Page 69 of Indulgence
He crushed the end of the cigarette between his thumb and index finger before dropping it into the ashtray on the top of the garbage can. “Work. We have a new gallery opening.”
I instantly regretted giving him that much information because there was something about running into him here that didn’t feel so innocent. Something about the way his eyes sparkled that made me want to step back. “You work for Metro?”
Goose bumps danced across my neck and I forced myself to nod. “I do.”
His lips spread into a strange smirk. “I didn’t know you were involved in the art world. I’m also here for Bisset’s new collection. I’m in the market for a new piece of art.”
I tried to keep my smile tight, not too inviting because I didn’t want to spend any time near him tonight. But he was also a potential buyer, so I had to maintain my professionalism around him. “It’s going to be great.”
“Where’s Matteo? Is the family coming to see the big reveal?” he asked as he searched the space around me as though he were truly looking for Matt.
All my spidey scenes fired off warning shots, screaming at me to get away. I never told him Matteo’s name. He never spoke to Matteo.
Relax, Natalie, he has seen you two together. He’s heard you call out his name.
“He’ll be here later,” I lied, not caring if there was a reason for how and why he knew Matt’s name. It would be easy to say something came up if he asked again at the show. At the moment, all I cared about was getting inside my hotel.
“Well, see you later.” He shrugged as he turned and walked into the hotel as if he were staying there too. I waited until he disappeared around the corner before I went in. Something in my gut told me that man didn’t need to know I was staying here as well.
A feeling of dread stirred in my belly. Things felt . . . off. I wished Matteo were here. Remembering my phone in my hand, I pulled up Matt’s name and called as I walked to the elevator banks. His voice mail picked up, so I left a message just before I entered the elevator car. “Hey. I’m on my way back to my room then I’m heading for lunch before I have to get ready for the showing. Just wanted to call while I had a minute. See you tonight.”
It sounded stupid, but just hearing his voice helped wash away a bit of my unease. That was definitely a good sign. The paranoid part of me made sure to keep up my lie because I didn’t know where Gerard slunk off to.
The cloud of apprehension he cast over me followed me down the hall, but I reminded myself that my brain was on overload and I was probably just trying to find some new way of distracting myself from dealing with my issues.
I stopped outside my room and slipped the keycard from my pocket. As I slid it into the lock, my head was shoved forward, my face slammed hard into the door. Everything stopped for a moment as pain reverberated throughout my skull. A sharp sting burned across my forehead and an agonizing throb emanated in my cheek.
My bag and phone fell from my hand to the floor. I tried to focus so I could scream for help, but a hand that reeked of cigarettes covered my mouth. Gerard. I knew it deep down. Something warm trickled down my face. Blood—either from my forehead or nose, I wasn’t sure—mixed with the disgusting taste of the dirty skin pressed against my lips.
“Shh.”
My fears ratcheted up about a hundred notches. My heart hammered so hard in my chest I was terrified I’d have a heart attack. Gerard’s other hand reached down to turn the handle, and he forced me through the door to my room. The contents of my purse scattered across the floor as he kicked my bag in with us.
Tears trickled from my eyes thanks to smashing my nose, my forehead burned with agony, and a deep-seated fear rose up as the latch clicked shut behind me.
“Help!” I yelled as loud as I could the second he released his hand from my mouth. “Help!”
I ran to the side of the room as far from him as I could. He charged forward, and the sound of him backhanding me vibrated off the walls. The right side of my face pulsated, and I felt it start to swell, but I didn’t have a second to focus on it before Gerard yanked me to him and covered my mouth again. His other arm curled around my throat as he put me in a headlock. “I am here to help you,” he snarled as if I were an ungrateful hag. In the distance, I thought I heard my phone ringing.
His hold tightened around my neck, squeezing until I was barely hanging on to consciousness. He released my mouth. It wasn’t like I could yell as he choked me. My fingernails clawed at his arm, trying to get him to let go, but he wasn’t deterred. He stepped forward, pulling me with him.
Panic gripped me tight as he grabbed one of the thigh-highs hanging from the side of my suitcase and jammed it into my mouth. His dirty fingernails scraped the roof of my mouth in his haste to push the nylon between my lips, and then his palm was, once again, pressing over my lips. I retched and did my best not to vomit around the gag.
“We have a special connection, Natalie,” he whispered into my ear before he licked the side of my face.
Don’t throw up! Don’t throw up! If you throw up, you will choke on it and die!
Genuine fear for my life spread through my veins like wildfire. I couldn’t breathe through my nose, making me think he broke it when he shoved me into the door. His hold around my throat hadn’t loosened. I wasn’t sure if he was aware that he was strangling me, which was scariest of all. He was in some kind of state of delusion.
“I felt it that first night I watched you fall apart in front of me. He might have been the one inside you, but I was the one you sought out with your eyes as you climaxed. It was such a beautiful thing to watch, love.”
The way he used Matteo’s pet name terrified me. It meant he paid closer attention to us than I thought. Only, I had always been so engrossed in whatever Matteo was doing to my body that there was no way in hell I was ever connecting with him. He just happened to be there when it all exploded.
He let go of my neck and yanked me up by my hair. My scalp was on fire as he gripped a handful of it by the roots. He glared at me with hard eyes as his voice grew angrier. “But then you closed me off. You teased me.”
He leaned in and ran his nose down my cheek not the least bit deterred by the blood no-doubt now covering the side of my face thanks to the burning gash on my forehead. My body revolted in repulsion. “You allowed me in and then cut me off. He told me all his plans and painted an erotic picture that I wanted to see. Then he went and closed the door.”
His hot breath skated across my jaw and down my neck. He was starting to breathe a bit heavier. The idea that he was getting revved up for something big, something I definitely wasn’t going to like, sent terror barreling through me.
