Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
An hour later I was yawning, and Tessa took it as a cue to get everyone out. Dario and Mr. Ferrano were still somewhere else in the house. Tessa told them I needed my rest and that it was after midnight. Sarah went off to find the guys.
A few minutes later they came back in and Mr. Ferrano hugged each girl, including Sarah and then stood in front of my spot on a kitchen chair and held his arms open. It was weird and uncomfortable, but I stood and let him embrace me. I’m sure I looked shell-shocked.
Tessa hugged me and told me that in a few weeks they were having a baby shower for Luc and that she’d get me the details. Lisa hugged me and told me that dinner is always at their house on Sundays and that we’re expected every week. Luc hugged me and told me it was nice to meet me and said she’d get my digits from Tommy and text me about getting together in a few days after I’m rested. They all marched out of the place in single file and that left me, Sarah, and Dario in the kitchen.
I headed to the doorway. “I think I’m going to head to bed,” I said and Dario nodded at me.
“I’ll be close by if you need anything.”
“Thank you,” I said, then added, “Goodnight, Sarah.”
She smiled at me. “Sleep well, Chiquita. Welcome home.”
I’m sure I frowned at her in response. Home?
I fell asleep on the bed without even changing my clothes, but only slept an hour or two and then I was wide awake. I got a drink of whiskey from the bar, thinking it might settle my nerves and make me sleepy, but it did just what it did last time – gross me out and burn my throat.
I washed up for bed and changed into a pair of pajamas, then I stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, pondering my situation, the recent course of events, my life in general. When I finally closed my eyes again, I knew one thing for sure, I was a survivor and determined to survive all of this.
I was kidnapped and men got shot at and died. I didn’t know if I’d ever get out of that situation. Hah. My kidnapper saved me from other kidnappers. But he got me out and he took care of me that night the way I could only imagine in my wildest fantasies that a knight in shining armor would. I decided that if I’m stuck here paying a debt for someone else and if I have no choice in the matter, I’m at least going to try to find a way to be happy.
Last night I didn’t know if I was going to make it out of that basement in Mexico, and then I didn’t know what’d happen to me when that driver told me I’d been sold, but now I was back near home, safe and warm, and I’d seen potential in Tommy Ferrano. I decided that I didn’t want to just let life flutter away because I’m a victim of a parent’s mistake.
Tommy Ferrano has issues, it’s obvious. He’s dominating and angry and he can be cruel. He wasn’t nice to me the first week. He played some seriously messed up head games and he violated me repeatedly. He’s about to be promoted to be the head of a crime family – the same crime family that threatened my father and that took me prisoner.
But he’s also shown that he has potential. I like his family and they seem close. I could see myself becoming good friends with the girls and Dario doesn’t scare me so much anymore. He’d been really nice to me today. Maybe I’m just a naïve nineteen-year-old girl, but Tommy seems to care about me and maybe I can nurture that potential so that with me he’s always the guy from the beach, the guy who rescued me. Maybe in time I can forgive him for what he’s done, overlook who he is. Maybe I can stay on his good side, make him always be more of the ice cream parlor guy when he’s with me.
Yeah, and maybe I’m an idiot. I don’t know how dark it’ll get. I don’t know what he’s doing down there. I only know that the threats he made in the car just before I was kidnapped scared me beyond any fear I’d ever had in my whole life. I fell back to sleep feeling very conflicted.
I jolted awake again before night was over, but this time it was because I’d had a horrible nightmare. I was back in the pink canopy bed and the man forcing me to give him the blowjob was Tommy. He’d been mean and horrible, manhandling me like that other guy did.