Page 4 of Delicate Escape

Unknown Number

This you?

There was no link to follow. It was simply a screenshot. From a porn site. Of me.

My entire body vibrated as my ears rang. Some part of my brain computed that my alarm system was doing that warning beep thing again, but I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare down at the photo.

It was me. There was no denying that. The brightly colored comforter on the bed was a dead giveaway. I was standing in the middle of my room, my top off as I reached for the button on my jeans, blond hair cascading down my bare back.

Changing. I’d been changing. The photo was a screenshot of a video. A five-minute video. Which meant this kept going.

My breaths came quicker, hiccuped half sobs tripping over each other. Another screenshot. Me. My face fully toward the camera, green eyes utterly unaware as I stripped down. Naked. Every part of me on display. On the internet.

This wasn’t happening.

The alerts just kept pinging on my phone. Emails, texts, phone calls. Fraud alerts. Low balance warnings. Links to my new porn listings. All as the stereo and television blared in the background.

The tears came fast and hard, like acid tracking down my cheeks. And then a voice rang out. One I knew.

“Remember who’s in charge, Selly.”

My blood turned to ice as I searched for something—anything—to defend myself with. My hand landed on a stone bookend in the shape of a flower. I gripped it as I moved toward the voice.

Each step ratcheted up my heart rate, but as I moved into the kitchen, there was no one.

Then a chuckle sounded, deep and raspy, as the light onMoose’s camera and treat dispenser turned from blue to red—the color that meant it was engaged.

“You wanted to be a whore, Selly. I just made your dream a reality.”

Brendan.

I moved as fast as possible, ripping the cord out of the electrical socket and smashing the camera against the wall. But it was too late. I knew it.

Because those shots from my bedroom meant there were other cameras. They could be everywhere. He could be watching me even now.

I needed to run, to get out, but I couldn’t get my feet to move.

The corners of my vision darkened, and my fingers prickled. And then the darkness took me under.

1

THEA

TWO YEARS LATER

The first tendrilsof sunlight streamed through my kitchen window as a series of almost barking meows sounded below me.

I sent Moose a warning look. “I’m going as fast as I can.”

It wasn’t good enough. He leapt onto the counter—a feat, considering he now bordered on twenty pounds of beefy glory. He hauled off and smacked my arm with a paw the moment he reached me.

My eyes narrowed on him. “Seriously?”

He simply licked his paw and began washing his face.

“Don’t think I believe that innocent act for one second,” I huffed, mixing his wet food with some dry. When I was done, I carried the plate into his corner of the living room, where I had a place mat and a cat tree. His bell jingled as he hurried to follow.

I bent and lowered the bowl. Moose was on it in a flash, batting my hand out of the way like the vicious little monster he was—but an adorable monster.

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