Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
I muffle against the duct tape questions I know will go unanswered. The men bring me inside, and I’m dragged through the opulent entryway toward the back of the house. I look for any family portraits or identifiers of who this house belongs to but find none.
I’m eventually brought to a bedroom with several people already here, seemingly waiting for me. There’s a bed in the center with an array of doctors’ tools lined up on the nightstand. A man, who I presume is the doctor, wearing gloves and a surgical mask, watches me as the men drag me to the bed and tie me down.
My heart sinks when I see Malik for the first time, standing in the corner, watching with a stoic look on his face. He doesn’t seem to take any amusement in this, but there’s not a doubt in my mind that he gave this order. This was all his doing.
“What’s going on?” I scream against the duct tape. They don’t hear those words, but they understand what I’m asking.
“I’m here to witness your examination,” Malik says as he takes a few steps forward and gives a nod to the doctor to begin.
I have no idea what he’s talking about, and before any explanation is given, my skirt is cut off me, and I’m stripped naked from the waist down. My skin burns, and I try to close my legs and hide myself because I know something terrible is about to happen. All I can think about are all the true crime stories I’ve heard about the things that happened to women around men like this.
Malik nods, and two of the guards walk around the bed to grab my legs and hold them still while the doctor positions himself between them. He grabs some of the tools at his bedside, and I squeeze my eyes shut as he begins his exam.
I feel the heat of the tears streaming down my face, and I wish I could stop them. People like Malik get off on this fear, and I don’t want to give that to him, but I can’t control it.
The exam is quick, which I’m thankful for. The doctor moves away and looks at Malik, shaking his head subtly. Malik lets out a long sigh and stares at me with a disappointed, almost angry, look in his eyes.
“That is unfortunate for you,” Malik says as he walks out of the room, instructing the guards holding me to follow him out.
I’m left alone in the room, my hands tied to the bedpost. Never in my life have I been more afraid.
Chapter 23
Dawson
I hang up the phone and pinch my forehead to fight the budding migraine after talking to Oliver Tegan for the past hour, constantly apologizing about canceling on Wednesday. When I’m done, I take a look at the work schedule for Harper, just to check in on her.
Before the meeting, I sent her a few tasks to do because I noticed she’d practically caught up on everything already. Yes, she probably deserves a little bit of a break. But she’s not here right now, and this is how I can make sure everything is going smoothly back at the penthouse.
The tasks I assigned are unfinished, which is odd. Harper was already caught up before I gave those tasks, and they shouldn’t have taken any longer than forty-five minutes. I look at our text messages and see the message I sent letting her know about these tasks hasn’t been read yet.
My heart beats faster as I call her cell, hoping to hear her voice and set my mind at ease. It rings and rings, then it goes straight to her voicemail. I don’t leave a message and immediately call again. No answer.
“What the fuck?” I whisper under my breath as I stand up and call the penthouse. If she’s not answering her cell phone, maybe it died or fell in the toilet. I wouldn’t put dropping her phone in the toilet past Harper.
Once again, there’s no answer. Not even from Maggie, who always answers the phone at the penthouse.
I don’t spare a moment. I rush from the office to my limo downstairs. The driver is sitting in the front seat, reading a newspaper, startled by my sudden appearance.
“I need to go home,” I say, snapping my fingers to let him know this is urgent. He tosses the newspaper down on the passenger seat and immediately puts the car in drive, peeling out of the parking garage. “Listen, if you need to run somebody down, do it. I don’t have a lot of time here.”
“Yes, sir,” he says as he picks up the pace and slams his foot on the gas pedal. I’ll pay whatever speeding ticket I need to. I just have to make sure Harper is okay.