Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Cameras. Plural. And that was the easiest part. All I had to do was show up the same time as the team from the security company. Told them I was hired by your dad to install additional cameras as backup. No one even questioned when I added a few more.”
I gently massaged my temples. My head had already been pounding; now it was throbbing. And I was still a little woozy from whatever he’d used to knock me out. It wasn’t as bad as when I first woke up, though.
“Do you have a headache?” His voice almost sounded tender.
“Yes.”
“I’ll get you some Tylenol. I also have a gift for you.”
He took a few steps backward before turning to leave.
“I thought your name was Rich?”
Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder. “It is. Rich Bradford. Now…I’m going to need you to get undressed, so you can put on your gift.”
Panic instantly filled my entire body. Before I could think of anything to say, he shut and locked the door behind him.
Sliding down the wall, I buried my face in my hands and cried. “Please find me, Ryan. Please!”
The door opened seconds later, and Bradford or Rich or whoever the hell he was stepped inside with his hands full. There was a small table and two chairs on the other side of the room near the door. He put a glass of water and bottle of Tylenol on the table, followed by a gift box and a plate of food.
“I need to call Savannah. I have to let her know my mother’s fallen ill and I had to leave town—and that I won’t be back for at least a week.”
I wiped away the tear that rolled down my cheek. The last thing I wanted was for him to see me as weak.
“Come over here, Morgan.”
Knowing how unhinged this guy was, I decided to do as he said. I slowly made my way over to the table. I opened the unopened bottle of Tylenol and took two. The smell of the quiche on the plate made me both hungry and sick to my stomach.
“Open your gift.”
Swallowing hard, I reached for the white box. It took everything I had to keep my hands from shaking. When I took the lid off, I pulled tissue paper to the side and stared at the light blue lingerie. I jerked my head up to look at him.
“I picked it out for you. Stupid Savannah found it hidden in my closet and thought it was for her. She almost put it on, but I couldn’t have her tainting it. I lied and told her I was saving it for a special occasion. Then I had to distract her with sex.”
He looked up in thought and laughed. “I guess it wasn’t really a lie. I am saving it for something special. For the first time we make love.”
“No,” I said. “I am not doing that with you.”
His eyes filled with anger. “Yes, you are. I’ve waited three fucking years to have you. I would have had you that very first night if your goddamn friend hadn’t shown up. I could see it all over your face then—you wanted me.”
I shook my head. “Bradford, I—”
“Don’t call me that!” he shouted. “You call me Rich. That’s the name I want to hear from those pretty lips.” When he tried to touch my mouth, I stepped away.
Scowling, he tried to grab me and I cried out, “I’m pregnant!”
Bradford froze. “What?”
I pressed my hand to my stomach, and I prayed with all my heart that I could lie well enough for him to believe me. “I’m pregnant with Ryan’s baby.”
He pushed his hand through his hair, clutching at the strands, his face a mask of fury. “It’s because you were careless! You let him fuck you without a damn condom! What the hell were you thinking?!”
I stood perfectly still, afraid of what he might do.
“Fuck!” he shouted. “This ruins everything! Now I have to raise his goddamn child?!”
A small piece of me relaxed, knowing that he believed the lie. Now I had to hope he wouldn’t want to be with me if I was carrying another man’s child.
“Brad—Rich, if you let me go, I won’t tell anyone it was you who took me. You can slip away and no one will ever know.”
He gave me an incredulous look. “You think this changes things? I’m still gonna make you mine. Whether you’re pregnant or not.”
My eyes went wide, and nausea filled my chest yet again.
“But it changes my plans for the immediate future. I’ll need to rethink a few things.”
“I thought…” My voice trailed off. What could I say? This man was completely insane. A monster.
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you lying because you thought that would keep me from making love to you?”
“Do you really want to force me to have sex?” I countered. “You’d be raping me, Rich. Is that what you want?”