Page 1 of Faith
1
Nina Rose satin the chair she was assigned to and glared at the sleeping bitch across the room. Gwendolyn Lennox was evil. She was mean and dangerous and not worthy of the air she breathed.
Nina imagined what it would feel like the plunge a knife into the heart of the heartless bitch who took her in twelve years ago and never let her leave. If Nina had known what she was running toward all those years ago, she never would have left home.
She stood and walked across the room. Gwendolyn almost looked human as she slept. Her blonde hair stretched over the pillows. Her mouth opened slightly. Her pink lips parted with each breath she took.
She would never stop hurting people. Nina touched the black eye Gwendolyn gave her just a few hours earlier. When she decided Nina’s suggestion to turn herself in was unacceptable.
Nina was going to die in Gwendolyn’s house, like so many other women. Women Gwendolyn lied about and told Nina were going to live better lives. Women Gwendolyn sold into slavery and traded for favors. Women who would never be seen again because of the monster that Gwendolyn was.
Nina shook her head, fighting tears. She was so stupid. She believed all the lies Gwendolyn told her. Thought Gwendolyn was looking out for her like the sister she claimed to think of Nina as. But Gwendolyn just wanted a pet. Someone to complain to when she was in a mood and a punching bag when she was angry.
It was the last time Nina was going to be anyone’s punching bag. And if there was a weapon in the room, it would be the last time Gwendolyn used anyone for a punching bag.
Instead, it was the night Nina finally decided to reclaim her life.
She was getting the hell out of there.
She walked to the door that led to the hallway. They weren’t in Gwendolyn’s favorite house since the police and FBI raided it, but Nina had been with Gwendolyn long enough to know all the houses. All the routines and habits and ways out.
Nina sucked in a breath and erased all the thoughts in her mind. The guards Gwendolyn hired were as ruthless as she was, and they could sniff out a lie in a second. If they didn’t believe Nina’s story, they’d wake Gwendolyn up and Nina would be dead.
Her life depended on her being able to convince them she was running an errand for Gwendolyn. It wasn’t the first time, so Nina hoped it worked. It had to.
She opened the door quietly, spotting Fernando immediately. He gazed past Nina to the bedroom, nodding when he saw Gwendolyn sleeping.
Nina closed the door as quietly as she’d opened it and turned to Fernando. “Is there a driver who can take me on an errand?”
Fernando glared at her. “What errand?”
Nina pointed to her eye and grimaced. “I upset her. I was going to get her some of those candies she likes so much.”
Fernando glared harder. “You know better than to challenge her.”
Nina nodded, letting her tears well up. It would sell the lie. “I know. And I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I wanted to protect her.”
“What did you do?”
“I said she should think about turning herself in. Blaming Damon and Trevor and Benjamin. Tell the police she didn’t know what they were doing with her company money.”
Fernando’s small smile was one of approval instead of dismissal. “Not a bad idea, but she’d never do it. She didn’t get to where she is to play the dumb blonde.”
Nina swallowed roughly, her throat sore from Gwendolyn choking her. “I know. I shouldn’t have suggested it. I was worried. We were in the house when they came in. She could have been caught.”
Fernando shook his head, the dark stringy ponytail he wore flopping over his shoulder. “She’ll never be caught. We won’t let it happen.”
Nina nodded, hoping he thought it was in agreement.
“Let me see who’s available. You go to that convenience store in the city, right? Close to that F-BOMB place?”
Nina nodded. It was working.
Fernando called someone and told them to get the car ready. When they questioned him, he said, “If I have to come down there, you won’t be able to drive anything.”
Fernando hung up and nodded to Nina. “They’ll be ready.”
“Thanks, Fernando,” Nina said, pressing her lips into a smile. She walked away and hoped like hell she’d never see him again.
