Chapter 3: Please Help Me I'll Pay You Anything

She slipped her phone back into her pocket.

The moment Lily turned around, her knees buckled beneath her, nearly sending her to the floor.

Heat bloomed low in her body, spreading through her bones, dragging with it a hunger she didn't want and couldn't name.

Then it clicked Nadia's glass of sparkling wine.

It was drugged.

The grandmother had put her up to it. It had to be.

Lily sucked in a breath, and every impulse to go back to the private room evaporated instantly.

Going back meant going back to Nathan.

Meant being touched by him, tonight of all nights.

The thought alone made her feel sick.

She turned and bolted, stumbling, out of the club.

Two men in loud floral shirts wandered into her path, reeking of liquor.

They clocked her flushed cheeks and ragged breathing immediately read exactly what they thought it meant.

A look passed between them.

They fanned out, boxing her in from either side.

The taller one caught her arm. "Well, aren't you a pretty little thing. Face all red like that you feeling okay? Let us help you out."

The other one snickered. "Yeah, way too dangerous for a girl to wander around alone in a place like this. Come rest with your two big brothers here."

Their meaning wasn't subtle.

Lily gritted her teeth, wrenched free with everything she had, and ran.

"Hey! Think you can just run off?!"

"Grab her!"

Their footsteps thundered behind her. Her legs felt like they'd turned to water, her heart hammering faster with every step. The hallway ahead blurred and spun the drug was tightening its grip.

She rounded a corner into a quieter lounge area, softly lit, where a man in a charcoal-gray suit stood with his back to her, on the phone in front of a floor-to-ceiling window. His shoulders were set, his posture perfectly straight.

"Help me"

Lily lunged forward, legs giving out completely, and collapsed onto the carpet at his feet.

The man glanced down.

Something flickered in his dark eyes surprise, gone almost as fast as it appeared, replaced by the flat irritation of a man who didn't like being bothered.

Lily reached up with a trembling hand and grabbed the crisp fabric at his ankle, tilting her tear-streaked face up toward him.

For half a second, something shifted behind his expression when he actually looked at her.

The two men caught up seconds later.

The taller one offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry to interrupt she's with us. We'll get out of your way."

They reached to haul her up by the arms.

Lily shook her head desperately at the stranger. "No please. Save me."

The man slid his phone into his pocket, unhurried.

The two men had already dragged Lily halfway to her feet when he moved.

His foot shot out, catching the taller man square in the knee. The man dropped instantly, cursing.

Lily glared up at him through the haze.

The stranger caught her arm, pulled her free of their grip, and stepped her behind him, voice flat and cold. "Leave."

Something about the way he said it made both men freeze.

They traded a look, did the math, and decided this wasn't a fight worth having. A few muttered curses later, they slunk off.

The tension in Lily's body finally broke but the fire underneath it hadn't. It had sunk straight into her bones.

She could barely stay upright.

She swayed into the stranger, weak, boneless, biting down on her own lip until it bled just to keep the humiliating sounds trapped in her throat.

He turned to face her fully, his gaze dark and unreadable. "Do you need help?"

She fought back the urge the shameful, desperate urge to grab his jacket and pull it off him right there.

She nodded instead, hard, frantic.

His voice came low, steady, cutting through the fog closing in around her. "How can I help you?"

She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper.

Then she closed the distance between them and pressed herself against him.

Rising onto her toes, her lips brushed the edge of his jaw. "Please," she breathed, voice cracking. "I'll pay you whatever you want"

He didn't move a muscle. Didn't so much as flinch.

She leaned in again, aiming for the corner of his mouth.

Then

A suit jacket dropped over her head, swallowing her in darkness.

She let out a small, indignant sound.

A heartbeat later, something struck the back of her neck, and everything went black.

When Lily opened her eyes again, it was already morning.

The sharp bite of antiseptic and old alcohol filled her nose.

She was in a hospital bed.

A nurse walked in on her rounds. "Oh, you're awake. Someone slipped something into your drink last night a gentleman brought you in and admitted you. How are you feeling?"

"Sweetheart, you really shouldn't go to bars alone. Pretty girl like you needs to be more careful."

Lily nodded slowly. "Did he leave a name? Contact information?"

The nurse shook her head.

Lily pushed herself upright, wincing at the dizziness that swept through her traces of whatever they'd given her still lingering.

She pressed both hands against her temples.

"There's still a little of it in your system," the nurse said. "Drink plenty of water, it'll flush out faster. You're free to check out whenever you're ready."

Lily managed a small nod. "Thank you."

The nurse moved on to the next room.

Lily leaned back against the headboard, replaying the blur of the night before in her head.

Then her phone lit up.

Nathan: [Lily, are you home? I'll swing by to pick you up for the auction.]

She smiled, bitter and humorless.

So he hadn't even bothered coming home last night.

If she'd actually died in that bar, would anyone have even noticed she was missing?

She typed back: [Not feeling well today.]

Nathan: [Then rest up. I'll come straight home after the auction. Love you.]

She put the phone down.

She'd just stepped outside to wait for a car when another message came through this one from Nadia:

[Sister-in-law, I am so, so sorry Grandma made me do it. I'd rather die than face you honestly, but please forgive me.]

[Also the necklace you were asking about? It's up for auction today. Does that count as a start toward making it up to you?]

[Get here fast!]

[Just between us opening bid's twenty thousand, but it could go as high as two hundred thousand.]

A taxi pulled up right on cue.

Lily ducked into the back seat and said, without a shred of hesitation, "Change of plans, driver.”