Page 114 of Secrets, Lies and Love

Meanwhile, I try to call Cage’s phone, but it goes straight to voicemail.

I call the penthouse to see if she got there. Nobody answers.

I try the reception, but the doorman guarantees that Cecily didn’t go up.

When my cousin comes back to us, I say, “Should we call the police?”

“Not yet. I’m trying to track him down.”

I remember something. “Her watch.”

“What?” my cousin asks.

“Cecily wanted to stay healthy during her pregnancy. I gave her one of your smartwatches. The latest model your company released, Odin.”

“Excellent. We’ll find her.”

“What do you think happened?” Ares asks.

“I don’t know yet, but until Cecily is found, we should treat this as kidnapping.”

Cecily

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

“Finally, Sleeping Beauty!”I hear a man’s voice say in the distance, and I struggle to open my eyes.

In my sleepy mind, I remember a similar situation, when I woke up in a hospital.

I open my eyes, but it’s not a nurse with me. It’s Cage.

Scared, I look around, and when I see the dark walls of what looks like a shack, I try to get up.

“Don’t do that, or you’ll get sick. We need to think about that little baby inside your belly.” Despite his words, there is not a hint of concern on his face. He sounds scornful. “Cecily, Cecily, you’ve gotten me into trouble.”

“Where are we?”

“Beautiful, that is the least important question of all but rather whether you will bewithme oragainstme.”

My heart accelerates. The man’s eyes look like those of a madman, but instinct tells me to stay calm. “Why would I be against you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re in love with the Greek? In fact, please satisfy my curiosity: what the hell does that manhave, apart from thestatusof a billionaire, obviously, that he can make women fall in love with him as quickly as flies are caught in cobwebs?”

I listen to him in a trance, as if I were in the middle of a nightmare, trying to put the pieces together, and I quickly understand that this man who, for me, was a harmless executive at Kostanidis Bank, is actually a madman who’s brought me to an unknown place.

I’m lying on what appears to be a bed, with a blanket over my body.

While he speaks, I discreetly look around the room, trying to find a way out, to understand what is happening. I’m a fan of investigative TV shows. In fact, I’m addicted to them, and I try to remember how victims, who were kidnapped and survived, acted.

My phone, I think, only to realize two seconds later that I forgot it in Dionysus’s office.

The memory of him, of our last conversation, opens a hole in my chest, but I don’t allow myself to sink into despair. It’s not about the two of us anymore; it’s about protecting the baby I’m carrying. I need to get out of here.

“Even Sue,” he continues, “with all her experience, couldn’t resist. In the end, she gave in, that bitch.”

“Sue? Are you talking about Dionysus’s ex-wife?”

“Ah, Cecily, my delicious redhead, don’t underestimate me. You know perfectly well who Sue is. I had a hard time understanding whoyouwere. You appeared suddenly, out of nowhere and then, in the blink of an eye, you were in the Kostanidis family, not only as the brat’s nanny, but as the future wife of the Greek tycoon and with an heir on the way. Much smarter than that dead bitch.”

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