Page 36 of Enslaved

“What did you hear?” I cringed, scurrying down the metal stairs to the crew area of the yacht.

“Not a damn thing, other than Andre got canned, and Christos never returned last night. Spill.”

I shrugged, “Nothing. It was just a hookup.”

“Wait. Hold up.” She grabbed my arm, halting me. Her blue eyes stared incredulously at me. “You? Miss Prim and proper had a hot hookup?”

“Something like that.” I pulled my arm free, sprinted through the maze of narrow halls until I reached my tiny cell.

I had my clothes, laptop, and toiletries thrown into my backpack in five minutes. My staff radio that sat in the charger by the bunk bed was on. Men spoke in rapid Greek, my name the only word I clearly understood.

My time was up. El Diablo was free and, on his way to recapture me. I bolted from my room, entering Andre’s cabin without knocking. It was bare as if he was never even there. The only trace was a sticky note on the cheap mirror with my name on it that read, ‘Stay in touch California. 011-19-236-1234, Andre.’

I tucked the note into my bra and hid behind the door.

“Where is she? I saw her come back in the launch fifteen minutes ago.”

“I sent her up to the sun deck to check on Alex.” I heard Sara reply. The breath I was holding came out in a whoosh.

“What the hell did you do?”

“Help me,” I whispered.

“He’ll kill us both if I do. No one crossesEl Diablo.”

“I didn’t cross him. I slept with him.”

“What?” Bree screeched, peeking over Sara’s shoulder.

“I need help. Please—I can’t face him. I-I…need to escape. The things he did to me…what he still wants to do to me…I tied him up.”

“Shh. It’s okay. Follow me.” Flanked by the two women, I went with my head down as Sara led me through the maze of halls to the underbelly of the boat.

“I have a supplier coming in five minutes to replenish the kitchen for the chef.” She undoes a few latches, popping open a hatch door in the side of the hull.

“Stand back.” I hid in the shadows, fidgeting, chewing my nails down while watching the small supply boat come closer.

“Thank you,” I whispered feeling regretful that I never gave the two of them more of a chance to be friends.

“It’s girl-code, sweetie. We’ve got you. Just don’t forget to invite us to the wedding.”

My eyes cut to Bree’s. “More like a funeral. Mine. If he ever finds me.”

“What did you do?”

“We screwed like rabid animals, both of us high on Ecstasy. Then I slipped handcuffs and rope on his wrists, securing him with a slipknot to the bedposts while I took four thousand euros and my dignity back from him.”

“Holy shit.”

“Exactly.”

“Sara! She’s not here!” More rapid Greek followed on the radio clipped to her belt.

“Shit. I need to head up and cover for you. Bree—stay here and see the supplies onboard. Slip her out when he unloads. And Jessie—act normal. Tell the man you need to pick up “woman things” or something. Play it cool. Don’t act guilty. Christos has eyes and ears everywhere. Dress like a tourist, blend in. And when you can—get the hell out of Capri.”

I pretended everything was fine while Bree chatted with the old Italian man who pulled his small boat up against the yacht. I tied off his bow line just inside the opened gangplank, handed bag after bag of supplies to Bree then asked in halting Italian for a lift back to shore. He agreed without even thinking twice.

The time to make my escape had come and just in time—as the sound of helicopter blades made my stomach drop to the bottom of the sea.

I pushed my long hair up under my baseball cap. Bent down to untie the line and hastily joined the old man at the wheel under a sunshade. I was invisible from above. But felt his seeking eyes overhead as he guided the chopper onto his yacht.

He knew I had gone aboard. But I slipped from his grasp twice in the same morning. Take thatEl Diablo, I thought with a bitter laugh. But my womb was sore from the beating his dick gave it. His seed still dripped from my body. The smell of him clung to my skin; my clit was still swollen, peeking through my folds and every time I moved my legs the lace of my panties made it tingle.

He had me.

He was in my head, imprinted on my body; despite the distance between myself and the Oasis. He was here with me. In that moment—I understood very clearly what he had meant when he told me that he’d be so deep inside me, I’d never find a way to get him out.

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