Page 124 of Depraved Desires

“It is,” Foster agreed.

“Micah, wait out here,” she told the other guard. “Make sure one of the inspectors doesn’t try to get in. Call me if you have any problems.”

The guard grunted in response.

Finally, Talissa turned back to the door and typed in a code. I didn’t know how an inspector would be able to get in this room considering it was secured, but what the hell did I know? Maybe they had the code, too.

The door creaked open, and she stepped inside, motioning for us to follow. Foster took the lead, leaving me to trail behind him.

The door clicked locked behind us, dim lighting casting a glow around the room. Confusion deepened my unease when I glanced around, noting that it was even larger than her office. Foster seemed to notice this too, because his head whipped around, his eyebrows drawn together.

The woman in charge made her way to a large metal table that was positioned in the center of the room, a suitcase resting on top of it.

“I tried to be nice,” she tsked, the energy around us seeming to change into something ominous. “I bought you things, let youwork here, cared for you in the only way I knew how, and even warned you to stay away from him. But you justdon’tlisten.”

Realization dawned on me, rattling me to my core. She warned me to stay away from Collin. She didn’t bring us in here to do a deal.

Glancing behind my shoulder, I met Carlos’s gaze. He stood beside the door, blocking the only exit we had. My hand curled around Foster’s arm for support, panic barreling through my body.

When Talissa pulled her hand from the suitcase, there was a gun resting in her palm. She flicked the safety off and pointed it right at me.

My breathing thinned and my heart skyrocketed to dangerous levels. I was frozen in place, too scared to move as I stared my upcoming death right in the face.

Foster cursed, shoving me behind his back to hide me from the potential bullet that might or might not have been about to disengage.

“What the fuck, Talissa?” he growled, his breathing uneven as he stood in the way of the gun now.

My hands curled into the back of his shirt, fisting it like it was supposed to somehow save us both. Why did everyone want to fucking kill me? I didn’t care how dramatic that was, that’s what it felt like.

Instead of responding to him, she glanced behind us at Carlos. That was all it took to get the big bastard moving to obey her silent order. This was obviously pre-planned. Had Foster not had a deal today, would she have still tried to find a way to get me in here? Did she suspect that Collin would choose to lurk outside, or did she not care either way as long as it put me at her mercy somehow?

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, and I was ripped away from Foster without a chance to even think aboutfighting back. Carlos wound my arms behind me, holding me in place and making me vulnerable again.

“Let her go,” Foster growled.

This was an interesting change in events. The guy who tried to murder me was now trying to protect me.

Talissa smirked devilishly. “I don’t think I will.” She moved her arm, pointing the gun in my direction once more.

I ducked my head, doing my best to shield myself from it. If she did shoot, it couldn’t be any worse than drowning, could it?

“This could have gone in a completely different direction. All you had to do waslisten.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to kill you, Aspen, But I will if that’s what it takes. I?—”

Her sentence stopped short, and I peeked through the gap in my hair, trying to figure out why she stopped all of a sudden. Horror spiraled through me as I watched Foster run toward her, and a desperate plea got lodged in my throat.

She turned the weapon on him and pulled the trigger.

My knees buckled and a scream tore from my lips as the loud bang reverberated through the room. Foster buckled to the ground, hitting it hard, and after a few seconds of heavy breathing, his body went still.

Tears trickled down my face and I started thrashing against Carlos violently. I needed to get to him—to see if he was okay. He had to be. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. My efforts to get away were pointless. Carlos was much bigger and stronger than I was.

“You stupid fucking cunt!” I roared, rage fueling me in ways it never had before.

Talissa smirked and slowly started moving toward me. “Guess it’s a good thing that the one you care about is waiting outside, then, huh?”

“Go to hell.”

She tsked, bringing the gun to my temple. “Now is that any way to speak to your mother?”

---