Time to go before the police arrived.
“Your plane leaves in five hours. I suggest you make the best of the situation and enjoy yourself.”
Surprising him, she began laughing. “Enjoy myself? How the hell am I supposed to enjoy myself while my stepmother’s life is being threatened?”
His dick swelled at the thought of how Danielle would spend her days and nights. He couldn’t wait until he’d force her to bargain for her life by demonstrating her newly acquired skills on him.
He motioned to the papers in her hands. “Your application has been approved. Congratulations, you are Benediction’s newest sex slave trainee.”
Just as he’d expected, all humor disappeared from her face.
His watch beeped. “When the police arrive in one minute, you’ll tell them you triggered the alarm accidentally. Remember, we’ll be watching you. The clock is ticking, Danielle. You have a week to get me what I want.”
Thirty seconds later, he disappeared into the quiet night, praying Danielle would get the job done.
For all their sakes.
Chapter Two
IN ALL THE years Danielle Walker had waited to officially meet Cole DeMarco, she’d never imagined standing in front of his home, half-naked under a mink coat in the middle of a Michigan blizzard. Fat snowflakes fell from the dark gray sky and swirled around her as though she’d shaken up one of those snow globes she’d collected as a child.
If she were smart, she’d take it as a sign to get the hell out of there and return to sunny Arizona, where she could wear full-size panties underneath her skirt. Despite the kidnapper’s threats, she should’ve gone to the FBI.
But smart wouldn’t get her the answers she needed to lay the past to rest.
Smart wouldn’t save her stepmother, Tasha. Although Danielle and she hadn’t always been close, she was grateful to her for the companionship she’d given her father and admired the numerous hours Tasha spent fundraising for charity. She and her son, Roman, were the only family Danielle had left, and she’d do anything to keep them safe.
Thank goodness Roman was currently in Russia on business. As her best friend, he’d know the minute he saw Danielle’s face that there was something wrong. The warning that she not tell anyone about the kidnapping remained in the forefront of her mind.
As the taxi that brought her here drove away, she licked the melted snow off her lips and climbed the steps of the porch to the sprawling stone mansion known to insiders as the sex club, Benediction.
A nervous bubble tickled her belly. If anyone back home heard that she was about to become a sex slave for a billionaire recluse, they’d never believe it.
She could hardly believe it.
Yet here she was—in her Prada heels and little else—about to allow the man who’d destroyed her family to see her naked. To command her as though she were a toy existing only for his pleasure and use her body to slake his deviant lusts.
Tasha had told her all about the man who’d helped send her father to prison on charges of embezzlement and fraud. She’d warned her to stay as far away from him as she could. And despite Danielle’s curiosity about the handsome man she’d spied on in her youth, she’d listened.
The wind whistled and whipped snow at her back. She had just lifted her fist to knock on the solid walnut door when it opened, and the air inside blasted her with its inviting warmth. A gorgeous blond-haired man no more than thirty years old smiled at her in greeting.
He wore black slacks, a black tie, and a silver vest over a white dress shirt, a variation on the conservative butler uniform. But oddly, his feet were bare.
She’d grown up in a mansion. All her childhood friends were raised in mansions. She’d seen her share of butlers throughout her lifetime. Not a single one looked like him.
Her gaze traveled up his body and stopped on the impressive bulge.
His laughter broke her out of her trance. She snapped up her head, embarrassment heating her cheeks.
Smoothing her hands over the soft fur of her coat, she stepped inside the entrance and glanced around the room, noting the hanging crystal chandelier and built-in desk with a coatroom behind it. If she hadn’t known this was a house, she’d think she’d walked into a five-star restaurant.
“Welcome to Benediction, Danielle. I’m Adrian.” He swiped his hand over his erection. “And yes, I’m proud to say it’s all mine. Master Cole has decided to torture me today with a cock ring . . . ” His gaze flicked up to a discreet video camera in the corner of the entryway. “Which I accept with most humble gratitude.” He mumbled a litany of profanity under his breath. “He’s waiting for you in his office. May I take your coat?”