy says. “Mr. Vanderbilt said you need to go home.”

“Who the fuck are they?” Lorenzo asks incredulously.