Page 75 of Taken As Collateral

Stunned, I don’t know what to say at first. Realizing she speaks English, I go to her. “Can you help me?”

“Yes?” she returns.

“Do you—is there a phone I can use?” I try first.

“Ah. You ask Vladimir.”

“I can’t find him,” I say. “Do you have a cellphone?”

She points toward the doors. “He coming.”

I frown, then lower my voice. “Can you call the po—”

The breakfast lady interrupts and says something to her colleague in a language foreign to me. Okay, all languages beyond English are foreign to me except a little bit of French I took in high school.

The ladies turn to me, smile, and start hustling away.

“Wait!” I say, following them to the door. “I need to call 9-1-1. The police. I—”

The doors open, and Vladimir walks in.

“Here,” he grumbles, shoving a shopping bag at me.

The ladies are gone. I bite my lower lip. Maybe I can find the lady who brought the flowers later.

With a sigh, I look in the shopping bag. I see a cotton tee and a pair of sweats. I guess if I’m going to die, I might as well be in comfortable clothes.

“When will Rafe be back?” I ask Vladimir as he leaves.

“Maybe two hours, maybe longer,” he responds before closing the door behind him.

Brightened by the prospect that it might be relatively soon, I change into the new clothes and have some breakfast. I think through my plan. If I can get Rafe alone, there’s a chance he’ll be open to having sex. For some reason, he’s into me, even though he has more voluptuous women like Aiko and Jade at his disposal. Thinking back, I detected his interest in the first moment our gazes met. I just didn’t realize it at first. Not consciously.

Wait...if I’m trying to entice the man into having sex so that he’ll be more receptive to my pitch, a t-shirt and sweats probably isn’t the most inviting outfit. I go through the clothes from the first day and find a lace mini skirt and spaghetti-strap cami, which I pair with heeled platform slides.

From one of the balconies on the second floor, I can see if a car is coming up the long driveway. After waiting there for an hour, I finally see a Rolls Royce SUV driving up. I see Rafe get out of the car.

As I go inside the house, I review the different things I can say to him, like testing out pick-up lines. Should I ask him to go for a swim with me? Say that I need to talk to him in private? Start by thanking him for the flowers?

Chung and the bald guy walk behind Rafe as I meet them in the hallway.

“Priscilla,” Rafe greets me with a smile, looking sexy in a button-up shirt of dark purple with the sleeves rolled up. He looks me over. “You didn’t like the shirt and sweatpants?”

Shoot. How do I explain that one?

“I, um, I’m in a different mood this morning,” I fumble. “Like it’s going to be a special day. Maybe because of the roses, which are absolutely beautiful.”

He seems pleased. “Itisa special day. I heard from Alessandro. He says he has the Morelli.”

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