Page 21 of Dark Horizon New Dawn

"What did he say?"

Jasmine shrugged. "He gave me a half-assed apology, excusing his behavior with stress at work. The thing is, he never told me what he did for a living except for saying that he was a trader."

Alarm bells went off in Margo's head. "Where is he now?"

"More business meetings, or so he says. I'm not jealous because it doesn't make sense for him to drag me out here and spend so much money on me only to screw around. I'm just suspicious about what he's involved in."

That was precisely what Margo was thinking, too. "What do you suspect?"

"Drugs," Jasmine whispered. "He says he's a trader, but he doesn't tell me what he trades in, and he throws money around like he has an endless supply of it. What else am I supposed to think?"

There were worse things to trade in than drugs, but Margo kept that thought to herself. The woman was distraught enough. Then again, a stunning beauty like Jasmine could be sold for top dollar, so maybe it would be better to warn her.

"Trafficking," Margo said quietly. "I'm worried about you. If that's what he is involved in, and he isn't too attached to you, he might try to sell you. You are like a rare jewel that some perverts would pay a lot of money to possess. Not only that, it's a known tactic of human traffickers to seduce their unsuspecting victims and get them to voluntarily travel to a foreign country, where it is easier to have them disappear. That's why it's called trafficking instead of a more appropriate name that sounds much more brutal."

Jasmine waved a dismissive hand. "I'm flattered by your compliments, but you are exaggerating. I'm not such a great catch." She smoothed a hand over her hip. "No matter how much I exercise and diet, I can't get rid of these thunder thighs."

Margo rolled her eyes. "Your body shape is perfect for your type of beauty, and you are exquisite. You don't need to get rid of anything."

"Thank you." Jasmine smiled. "That's very sweet of you to say, but I know what I see in the mirror."

"It's called body dysmorphia," Margo said. "Only you can see the imaginary imperfection."

"Not true. Alberto sees that, too. He said that I should have plastic surgery to remove these pockets of fat."

What an asshole. "Did he offer to pay for it too?"

"No." Jasmine leaned back in her chair. "That's over the limit of what he's willing to spend on me, and I don't expect him to. We haven't been dating that long, and we didn't make any commitments to each other, although he said that he loved me."

Lies.

The wheels in Margo's head started to spin again. "So, I assume that he never bought you expensive jewelry either."

Jasmine shook her head. "As I said, we've only been dating for a few weeks, so I don't think that's significant."

"He's a rich dude who likes to impress people with his money. If he wanted to keep you long term, he would have bought you an extravagant gift to make you feel obligated."

"He paid for this vacation." Jaz waved a hand over the view. "Which is quite extravagant. This suite probably costs thousands of dollars a night."

Margo shook her head. "And yet he left you here alone."

"True." Jasmine worried her lower lip. "And he took away my passport and my credit cards so I couldn't escape." She winced. "I was so stupid for agreeing to come here with him. I've known him for less than three weeks."

"That's still a lot of time to invest in a woman he intends to sell, but regrettably, the rest of his behavior points in that direction."

"You are right." Jasmine let her head fall back and closed her eyes. "What if those meetings are about me? He might be negotiating my sale as we speak. I can't leave, and if I go to the local authorities with this story, they will laugh in my face."

"Maybe you should go to the American Embassy? I don't think they will dismiss your story, and maybe they can help you get away."

Jasmine shook her head. "I can't believe that's what he's really up to. He's a controlling jerk, but he wouldn't have treated me to a stay in the presidential suite only to sell me. Also, my family knows where I am. I can ask my parents to buy me a plane ticket, but I don't have my passport or even my driver's license. I have no way to prove who I am."

It was a conundrum, and Margo wasn't sure how she could help.

"Perhaps I can get you on that cruise ship if I explain your predicament. It's a private cruise for the employees of Perfect Match, so maybe my friend can speak to the boss and convince him to let you hitch a ride with us. The problem is that even if he agrees, the ship will not get here until Thursday, and if we are right about Alberto's nefarious intentions, it might be too late."

Jasmine's head snapped up. "Did you say Perfect Match?"

"Yeah?

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