Page 125 of Injustice and Absolution

But I can’t.

I stand before him, panting and unable to fill my lungs with oxygen. He backs me into the wall, getting in my face. His voice is low but dangerous.

“There is a filthy rich and dangerously powerful man in the penthouse at the end of this hallway who’s expecting you.”

At that moment, two large and dangerous looking men step out into the hallway. One of them straightens his suit jacket before buttoning it, and a flash of metal hanging in front of his chest reflects off of the soft hallway lighting.

A gun.

I shiver, this situation getting more real and more severely dire as each second passes.

“Move your feet before you get us both killed.” Drew grips my arm so hard, I can’t speak.

I fight against his hold the entire length of the long hallway as he drags me toward the awaiting men.My vision dots as I fight to stay conscious. Terrifying memories of being forced to do things I didn’t want to do plague every millisecond of time that passes the closer we get to my doom until I’m on the verge of passing out. I wish I would so I won’t be awake for what comes next.

The two tall, statuesque men standing on either side of the open penthouse doors grow ever closer. I know I can’t turn back, even if Drew allowed me to.

“I said get it together,” he whispers menacingly, coming to a stop just yards before the men.

He looks me over one last time, picking imaginary lint off of my dress here and there. Straightening my hair, pretending like he knows what he’s doing.

“You’re going to go into that room and let this man stick his dick wherever the fuck he wants to. And you’re going to ride it like your fucking life depends on it … because it does. And make it believable. If you don’t and he’s not happy,Iwon’t be happy. And that won’t be good for either of us.”

Leaning in, he places a kiss on the side of my head.

“Now be a good girl and do as you’re told.”

The moment Drew shoves me past the gargoyles standing guard at the door and over the penthouse’s threshold, chaos erupts around me, and everything moves in slow motion.

Shouting bellows loudly, seeming to echo from every direction. The sound of knuckles hitting bone crackles off the walls. A series of grunts and groans are followed by a thud of something heavy hitting the floor behind me.

I start to turn, to search for a reason behind the distressing noises, trying to make sense of the situation. But I catch sight of someone standing in the middle of the room, causing me to do a double take.

Forcing my eyes to focus through my fear, my mind struggles to understand why the one man I never expected to be on the other side of this sordid arrangement is suddenly standing in front of me.

When my eyes lock with his, everything I thought I knew about my life crumbles. The feeling of falling overtakes me, but I don’t feel the floor as my body flops down onto it.

My vision tunnels, minimizing the full view of the room to the size of a pinhole.

The last thing I see before I lose consciousness is a thick head of silver and black hair and a familiar pair of soft, dark-brown eyes standing over me.

PART THREE

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

ROYCE

It’s been a little over two weeks since the last time I saw Delilah.

Since I started digging for dirt on Drew so I can take him down and bring Delilah home.

It’s been one week since I got everything I needed in order to do so. The hardest week of my life, spent in debilitating agony, waiting for tonight.

Around this time last week, Maggie came to me more upset than I’ve ever seen her.

She showed me a text she’d gotten from Delilah. It was an emoji that meant nothing to me, but she explained that they’ve sent it to one another in the past if they were ever in any trouble.

It was the catalyst for every detail that has fallen into place since then. Within an hour, I heard from Cyber who told me he found out why Drew’s history only went back to the age of eighteen.

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