Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
ALLIE
Two Years Ago
“Stupid teasing fucking cunt.” Thomas shoves me hard enough to nearly knock me over. I’ve never seen him like this before. His eyes are glassy and his face is a bizarre mix of emptiness and rage, like he’s totally hollow and only anger is slowly filling him.
My friend isn’t there anymore.
“Please, my Uber is coming. It’s on the way, okay? Everything’s going to be okay.” Panic rips through me. Thomas is big, really big. If he wants to hurt me, he can do it. He could hit me, kick me, pin me down and do worse—
I just need to keep talking. Maybe if I do that, he’ll see me as a person again. As his friend. And he won’t do this.
“Fuck your Uber, bitch. You dick tease. I want what you promised me.” He reaches out and I shimmy away, quickly getting back to my feet. “Come here, you fucking whore.”
I’m about to scream when I notice the people. They’re walking a few feet away, heading straight for the black town car parked against the curb. The man is tall and attractive. I noticed him earlier when he was walking through the crowd. Honestly, it was hard not to see him. He’s strikingly handsome with curly dark hair shot through with gray and a chiseled, masculine jaw. An air of power and confidence hangs around him. There’s a woman with him, tall and very beautiful, her heels clacking on the ground with each step.
“Oh! Wow! Mr. Mason!” I dart past Thomas before he can stop me. “Mr. Mason! Hey, it’s you, my father’s business associate. Wow, amazing to run into you here. It’s so good to see you!” I smile huge, my eyes burning with desperation. I’m shaking and I know how pathetic and risky this gambit is because if it doesn’t work, it’ll only piss off Thomas even more. Then I don’t know what’ll happen to me.
The man slows. He glances at me, frowning slightly. Our eyes meet and I feel a shiver crawl down my spine. His stare is oppressively strong, like he’s driving a massive palm against my throat and forcing me down to my knees. He’s muscular and athletic but not overly built. His suit is clearly expensive and so black it melts into the night. There’s no recognition, no confusion, no emotion at all as he looks at me.
He heard the fight. He saw me get pushed to the ground. There’s no way in hell he doesn’t know what’s going on right now.
But he doesn’t look like he cares.
Fear lances into my chest but I’m so desperate that I just push on anyway.
“Mr. Mason, yeah, you probably don’t remember me, but you and my father worked together a few years ago. I met you at a dinner event. I was in that red dress. Remember that one? I was just at the club with a friend, and I guess my Uber’s running late, and Thomas was just being nice enough to stand with me while I waited for it. But hey, look, maybe you could give me a ride? Please? Would that be okay?” I’m begging at this point. It’s pathetic. The man’s not walking anymore, but he doesn’t look like he’s interested at all in what I’m doing.
Maybe he doesn’t realize, but I’m on a knife’s edge. I’m pretty sure I’m about to be sliced in half.
Please help me, please help me, please help me!
Thomas hangs back a step. I can tell he’s confused. He keeps looking from me to the new stranger like he’s not sure if this is really happening. The woman the stranger is with frowns at me very briefly like I’m nothing more than an annoying curiosity before staring down at her phone. “Your flight can wait for one ride, Mr. Mason,” she says casually.
I nearly melt. Hope fills me. Maybe if this beautiful man won’t help, she’ll step in and do something. But she’s already walking to the car without a second glance.
The man’s still staring at me. His face pulls into a slight frown. “I don’t like being late,” he says very softly.
A lump fills my throat, but I fight it back. This is pathetic and disgusting. I’m clearly in trouble, and he doesn’t care at all! If I start crying, it’s only going to get worse.
“Do you really know this guy?” Thomas asks, looking deeply suspicious now.
I’m pleading with my eyes. This is my last shot. If the stranger says no and walks off, Thomas is going to know I tried to trick him.
Then I’m dead.
Really and truly, I think he might kill me.
The stranger tilts his head to the side as though he’s considering a side of beef at a grocery store.
“One ride,” he says. “Mostly because you looked so fuckable in that little red dress.”