Chapter 5

​I just lay there on the floor. Ten minutes. Maybe more. My face felt totally stiff from his dried cum. My jaw hurt so bad. I felt like trash.

Complete trash. But the clock was ticking and I only had two hours before his guards came back. I had to move my ass right away.

​I got up, dragged Chloe’s huge wedding dress, and ran.

​I got to my crappy apartment building soaking wet. My hands were shaking so bad I dropped my keys twice. I burst inside, completely out of breath.

​Mrs. Gable was on my old couch. And Leo was on the rug playing with his toy cars.

​"Mommy!" he yelled, running to me.

​"Wait, baby, don't touch me yet," I said, stopping him. I didn't want him touching my face or hair because it was still sticky.

I wanted to cry just looking at him. I felt so dirty.

​Mrs. Gable jumped up. "Elena? Oh my god, what happened? What is that white stuff all over your face?"

​"No time to explain!" I ran to the bedroom and yanked my broken suitcase from under the bed. My hands were vibrating.

"Beatrice sold me out. She took the money from the Vance family for dad's bills, and she signed a new contract with my name! Alexander knows I'm not Chloe. He knows everything!"

​Mrs. Gable gasped. "That billionaire? Elena, no! He is completely ruthless! You can't go there!"

​"I have to!" I screamed, tears ruining my face.

"If I don't show up in two hours, he turns off my dad's life support and my dad dies tonight.

He said Leo can come, but we have to live in the basement like dogs while I serve him upstairs."

​My voice broke. I felt like total crap. What he made me do on his office floor... It was so humiliating. And I had to do it every day now to keep my dad alive and Leo safe.

​"But Elena," Mrs. Gable whispered, checking the hall. "What if he finds out the truth? What if Alexander finds out who Leo's real father is? The Vance family kills their rivals. If they discover Leo is the son of—"

​"He won't find out!" I snapped, throwing Leo's pants into the bag in a huge mess. "I told him it was just some random street guy. He believes me because he thinks I'm just a cheap, broke girl. He thinks I'm trash. As long as he doesn't check, we are safe."

​But my stomach felt like actual ice. If Alexander ever did a DNA test on Leo, we were dead. The secret about who got me pregnant four years ago would start a literal war.

​I ripped Chloe's stupid dress off. I threw on old leggings and a big gray hoodie. In the bathroom, I grabbed a wet towel and scrubbed my face and hair until it burned like fire. I wanted every drop of him off me.

I hated him. I hated his money, I hated how hot he was, and I hated how he looked down at me.

​Exactly one hour later, a loud knock hit the door. THUD. THUD.

​My heart stopped.

​I opened it. A huge guy in a black suit stood there. "Let's go. Mr. Vance is waiting."

​I hugged Mrs. Gable, crying like an idiot, and picked up Leo. He held his stuffed bear tight, looking terrified of the guard.

​"It's okay, baby," I whispered. "We are going to a big house."

​A big house that was a literal prison.

​The limo ride was dead silent. Leo fell asleep on my chest. That was the only thing keeping me sane.

When we got to the giant skyscraper, the guard didn't take us to the nice penthouse. We went straight down to a creepy basement hallway with concrete walls.

​He threw my bag into a tiny room with a small twin bed and a plastic crib.

​"The kid stays here," the guard said, totally cold. "Ten minutes to leave him. Mr. Vance is waiting upstairs in his bedroom. Move it."

​The door slammed shut.

​I laid Leo down, kissing his forehead.

"Mommy has to do some work upstairs, okay? Stay with Mr. Bear. I love you." My heart was breaking into pieces. Leaving my baby in this dungeon was killing me, but Alexander was upstairs counting the minutes.

​I got in the elevator, my legs like jelly, and went to the top floor.

​His master bedroom was totally dark except for the city lights. It smelled like whiskey, cigars, and that crazy sexy cologne that always makes my stomach flip.

​Alexander was sitting on the edge of a massive king bed. He only had a dark silk robe on, barely tied.

His chest was completely bare. Oh my god... his stomach muscles were so hard. He looked so dominant and handsome it made me gasp.

​"You're late, Elena," he murmured. His deep voice gave me chills.

​"I had to put my son to bed," I said, trying to sound tough, but I sounded like a little girl.

​He stood up, walking over like a giant shadow. He stopped right in front of me, looking at my old hoodie with absolute disgust and raw lust.

​"I don't care about your kid, and I don't care about your excuses," he whispered. Suddenly, his huge hand grabbed the front of my hoodie.

With one massive yank, he literally ripped it right down the middle, exposing my cheap bra and my skin.

​I screamed, trying to cover myself, but he grabbed both my wrists in one iron grip and pinned them high over my head against the wall.

​"From now on, when I tell you to come, you run," he growled. His eyes were burning with pure fury and hunger. "Now, strip the rest of these rags off. Your real job starts now, wife."

​I wanted to bite him, I wanted to scream, but I couldn't move. He was too big. Too strong.

​"Please, Alexander..." I whispered, crying again.

​"Open your mouth," he commanded, his other hand pulling his robe tie loose until it fell open completely.

​But just as he was about to force me down, his phone on the nightstand started buzzing loudly. He cursed, let go of my wrists, and snatched it up.

​He looked at the screen, and his face went completely pale. The mean smirk vanished in a second.

​"What?" Alexander snapped into the phone, his voice totally tense.

​I stood against the wall, holding my ripped hoodie together, watching him. I could hear a frantic voice through the speaker. A man sounding completely terrified.

​"Boss, we have a massive problem," the voice gasped out. "The DNA results from the church security cameras just cleared the database. The boy... the four-year-old kid the replacement bride brought... he isn't some random street bastard."

​Alexander's eyes snapped directly to mine, filled with lethal shock. "What the hell are you talking about?" he roared.

​"Boss... the kid's DNA is a perfect match," the voice whispered, shaking.

"He is the biological son of your brother, Julian Vance. The brother who was murdered four years ago.”