Page 13 of Trapped

This was it. Now or never.

Trembling, I reached for the door that led out. It opened, revealing a brilliant sky. I stepped outside and didn’t dare look back.

I was free.

FIVE

DELILAH

Two hours later, V parked the car at its final destination—an upscale hotel in the heart of Boston. V stood outside, talking to the valet.

I stayed rigid, my fingers clawing the seat. I kept second-guessing what I’d done. Imagining the hell storm of Dimitri’s fury when he realized I’d slipped from his grasp. He wouldn’t find me. Not for a long while, and once he did, it’d be too late. I’d already belong to another man.

One even more powerful than Dimitri.

The door yawned, and V’s boyish face poked through. “You coming?”

I unbuckled the seatbelt. I grabbed his hand as he helped me exit the car. People stared as I gathered my skirts and headed into the hotel, following V. No doubt, we looked weird together. Him in his jean jacket, black commando boots, and pants. Me in my wedding dress.

The fabric itched as we rode the elevator up. I couldn’t wait to rip it off my body. Despite my relief, the panicky feeling returnedas the bell dinged. The man waiting for me in room 1514 scared me a lot less than my ex-fiancé, but I’d still traded one devil for another.

The elevator doors opened, and V led me down a carpeted hallway. My heart pounded with each step. No turning back now.

We halted in front of a door, and V knocked twice before stepping aside. It opened, revealing a man in a suit.

“Everything work out okay?” Santino asked V, who nodded. “You weren’t seen?”

“Nope.”

Santino handed an envelope to V. “There’s a bonus inside.”

V opened it, flipping through the bills. “I appreciate that.”

Santino jerked his head down the hall. “Now get lost.”

Tucking the envelope in his pocket, V strode down the hallway. Santino’s dark eyes locked onto mine. A smile crept across his face, dragging ice down my spine.

“Come in.”

I stepped inside, the room’s opulent décor barely registering as I focused on him. Santino closed the door behind us, sliding the button over Do Not Disturb before turning around. His eyes blazed as they traveled up the dress to the bodice and my boobs on display from the plunging neckline. This dress hadn’t been my first choice, not that anything about the wedding had been up to me.

Santino’s gaze lingered on my chest.

I didn’t call him out on it. He could do whatever he wanted. The man I’d left behind terrified me, but this one surprisingly didn’t. And yet, my abdomen tensed when he approached me.

He stopped inches away. “It’s been a long month for you, hasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“It was an agonizing wait for me, too.”

Of course, he’d been looking forward to it. He got free pussy in exchange for whisking me out of Providence. For weeks, I’d dreaded this moment.

At least he’d dressed up for the occasion—fitted suit, leather shoes, cream button-up shirt. He’d styled his hair with the perfect amount of pomade that didn’t look crunchy. The man knew how to dress. He smelled nice, too. Notes of his cologne swirled in my nose—citrus and sea salt.

Santino’s thick brows furrowed. “What’s that on your arm?”

I didn’t have to look. “Bruises.”

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