Page 102 of Betrayed

We passed through a crowded dining room with half a dozen men playing cards and smoking cigarettes at the table. The thick, nasty smoke filled my lungs, causing me to cough.

They stopped playing to stare as I walked by. Several of them licked their lips as their eyes roamed up and down my body. One of them said, “I like a girl with meat on her bones. Gives me something to hold on to.”

I couldn’t have stopped my involuntary shiver if my life depended on it. The predatory look in his eyes was more than I could handle.

I prayed. Please hurry Andrew.

A voice cut through the din coming from the kitchen.

Daddy.

Chapter 47

Blake

My father’s laugh cut through my heart like a hot knife through butter. How could he be here with these guys, laughing?

I channeled strength I didn’t know I had while chanting, I will not cry, on a loop in my mind.

My father sat with his back to me, so I saw him before he saw me. One man leaned on the counter, but I didn’t give him the time of day.

“Welcome, Blake.” The guy sitting at the table tilted his head in my direction.

I glared holes in the back of my father’s head instead of answering.

He stood up and turned. “Princess,” he sounded far too cheerful as he reached for me.

“Don’t,” I said, holding my still bound wrists in front of me as I stepped back.

His face had a few bruises, like he’d gotten in a fistfight and lost. Did they do that to him?Maybe they’d forced him to be here and then lied to me about it. But I couldn’t convince myself—he looked relaxed, and he’d been laughing. No, they may have hit him, but he wasn’t a prisoner.

The driver stopped me from backing away more than a step.

“I know this looks bad, but it’s not what you think,” he said.

“So you didn’t betray me?” I lifted my hands and shook them in front of his face. His eyes stayed glued to the ties binding my wrists as he stammered out an answer.

“What? Betray you? No.” He was lying. The high pitch of his voice gave him away. “I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“But you did. You lied to me and you’re corrupt.” I poured my disappointment into every word.

"It’s not like that."

The smirk on the other guy's face eliminated the last shred of doubt I had.

My anger flared, replacing my fear and disappointment. “If you’re here against your will, why aren’t you tied up?” I lifted my hands in front of his face again.

“Can you untie her, please?” he asked.

“Not yet.” The guy at the table answered. He must be the man in charge.Good to know.

The man leaning against the counter laughed, sending shivers up my spine.

I turned towards him, focusing on his face for the first time. My eyes rounded as my breath caught in my throat—he was theguy I’d seen outside the coffee shop on the Friday of my father’s dinner. The guy I’d convinced myself wasn’t staring at me.

When I’d mentioned the situation to AJ, and told him how creeped out I’d felt, he told me to always trust my gut instinct in situations like that. Neither of us could have known how right he was.

“Can I have a moment alone with my daughter?” he asked.

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