Page 84 of Lexi, Property of Rhyder

I grab her hand and pull her away from the crowd.

She shouts, “Where are you taking me? I can’t leave.”

I ignore her demands and make my way off the dance floor and toward the foyer. Once we’re out there, she huffs and puffs. “Rhyder, what are you—”

“Do you have a coat?” I ask as my eyes travel down her sweet, hot-as-fuck body.

“Yes, it’s in the cloakroom.”

Pulling on her hand, I lead her to the room.

The girl notices me and smiles. “Yes.”

“Tell her.”

Lexi asks for her jacket, and the girl behind the counter grabs her denim jacket, which I take from her and place it over Lexi’s shoulders.

“Why are you doing this? This was supposed to be a night of fun, and now you’re ruining it.”

“Am I?” I growl. “Well, I’m sorry, baby, but you’ve fuckin’ ruined me.”

She frowns, not understanding the pun. Once her arms are in her jacket, I storm out of the club, basically carrying her out of there.

We rush over to my bike, and I say, “Sit.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. I can’t.”

“Get the fuck on there, or I’ll make you.” My patience is now running paper-thin.

She crosses her arms. “Really, and how do you suppose—”

I lift her, forcing her onto my bike, and she sits there with her arms folded.

“Good! Now,” I say, leaning in, “… don’t fuckin’ move.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere to talk. I’m sick of these games, Lexi. I’ve been through hell and back tryin’ to find you. Now that I have, you’re out around town havin’ the time of your life while all I’m fuckin’ doin’ is thinkin’ of you and tryin’ to see you, yet you won’t return my calls.”

“But—”

“No fuckin’ buts. The time for talkin’ is over. Until I say so.”

I straddle my bike and start it up, ready to have this conversation.

LEXI

Rhyder basically throws me on the back of his bike, not giving me a chance to talk. At first, when he kissed me at the club, I was a little shocked, but I knew instantly who it was. I could taste him. He is the only man who’s ever kissed me that way.

Rhyder wants to talk, and I get that.

My dad changed my phone number and made me promise not to see him, or else I wouldn’t be allowed to go out and would be grounded. I love my dad, but since I was kidnapped, he’s gone completely mad with overprotectiveness. The only way I was allowed out tonight was because I said that it was Diane’s birthday, and her family was having cake for her.

I packed my clothes in a bag and made my way to her house, got changed, and we left with her brother for the club.

Since the kidnapping, I’ve been in denial. Everyone wants to know if I’m okay, and I’m sick of seeing looks of sympathy on their faces. As promised, I’ve seen a psychologist weekly, and I’ve dealt with a lot of what happened. Talking to a stranger has been helpful, more than I thought it would, but I simply want to move on. I’m ready to take control of my life and focus on my future and being happy once again. I want to forget about the past and the unknown of whatever happened to Master.

I did find out later that Master was known as Fabien Lawrence and had a history of kidnapping girls. He would groom them, give them everything, and that included making them his sex slaves. The girls would then be brainwashed into thinking they couldn’t live life without him, and they eventually got used to living the life of a sex slave. Once he was bored with them, he would send them off to a brothel for them to make money for him that way.

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