Page 43 of Claimed By the Boss

With every millimeter that the top piece separates from the dowel, my heart pounds harder. The joint continues to loosen, and my breaths come in rapid, shallow gasps. My skin breaks, blood slicking the wood, but I don’t let up.

“Almost there…” The last bit of resistance gives way, and the armrest lifts at the front.

With frantic wiggles, I inch my arm down, the restriction on my wrists lessening as the loops of my restraints slide off.

Finally, I shake my hand free of the rope, the coils falling to the cement floor, and get to work on the knot that binds my other wrist.

“Hey!” Gino’s voice booms across the warehouse, and cold fear shivers through me. He strides toward me, his face dark with fury. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Before I can react, his fist collides with my cheek, sending a sharp pain shooting through my head.

I cry out, lifting my free hand to my face. I was so focused on freeing myself that I didn’t hear them return.

“Be careful!” Tony snaps, stepping between us. “Omegas are fragile. If you keep smacking him around like that, you’re going to damage him.”

“That’s just bullshit propaganda spread to trick Alphas into taking better care of them. I’ve hit him harder, and he always bounces back.” Gino bends down and snatches the rope from the ground, then eyes the broken armrest. “Fucking cheap piece of crap.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Tony strides to one of the crates and sets a hard plastic case on top of it. “He won’t be on the chair for long, anyway.”

Gino’s eyes gleam. “No, he won’t.”

Nausea threatens to overwhelm me. “What are you planning to do?”

“You say you’re not pregnant, and if that’s true, you’re not worth much to the Rockford family.” Gino nods his head toward Tony. “So we’re going to ensure our investment.”

Fear knots in my stomach. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Ever heard of Inductrus?” Tony lifts a small vial, and the rose-colored liquid inside gleams in the light. “It induces Heat in Omegas. Once we inject this into you, your body will beg for an Alpha to breed you.”

My eyes widen in horror. “You can’t do that! It’s dangerous!”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, kid.” Tony preps the drug. “We’ll make sure you’re knocked up before we ransom you back to the Rockfords.”

“Please, don’t do this.” I claw at my bindings. “Nolan already knows I’m not pregnant. We took the test!”

“Sometimes tests give a false negative.” Tony approaches me with the syringe. “You’re still close enough to your last Heat for this pregnancy to be believable.”

“No!” I swing wildly at Tony with my free arm.

He dodges backward with a scowl at Gino. “Restrain him. This has to go into the vein.”

Gino grabs my flailing hand. “Stop fighting, or we’ll knock you out, and you can come back to consciousness already being fucked.”

I buck against his hold, slamming my head into his jaw before lunging forward and clamping my teeth on his ear. A copper taste fills my mouth, and I shake my head from side-to-side.

Tony drops the syringe to help Gino, who shouts and yanks at my hair to free himself.

He stumbles back, blood trickling from the wound. “You’re going to regret that, you little bitch. You better hope the Rockford family pays your ransom, because if they don’t, I’m going to enjoy wringing that scrawny neck of yours.”

18

My stomach churns with a mixture of dread and despair. There’s no way I can fend off Tony and Gino, and the more I fight, the worse it will be in the end.

No matter what I do, I’m going to be drugged, impregnated, and used as leverage against Nolan.

“Please.” Tears stream down my face. “Don’t do this.”

“Cry all you want.” Gino wipes the blood off his neck as he stomps over to grab my arm once more, yanking it straight out to expose the larger veins at my inner elbow. “Soon you’ll be crying for a different reason.”

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