CHAPTER TWO   CARISSA’S POV  

I stood in the middle of the room, staring from the white dress on the bed to Mateo. My mouth opened, but no sound came out for a second.

"You have the wrong person," I said, backing up towards the door. "I'm just an escort. I get paid to go to dinners and parties. I'm here to be a fake fiancée for a week, not a wife. This is a terrible mistake."

Mateo didn't even blink. "Stop talking and put on the dress."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No way. I am not putting that on. Let me talk to Marcus."

I reached into my bag for my phone before remembering the driver had taken it. I looked around the room, spotted a landline on the bedside table, and rushed over to grab it. I punched in Marcus's cell phone number from memory. It rang once, twice, three times, and went straight to voicemail.

I called again. Voicemail again.

I tried one more time. At this point my fingers were shaking as I pressed the buttons. The call went straight to an automated voice saying the line was no longer in service.

My stomach dropped within an instant. Cold sweat broke out across my back at the chilling realization of my current fate. Marcus hadn't just sent me on an assignment. He had changed his number. He had turned off his phone and vanished. He took the money and left me in a remote town in Brazil with a man I didn't know.

I was sold. Fuck.

No wonder he was so cold and rude. He was usually stern but still loved to put up a false façade of loving. He didn’t pretend because there was no reason for him to do such.

"Call him," I said, turning to Mateo. My voice cracked as I tried to hold back the tears. " Please call Marcus right now. Tell him there's a huge misunderstanding. I'm not a bride. I can’t do this. Please."

Mateo didn't reach for a phone. He walked over to the bed, picked up the heavy white gown, and took three long steps toward me.

"There is no misunderstanding," he said, his gravelly voice calm and cold.

"I'm not doing this!" I yelled, pushing at his chest.

Of course he didn't move an inch. His broad shoulders blocked the light and my senses were swarmed with his cologne. It was expensive , but not the exact brand. And that was the scary part. Either it was a fake, which it definitely wasn’t, or it was custom made, making him a wealthy man. Wealthy enough to buy a wife, set her on a private plane and lock her up in the most remote estate in the world. I was cooked.

He grabbed my wrists in one hand, holding them tight, and shoved the heavy bundle of lace against my stomach.

"Put on the dress," Mateo said, leaning down so his face was inches from mine. "Or I will take off your clothes and put it on you myself."

His dark eyes were hard as stone. He wasn't joking.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay. Okay, fine. I'll put it on."

He let go of my wrists and pointed toward a heavy wooden door on the side of the room. "The bathroom is in there. You have five minutes."

I grabbed the dress, the veil, and the shoes, and walked into the bathroom. I shut the door and turned the lock immediately.

My heart was beating so fast I could barely breathe. I dropped the dress onto the tiled floor and ran to the sink. I splashed cold water on my face, looking at myself in the mirror. My mascara was smudged, and my eyes were wide with panic.

I couldn't put that dress on. I couldn't walk out there.

I turned around and looked at the bathroom window. It was small, high up on the wall, and pushed open just an inch. I pulled a chair over, stepped on it, and unlocked the window frame, pushing it wide open.

The opening was narrow, but I was thin enough to slip through.

I kicked off my designer heels. I grabbed the edge of the window frame, hoisted myself up, and squeezed my shoulders through the gap. The rough stone scraped against my skin, pulling at my silk dress, but I didn't care. I pushed with my legs until my hips cleared the frame, and I tumbled out, landing hard on the muddy grass outside.

I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the pain in my knees, and started running. I had no destination but I couldn’t afford to stay at a place.

The estate grounds were huge, surrounded by dense trees and concrete walls. Rain had started to fall, turning the dirt into slippery mud. I ran barefoot along the side of the house, heading toward the back gate I had seen from the driveway.

"Hey!" a voice shouted behind me in a language I assume to be Portuguese.

I looked back to see two large men in black suits were sprinting down the lawn toward me.

I ran faster, my feet slipping on the wet grass. My chest burned with every breath. I rounded a corner of the building, hoping to find a way out, but the paved path ended abruptly at a high stone wall and a tall iron gate. It was a dead end.

I didn't stop. I ran straight to the iron gate and started climbing. The metal bars were wet and cold, slipping under my bare hands, but panic gave me strength. I pulled myself up, swung one leg over the top spikes, and leaped down to the dirt road on the other side.

I hit the ground hard, rolling onto my shoulder. Pain shot up my arm, but I forced myself to stand.

I turned around to run down the road, and stopped dead in my tracks, heart leaping to my chest.

Mateo was standing right in front of me.

He wasn't breathing hard. He had walked around the side entrance and was waiting for me in the rain. His dark suit was wet, and his dark eyes fixed on mine like a hawk.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be, Carissa," he said.

"Get away from me!" I screamed, turning to sprint the other way.

Mateo moved faster than I could react. He lunged forward, grabbing my shoulder and spinning me around. Before I could throw a punch or scream, his fist struck the side of my head.

Pain exploded behind my eyes. The ground tilted, and my legs gave out completely.

I collapsed onto the wet dirt road. The wet concrete felt cold against my face as my vision started to blur.

Footsteps rushed up from behind Mateo. One of the men in black suits stopped beside him, looking down at me on the ground.

"Boss, your new wife is feisty," the man said, laughing softly in English. "She may last longer than the others."

Mateo looked down at me, his face emotionless.

"We will see," Mateo replied.

Darkness pulled me under, but his words lingered in my head as everything went black.

What others? Who exactly is this man? What have I gotten myself into?