Page 44 of Virginity Sold

I feel like I’m floating, my brain foggy, and everything hurts.

Painful electricity hits my chest and I feel my body arching up, once, twice, three times.

Beep… Beep… Beep...

It all becomes hazy again.

I try to pry my eyes open, but it’s as if they’ve been glued together.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

The fucking annoying sound becomes more erratic and my breathing becomes faster.

Why am I so scared? Where am I?

“Shh, you need to calm down. You’re okay, Elena.”

A soft female voice tries to soothe me. But I don’t recognize it.

I need to know who it is. I fight to open my eyes, barely getting them cracked but it’s a haze. There’s a woman wearing blue, and behind her is a man.

A man.

No! My heart begins to race and I try to move, but can’t. What’s happening? Where am I? Why can’t I remember?

Mama, where are you?

“Elena, there you are. You need to calm down. You’re safe,” she tells me again.

But I’m not. There’s something I should remember, but I can’t. Why?

I attempt to inhale once more, but it’s useless. It feels like there’s a crushing weight pressing down on my chest.

The man says something, but I can’t make it out. I want out of here. I want to go home to my mama.

My eyes fall shut, and this time I don’t open them. Quiet takes back over.

Chapter 23

Kyrian

Waking up this morning, all I can think about is Elena. I slipped a note in her purse along with a business card. That way, if she couldn’t get a hold of me, then she could reach Killian or Uncle Liam. I was hoping she’d find it when she got home and call, text, anything. But she didn’t. I even went on her phone and programmed my number in it, making myself her emergency contact, since she didn’t have one. One way or another, she would be able to contact me.

As soon as we got back to Uncle Liam’s last night, they went to his office without me. No doubt talking about the plan to take down Jeffrey Hastings without me. They can lie all they want. I saw the look in their eyes. They want Elena as badly as I do.

Dragging myself out of bed, I pull on a shirt, pick my phone up from where it fell on the floor, and head downstairs. Looking down at it, I realize the screen isn’t coming on and want to slap myself.

It’s fucking dead. No wonder I thought she didn't call.

I grab my charger from the wall and follow the sounds of the voices to the kitchen, where Uncle Liam and Killian sit at the table.

“Hey, have either of you gotten any calls or texts? My phone is dead.” Maybe they have heard from Elena.

“No. Are we expecting a call that I don’t know about?” Uncle Liam asks before taking a bite of his omelet. “You have a plate in the microwave. We weren’t sure when you’d be waking up.”

“No, just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything,” I mumble as I quickly plug my phone in to charge. I need to know if she tried to contact me or not. I don’t want her to think I’m ignoring her. Maybe we can even hang out today.

“Speaking of phones. I need to call John and make sure he’s in place this morning.”

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