Page 35 of Contracted

“Don’t answer it,” I breathed.

He shook his head. “I have to. It’s my brother’s ringtone. My don.”

My whole body trembled with unfulfilled needs, but I stepped back from him as he withdrew his cell and answered the call. “Ethan. What is it?”

I couldn’t hear the conversation but I sensed Serafino’s shock at whatever his brother aka boss said to him. His whole body had tensed, his eyebrows drawing low and his mouth thinning.

Serafino nodded. “The pilot is waiting? Good. I’ll board in five minutes.”

He disconnected the call, his face hard and his voice flat as he looked my way. “I have to go. My family is in danger, my nephew apparently targeted in a planned revenge attack.”

I gaped. His enemy using a child as payback was chilling, sickening. “I’ll pack my things.”

“No.” His voice could have been a crack of a whip, decisive and unyielding. “I want you to stay here where you’ll be safe.”

I nodded mutely, then followed him into the bedroom where he tucked some firearms into an overnight bag along with some random clothes. I cleared my throat, my stomach tight. “Tell me you’ll be safe,” I said softly.

“Tell me you care,” he volleyed back at me.

How did I tell him I cared too much, and that I didn’t want to lose him? Despite what Serafino had told Jarrod, I wasn’t his girlfriend, I was nothing more than his whore.

He snorted at my silence. “I’ll be back before you know it, sweetheart.”

My heart lurched. I much preferred him calling me firebird. It made me feel special, deserving of him.

He zipped up his bag, then grabbed a cellphone from out of a drawer and closed the short distance between us. He handed the cell to me. “This has my number in it. We can text or call each other whenever we need to.”

I blinked, accepting it from him with something between relief and trepidation. I never gave clients my work phone number, it was almost exclusively reserved for Sinead. That he felt it was necessary to contact me and vice versa set off little alarms inside me.

His stare darkened as his face turned serious, his tone somber. “Stay in this suite of rooms. Do not go outside. Not for anything or anyone.”

I felt the blood drain from my face, my entire body shutting down. I didn’t stay indoors, especially alone. My mind always ran rampant, my twisted memories sneaking up on me as panic set in.

He stared down at me, a frown furrowing his brow as he added, “If you need anything, ring me, or use the in-room phone and call reception for Jarrod.”

“Jarrod?” I repeated faintly.

Serafino nodded. “He’s one of the few I trust.”

“I don’t,” I reminded, my voice scratchy.

“Then stay here. I won’t be gone long.”

My pulse surged. How long was not long?

He bent and kissed me, his mouth hard and his emotions tinged with angst. Then he pulled away and strode past me without looking back.

I pressed a hand to my mouth, then dropped it to my stomach as foreboding swept over me once again. Nothing about this whole scenario felt right.

Nothing at all.

Chapter Nineteen

Delilah

It’d been two days since Serafino had left me alone in his suite of rooms with nothing but room service to look forward to. But today I’d skipped breakfast and had yet to order lunch. I wasn’t hungry, not with my anxiety rising every hour that I was alone and locked away.

He couldn’t have known this was my worst nightmare. He’d paid for me to make him feel good, not for me to breakdown and bemoan my horrible childhood.

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