Page 35 of Secret Seduction

“Is someone with Vanessa?”

He shakes his head. “Matteo told me not to leave the door.”

“Shit.” I can still hear Vanessa’s mom screaming over the line. “I’ll handle it.” I hand Leo to Vince. “Go inside with him, please, and don’t let him out of your sight.”

He nods in understanding, and I rush to the elevator, jabbing the button.

The call cuts off once I enter the elevator, and when I step out, I find who I assume is Vanessa’s mom—based on the fact that she looks like an older version of her daughter, only with a shit ton of work done.

She grabs her daughter’s wrist, yanking her toward her, and Vanessa yelps out in pain.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” I bark, making both women look my way.

“You need to mind your own business,” her mom sneers. “This is a family matter.”

“Well, since I’m her husband, I guess that makes me family,” I say dryly, refusing to think too hard about the fact that I’m not only defending the woman who seduced and drugged me, but I’m outwardly admitting to us being married.

“Are you serious, Mom?” Vanessa hisses, pulling her wrist out of her mom’s hold. “How stupid do you think I am? I know what your husband is trying to do. I overheard him on the phone, offering to sell me to pay off his debt!”

Mrs. Vanderbilt doesn’t even appear to look shocked at what her daughter just said.

“He’s not going to let anything happen to you,” Mrs. Vanderbilt insists. “It’s the only way to find this Santiago guy. And once he does, he has men who will handle him, and we’ll bring you home.”

I bark out a laugh. “She’s not going anywhere with you. If you want to use someone as bait, use yourself.” I pull Vanessa behind me. “And if you come anywhere near this building again, I’m going to take it as a threat and have you handled.”

Mrs. Vanderbilt flinches but quickly bounces back, straightening her shoulders and jutting her chin out. “This is not over.” She turns on her heel and saunters toward the lobby door.

“You’d better hope for your sake that it is,” I call out just before she exits.

“Add her to the list of people not allowed in here,” I tell Ronald, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a couple of hundred-dollar bills, handing them over to him.

“Yes, sir,” he says, pocketing the money.

“I hate this town,” Vanessa utters, walking back toward the elevator.

The doors open before I can get a look at her reflection, but once we step inside, she can’t hide from me. Her eyes are filled with unshed tears, and her nose and cheeks are red.

“Hey,” I say, turning her around to look at me. “Take a deep breath.” The last thing we need is her having a panic attack in the elevator. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“You can’t know that,” she chokes out. “Maybe you’re used to living like this, but this isn’t the life I want.”

She glares my way, and I’m taken aback by her sudden hostility toward me.

“Look, I didn’t ask for this shit—” I start.

“And I did?” she bites out. “The last time I checked, this Santiago person is after your family and friends.”

“Your stepfather made a deal with her …”

“But I didn’t!” she shrieks. “My entire life, I’ve been forced to do shit I don’t want to do. Live in homes I didn’t want to live in, deal with men I didn’t want to be around. And I was finally—finally—away from my mom and her bullshit, and once again, I’m being dragged back. For once, I just want to live my life. I want to be in Seattle, in my dorm, taking my classes in person.

“I have no job, I’m stuck taking classes online, I’m living with a man who can barely stand me … albeit for good reason.”

Tears stream down her cheeks, and I have no idea what to do or say, but something tells me she just needs to let it all out, so I stand there and let her go off.

“My mother,” she croaks, “the woman who was supposed to love and protect me, agreed to sell me. SELL ME!” Sobs rack her body, and she angrily swipes several tears away. “What parent does that? All I wanted was for her to love me. To put me first. And when it was clear she’d never do that, too obsessed with finding a man to take care of her, I just wanted her to pretend I didn’t exist. And I was so close …” She sniffles back a sob and slides down the elevator wall, sitting on the floor. “I was so close,” she repeats as tears track down her cheeks.

She covers her face with her hands as her sobs increase, to the point that her entire body is shaking, and as much as I want to hate her for what she did to me, my heart aches for the woman who didn’t ask to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into this fucked-up world.