“Damn, baby …”

Not wanting Paul to pick up on my worry, I sashayed my way over to him adding a little more sway into my hips than normal, and gave him a peck on the lips, “It’s only a date, sexy. I promise I’ll be home as soon as I can. And don’t worry, I’ll be thinking of you the entire time.” I gave him a wink. “Love you,” I sang before I turned to walk away.

He grabbed my wrist, twirled me back around and grabbed my face with both hands, kissing the ever loving daylight out of me. In typical Paul fashion, he kept our foreheads connected when he pulled back from the kiss. “I love you too, gorgeous. Please be careful.”

“I will.” I smiled at him and quickly turned to leave.

The moment I got in my car, I let out a deep, long sigh. I was scared shitless.

I pulled up to the Wynn hotel. I couldn’t believe I was doing this again. This wasn’t like my typical date with S&R. This was going into a hotel room knowing I would have to turn this client down for sex. I had to do this, though. My job depended on it. I’d decided to leave my gun at home. Even though this was a date with someone that was on Martinez payroll, I didn’t want to be patted down and have them find my weapon and all hell break loose and them question me why I needed to have a gun for a date. Of course I could say it was for protection—because it was—but this was my first date for them and I needed to build Jasmine’s and Martinez’s trust. I needed to get in good and find out what was going on, build my case and call in my team.

After my internal pep talk, I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and waited for the valet to open the car door. Due to the detailed instructions I’d received in the fake email address I’d used for Jasmine, I knew exactly where I had to go to meet my john.

Go to the desk and give your name. There will be a key waiting for you. Pour yourself a drink when you get to the room. Don’t be late.

I did as the email instructed and received a key for room 2316. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button for the elevator and waited. My palms were clammy as I held my clutch purse and my feet were already aching in my sky-high heels. My seventeenth birthday flashed in my head, but I shook the memories off. I was older now—more experienced. This was different. This was by choice …

It was my job.

I walked in and pressed the button to the twenty-third floor. Giving myself one last once over, I made sure my yellow halter top dress was adjusted just right, my dark brown hair had enough volume and added one last coat of red lipstick.

The elevator door dinged, letting me know I had reached my floor. I followed the signs to the room number, doing my best not to trip over my own feet in the three and half inch stilettos I chose to wear. I slid the key in the door and let myself in. The wine was sitting in an ice bucket with a single glass next to it. I hadn’t drunk any since the night of my birthday, not wanting to bring back the memory.

I walked further in, trying to shake off my nerves. The suite was larger than your typical hotel room—almost like a two bedroom apartment. I walked toward the living room to set my purse down on the table where the wine chilled, passing a private massage room, a half bath, and a kitchenette.

I wanted to get the date started, so I set my purse down a little harder than intended to give my john a heads up I was there and poured myself a small glass of the white wine. I was terrified, but I needed to keep a clear head to get through the night.

Marco’s voice from seventeen years ago rang in my ears as I poured the wine. “You want to hold it by the stem so the wine doesn’t heat up by your body heat.”

When I lifted the wine glass to my lips, I saw someone come into the room out of the corner of my eye, then I felt him stop behind me before I could turn around. He grabbed my arms with a little more force than what I was expecting and caused the glass to crash to the tiled floor.

He leaned down so his lips were against the shell of my ear, “Don’t fucking move.”

His voice was as cold as ice and I stopped breathing as fear instantly rose from the pit of my stomach. I could feel every finger of his hands digging into my skin and I knew it was going to leave bruises. This was not right; this was not what I signed up for and shit was about to go downhill—fast.

Still holding me from behind, he started walking us out of the room, the glass crunching beneath our shoes.

“What abou—”

He gave me a sharp yank back, causing me to slightly trip and land against him. It was like hitting a brick wall and instantly sent a pain down my spine.

“Quiet. I didn’t give you permission to talk. You will only speak when I say you can. Now be a good little slut and do as you’re told.”

He threw me against the wall face first, my arms bracing the impact. Grinding his hips into my backside, giving me a glimpse of what the night was going to bring, he released me from his death grip and gave me a shove that sent me in the direction of the love seat faster than I anticipated, causing me to trip. I landed on my knees, catching the edge of the coffee table with my hand.

Fuck!

My body was sent into instant panic mode, I was terrified. This was not how the night was supposed to go down. I knew the shit Martinez’s girls were into, but this went beyond my comfort zone. I was expecting to offer companionship for the night, and the possibility of him bringing up negotiations for sex but turning him down.

What the fuck was I going to do now? How in the hell was I going to get myself out of this?

I was finally able to find my footing and stood, facing the couch. I didn’t dare turn to face him. My legs felt like Jell-O and I had to lean up against the plush seat cushion for support.

“Sit,” he ordered.

Like a deer in the headlights of an eighteen wheeler, I couldn’t move. My feet felt as if they were stuck in cement pillars.

“Did you hear what I just said, bitch? Sit!” The boom in his voice when he gave the last command was like a gunshot going off in my head and I did the first thing that I could think of—I ran.

When I got to the door, I twisted the handle and yanked. It budged only a crack before a large hand slammed it shut. The other hand twisted into the back of my hair and jerked me back.

“You stupid slut! Lucky for you, I like it when they fight.” He wrapped his free arm around my middle and started dragging me down a hall to what I assumed was the bedroom.

I kicked. I screamed. I tried to break free. It was no use.

He threw me onto the bed, straddled my hips and grabbed both of my arms and held them above my head. That was the first time I saw what he looked like as I continued to scream, twisting and turning, trying with everything in me to wiggle out from under him. He looked nothing like what I’d thought he would. He had the most piercing blue eyes I’d ever seen, perfect teeth when he would give me his evil smile, and even though we’d fought a little, his hair was still perfect on his head. This man could have been any woman’s boyfriend. Instead, he was committing a crime.

Still holding both of my wrists with one hand, he brought the other down and squeezed my cheeks. “Scream all you want, slut. It’s only gonna fucking turn me on that much more.”

He turned my head to the side and licked me from my collarbone to my earlobe. Bile rose up my throat and the tears started flowing. A sob broke free when he started to pump his hips. Removing his hand from my face, he grabbed the front of my yellow dress and yanked, causing the clasps from around my neck to break and giving him access to my breasts.

“Fuck, yeah. Just like I imagined. Fucking gorgeous.” He pulled my strapless bra down as well.