LOGINWith a hand over her mouth, she tried not to make a sound; she willed her heart to stop pounding so damn hard.
Voices drew closer; her pursuers were almost upon her.
All that was left for her to do was pray. She prayed for the pain to subside. She prayed Cullen’s men would be dumb enough to follow her fake trail. She prayed that Vin would find her.
Callie allowed a small smile to form on her lips. Despite the circumstances, it was still the thought of Vin that brought her comfort. But she couldn’t count on him now. She only had herself to rely on, and it would have to be enough, because no help was coming.
With trash covering even her face, Callie could only see through a small gap. The voices were now just outside
With a hand over her mouth, she tried not to make a sound; she willed her heart to stop pounding so damn hard.Voices drew closer; her pursuers were almost upon her.All that was left for her to do was pray. She prayed for the pain to subside. She prayed Cullen’s men would be dumb enough to follow her fake trail. She prayed that Vin would find her.Callie allowed a small smile to form on her lips. Despite the circumstances, it was still the thought of Vin that brought her comfort. But she couldn’t count on him now. She only had herself to rely on, and it would have to be enough, because no help was coming.With trash covering even her face, Callie could only see through a small gap. The voices were now just outside
Shit. No, this can’t be happening.The shouting came after the alarms, which still rang in the air like the soundtrack to Callie’s capture. The pickup truck started to slow down, along with Callie’s hopes.This was it. She’s going to get caught again, and she’ll be punished. Brutally.Callie’s hands shook with a mix of fear and determination. This couldn’t be the end. After everything she’d survived, she was not throwing the towel in now.Without another thought, Callie threw the blanket off and leaped from the side of the truck. Ignoring the pain in her knees and ankles, she took off into a wild sprint, headed for the quickly closing metal gates.
The sweet aroma of jasmine and ylang-ylang filled Callie’s senses. The sexy notes of the scents were perfect for seduction, for losing oneself in another.She had been led to a suite that looked nothing like the dorm room she was given. Heavy curtains lined the walls, helping with the room’s soundproofing.The lights were dimmed, giving the suite a soft glow, illuminating a king-sized bed to one side of the room, and a settee to another.It was perfect. Callie thought as she adjusted the blonde wig she had donned earlier that night. Just the right amount of sultry and sweet, enough to distract whatever fool Cullen Reich had decided to throw her way.If that bastard thought Callie would lie down and die, he was sorely mistaken. She would not have survived this long if she were weak.The songbird positioned herself on the settee, arranging the long-sleeved red robe that covered most of her body to fall perfectly around her. Save for her bare leg that she’d strategically slipped out of t
Fresh out of the bath, Callie softly called out that she was done.The woman who had prepared the bath for her entered with a white fluffy towel draped on one arm, and a salve resting in her other hand.“Thank you…” Callie started when the woman handed her the towel.“Nabi,” the woman answered, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.“Thank you, Nabi. I’m Callie.”Nabi offered a small smile as Callie slipped into a fresh white robe, then she led the singer to sit in front of the vanity.“I’ve heard your name before,” said Nabi as she pulled one drawer open to grab a brush. Slowly, she took a section of Callie’s hair and started to brush it.Callie didn’t ask her to elaborate. Somehow, people knew her name by her association with Vin, and every time, nothing good came out of it.They stayed silent even as Nabi pulled the hair dryer out of another drawer and started to dry Callie’s hair. The blonde brushed and pulled sections of Callie’s hair and pinned them away from her face in
Callie’s ears rang with Cullen’s howling of frustration but her mind remained on the memory of Vin. His words, no matter how hurtful, his touch no matter how brief.She couldn’t look him in the eyes, feeling disgusted to put on display like that to a man who threw her out once. But she caught glimpses of him. His tired eyes, the downward curve of his mouth, the way his shoulders sagged a bit, these were details only Callie noticed. To anyone else, Vin was a picture of a bored man, but Callie saw through the façade. She saw the darkness that ringed his eyes, his pale skin, and sunken cheeks. Her stomach twisted with worry that he hadn’t been eating well.Maybe he’d changed his mind. Perhaps he’d come to save me, Callie thought earlier. But Vin’s words cut too deeply to be fake. She was a passing plaything. And she will never be more, because Vin had cast her aside for the second time.Callie’s empty stomach tightened as she swallowed the bile that threatened up her throat. Disgust cra
Vin drummed his fingers onto the tabletop of Cullen Reich’s private game room. The wait was pissing him off. He had a clear idea why Cullen ever so politely invited him into his territory and into his private establishment.“He’s going to gloat,” said Soren during their earlier meeting. “Callie will be there, that’s given. But we have no news whatsoever after her location was confirmed. We don’t know if…”“We don’t know if she’s alright,” Vin finished for him. “She’s alive. That much, I’m certain. He wouldn’t call me out like this otherwise.”The date of their meeting came. Two full days after Callie left, no, since Callie was taken.Vin reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a small flask. The whiskey burned down his throat, but it did nothing to ease his nerves.On the outside, he was a picture of calm, but the storm in his eyes betrayed his exterior.Callie was somewhere in Reich’s territory. The plan was already in place, he only needed to set a few more pieces on the board







