My small, but clean, and safe apartment awaits me. Pulling my BMW into its marked spot, I let out a sigh and turn the engine off. I don’t know what is going to happen in the future, it’s been two months, but I still think about Hawk every single day and I hate myself for it because I highly doubt that he’s thinking of me at all.
Climbing out of the car, I gather my purse and take my keys out as I walk up to the main door of the building. I’m not surprised that the door has been propped open, it seems as though it’s this way morning, noon, and night.
Kicking the piece of wood that’s keeping the door ajar to the side, I smile to myself as I hear it click closed behind me. I don’t bother taking the elevator, knowing just how slow it is. I’m tired and want to be home before the sun rises.
A man in jeans and a T-shirt passes me, he smiles in my direction and offers a hello. I give him a small smile, and wave. I recognize him as the man who lives across from me. Though we haven’t said more than a few words to one another, I do catch his lingering gaze as I pass him every so often.
“Evenin’ babe,” he murmurs, his deep voice washing over me like smooth honey.
He’s handsome and if I wasn’t such a complete disaster, I would totally be all about him. He lives across the hall, he’s nice to look at, and he always greets me with a smile.
“Hey,” I say softly.
“You doing anything tonight?”
He asks me this sometimes. I don’t know if he realizes that I do nothing in the evenings except watch television and crash, my mind so busy wandering as I think about Hawk, Trista, and my sad excuse of an existence.
“No,” I admit on a chuckle.
“You ever want to change that, you let me know, yeah?”
Nodding my head, I turn from him and continue to make my way upstairs.
When I finally climb to my floor, I open the door and turn down my hallway, only to freeze at the sight in front of me. There are dozens of roses in vases all around my doorway. My heart starts to race at the sight.
Other women may think that dozens of roses are sexy. I do not. It’s not because I don’t like roses, I do. They’re pretty and sometimes they even smell really great.
However, I have no man in my life to bring me flowers, and when you’ve been an escort in the past, there’s a sense of dread that seems to always follow you around. Especially since I no longer have security available to me, in any capacity.
Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I look around the hallway, checking to see if anyone is watching me, but I’m alone and I don’t sense anyone’s eyes on me from anywhere. I think about just stepping over the flowers and ignoring them, but decide against it.
Unlocking the door, I quickly slide the vases just inside of the door before I slip inside and quickly lock the door behind me. Crouching down in front of the roses, I search through them looking for a card.
I find a card, one in every single bouquet and my heart slams against my chest with each beat. Sinking down to my ass, I pull the cards out of the tiny envelopes and place them all out in front of me.
I MISS YOU
YOUR ASS IS ALL I THINK ABOUT
I HAVE FINALLY FOUND YOU
YOU WILL BE MINE
I WILL OWN YOU
WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT
I AM WATCHING YOU
DID YOU THINK I WAS GONE?
I’M COMING FOR YOU AVAH
YOU’LL WEAR MY BRUISES FOR LIFE
NOBODY WILL EVEN KNOW YOU’RE GONE
YOUR TIME IS UP
I’m sure the cards are not in any kind of order, but that doesn’t make them any less menacing. I know exactly who it must be.
The senator.
He’s coming for me.
I knew he liked having me. I knew he liked abusing me and whoever else entered his bedroom chamber. I knew he loved it when he attempted to blackmail me for anal, though in the end, I still got paid. This is a man who craves power and control, who gets off on it.
But I didn’t think that he was truly capable of kidnapping and holding me as a slave. I thought it was just a little kink that he liked to pay for every now and then to get his rocks off. And as an escort, I was used to this, all of the time. I was there to fulfill a fantasy, something that they couldn’t or wouldn’t ask a girlfriend, lover, or wife for and I was fine with that.
However, I’m starting to wonder if the senator was part of Layne’s dirty list and maybe he didn’t have him on his computer or on paper. Then I wonder how many of these men were in handshake agreements for girls, for sex slaves.
The way these notes are written, I have a feeling that the senator is not new to any of this, and frankly, that is terrifying. Especially after finding all those documents that Layne had, all those things that he did, all those men that he sold girls to.
Gripping my phone in my hand, I think about calling the one person that I know could and would help me, but my fingers won’t move.
They’re frozen.
I stay exactly in the same spot, unable to move a muscle, the term frozen in fear becoming very clear to me, as the sun rises and a new day begins all around me.
HAWK
Trista wraps her arms around Taz’s side, curling close to his body and I can’t help but watch them. Almost lost her to those fucking Donkey Punchers, almost lost my little girl. I can’t let anything happen to her, not ever again.
“You know she’s okay, yeah?” Dragon asks from beside
