Page 25 of Traitor

Lorenzo picked it up. “Ah, yes. A phone. You can use this to call out if you’d like. You can even make international calls.”

I blinked. “What’s the catch?”

He smiled devilishly. “Your calls will be recorded and monitored twenty-four-seven. So, I’d be careful if I were you.”

Alright, so contacting Teo that way is out.“Oh, well I would’ve expected nothing less than that, Sir.”

He tapped my cheek. “You learn. That’s good, it’ll do you well around here.”

I studied every inch of the room I could while he rattled on about how much he spent getting it ready for me for whenever I decided to be ‘a good girl’. My God, I wanted to burn him at the stake for calling me that. Back when my father was trying to turn me toward a different path than the one I took, he always encouraged me to be a good girl for men so I could settle down, have children, and be taken care of. As if that were some kind of compliment.

Despite how much I loved my father, I had grown very quickly to resent that statement. I hated it when people used it because it made me feel like the person being called that name was subservient to the person speaking.

It made me sick to my stomach.

“Anyway, breakfast is promptly at eight, and I expect you to be dressed up for me at all times. Lunch is at twelve-thirty, though it’s optional as to whether you want to eat in here or at the table. But, dinner? That’s a formal affair, and you are to dress in nothing but your absolute best. I have a few things stocked in the closet for you to get you going, and every time you do something spectacular with those lips or that body of yours, I’ll get you another outfit. How’s about it?”

I would rather die.“I think that’s fair enough, don’t you?”

He chuckled. “God, you’re gorgeous. I’m sure Mateo misses you every night, huh?”

I will kill you myself.“His loss.”

He growled. “You’re going to be fabulous.”

His lips dipped toward mine to kiss me and I braced myself for impact. I felt my stomach roiling with anger and frustration as his breath pulsed against my lips. But, someone yet again saved me by knocking on the door, and I sighed against the hovering of his lips.

“Do you really have to go?” I forced out.

His nose touched my own. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

The second he slipped out of the room, I rushed around. I looked behind pillows and checked all of the corners for cameras or listening devices before I picked up the phone. It was sitting there, so tempting and so vulnerable. But, even if I wanted to use it to call Teo, it wasn’t as if I knew his number.

Not to mention the people listening on the other end of the line.

I heard anger mounting in Lorenzo’s voice outside, so I rushed into the bathroom. I looked around for anything I might be able to use against him, or some shred of evidence he was video-recording me. Why? Because that meant there was a tech room somewhere in this house, especially if it was a closed-circuit channel.

And if I could find that tech room…

Play your cards right, Charlotte. His last companion could very well be dead.

The second I heard the doorknob turning, I rushed back out into the bedroom. I planted myself back where I was and ran a hand through my hair, trying to make it look as if I hadn’t moved. I had all of the time in the world to search this place, but what I needed to do was keep myself alive long enough.

If anything, so I could figure out how to at least place a call from the house without it being monitored.

“Well, where were we?” Lorenzo asked.

His eyes panned up to mine and I held my breath. I plastered the best smile onto my face that I could and hoped he didn’t hear or see evidence of me rushing around everywhere. But, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pillow from the bed cast off in the corner.

And Lorenzo saw it, too.

“What’s that?” he asked.

His voice hardened immediately and I flinched.

“Look at it, bitch. What is that in the corner?”

I slowly turned my head. “It’s a pillow, Sir.”

---