Page 108 of Playboy

A man dressed in a tuxedo walked through a door carrying two trays. He set one down in front of Ramon and then placed the other one down in front of her.

When the lid was removed and steam from the steak, potatoes, and veggies hit her nose, she felt her stomach rumble. She was starving. But at the same time, she was afraid to eat anything out of fear that it had been poisoned.

She made no move to eat anything.

“You do realize that sitting in front of you is the best cut of meat you’ll ever get a chance to taste,” Ramon said, interrupting her thoughts.

She looked at him from across the table. He picked up his glass of wine and took a sip, making sure his eyes stayed on her over the rim of his glass.

His comment couldn’t be further from the truth. The best cut of meat she had tasted was Playboy.“Holy shit! Where in the hell had that thought come from?”She felt her face heat up and knew she probably looked like a tomato.

Maybe he won’t notice, she thought. Then, she lowered her head and started to cut up her food, acting as if she would eat it.

“I’d love to know what just went through that pretty little head of yours.”

Okay, maybe he did now. Why lie? She was going to die anyway.”

She placed her fork and knife down and stared at the bastard across from her wishing she could wipe the smug arrogant expression off his face.

“You're right. I was thinking about something. Something very naughty.”

He smirked and raised his manicured brow as if saying, “Do tell.” The bastard probably thought she was fantasizing about him.

Running her finger around the rim of her wine glass, she held his gaze.

“I was thinking about my boyfriend, and his big slab of meat that I’ll have my hands on as soon as your ass joins your brother in hell.”

Ramon’s smile dropped from his lips in an instant. His fork clattered against the fine china. He wiped his mouth with the white napkin before throwing it down and standing with such force that he almost knocked the chair over. He rounded the table quickly and was on her. His large hand gripped her neck, and panic started to consume her. His eyes were wide, and filledwith malice. His nostrils flared as he stared wildly into her eyes. The tightness in her chest became almost unbearable.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it wasn’t polite to insult your host? And that in doing so could land you in extreme trouble?”

Oh yeah. She had definitely hit a nerve. But if she was going to die, then she was going to go out with a bang. She was going to prove to this monster that she wasn’t afraid of him. And by no means would she ever bow down to his demands.

His grip tightened around her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe, but she wasn’t about to show weakness. She stared back at him, letting him know that he wouldn’t break her.

Just as she thought he would succeed in killing her, one of his guards rushed into the room.

“What part of ‘I don’t want to be disturbed,’ don’t you understand?” He barked at the man, who looked scared as hell for daring to go against an order.

“I’m sorry, sir. But we lost contact with Ruben. He radioed in that he was looking into a possible breach on the east side of the property. However, mid-way through the communication, we lost contact with him. Now nobody can get a hold of him.”

He released her neck, and she felt an instant relief. Gabby took a big breath but then began coughing. Her throat burned.

“Find Darwin and have him go out and look.”

He lowered his head. “Sir, nobody can find Darwin either.”

“What do you mean you can’t find Darwin?” Gabby could hear the frustration in his voice.

“It means exactly what I said, Sir. Nobody can find Darwin.”

While Ramon was preoccupied with the guard, Gabby used the distraction to slide the steak knife into the pocket of her dress.

Ramon swung around toward Gabby. His eyes landed on her, and he looked like a lunatic. She also saw fear in his eyes.

He pulled a gun from his waistband and aimed it at her.

“Stand up.”

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