Chapter 39: Chapter: 39

ANDREA

Did I think I would do this job and get out without any repercussions? Yes, yes, I did. I naively thought that if, and when Nicklaus found out, I would have the time to at least get out of town.

Now that we have established how stupid I was to believe that I could actually come into the life of the coldest tycoon in New York, mess it up, and then walk away free.

I can't blame anyone but myself; I would have fallen back on the bed and cried myself to exhaustion. But I have more pressing matters, like the fact that I needed to bathe asap.

I took a hot shower, regretfully watching the big bathtub I had hoped to soak in, which I can't now not with how my nerves are skyrocketing, and I hate the bathtub after sitting inside it for two days. I don't see it as something good and luxurious, but a prison I had been confined in.

When I came out of the bathroom, there was breakfast on the table in the corner and a paper with a bold 'DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT LEAVING' handwritten on it.

I quickly made a cup of coffee and gulped it down to warm up my stomach. It was hard to control the urge to attack the scrumptious food, like I really wanted to. I promise myself to eat slowly. I don't want to throw up or for my stomach to cramp, so after I finish the coffee.

I found sweatpants and button-down shirts laid out on Nick's bed. I was sure it was meant for me. I got dressed, grateful I didn't have to wear the clothes he bought for me on our trip to Australia.

Though I hated his clothes equally, the clothes were too big for my small frame, but it's either them or stay naked.

I would rather not be more vulnerable than I already am, not that any clothes could protect me from him or his advances, not to mention, Nick only needs to touch me, and I'm melted butter.

Even now that I know what he's capable of, which goes to show how stupid my body is, or is it because my body was starved of sexual satisfaction?

I shake that thought from my brain. I don't care what my body wants; I have to get away as soon as I get the chance. I sit down and force myself to eat the chicken sandwich and a glass of orange juice, and make another cup of coffee.

Even though I was now satisfied, my belly full, anxiety and trepidation made my stomach cramp badly. But I refused to expel even a morsel I just ate. I needed the energy food would give me. I don't know what's in store for me in my future.

After my belated breakfast, I stayed inside Nick's room for almost an hour. Before I gave up and decided to check where he's at and what he intends to do with me. The penthouse was empty. I was both elated and suspicious that I was left alone.

Just in case, I tried the door that would lead me to the elevator that would take me to the ground floor and out of this fucking building. I only took a step when I saw the two security guards earlier this morning—the man with the mohawk and the tall blond woman.

They just stared at me without a word. But I got the message I wasn't going anywhere, not on their watch. I nodded and then went back inside. Yep, I'm a prisoner now. I sat down in the sitting room for a while, fidgeting and tapping my foot on the floor, then decided I couldn't take it anymore.

Sitting and waiting. Not knowing is getting on my nerves. I kept imagining the worst, me in orange prison overalls. I banished that horrible thought from my head quickly, then I went downstairs to take a tour of the penthouse.

I started with the open-plan, up-to-date kitchen, including all kitchen appliances. Double-door refrigerator, granite countertops, and a restaurant-size oven. The dining table we had sat in days ago when I'd eaten dinner with Nick.

Next came the gym. There's every machine for exercise purposes, treadmills, lifting weights, punching bags, etc., I immediately got out of there. I'm averse to exercise.

Then the spare bedroom or guest room, with its en-suite bathroom, which was smaller than the one in Nick's bedroom but lavish, with a shower enclosure and a bathtub. It was the room I'd slept in when we came back from Australia.

Then I saw the door I'd assumed was his office. Nick had entered it the night before when he had to answer his phone. The door was locked, not surprisingly, which proves it's really his office.

The penthouse is really big, with six rooms, including the library upstairs, close to the master bedroom, and another door to the right. Being nosy, I tried to open the door, only to find it was locked. I quickly lost interest.

I like the guest bedroom. I decided that if I was going to be forced to stay here, I could stay inside, except for the sitting room. I hate the master bedroom. It reminds me of my night with Nick before everything went to hell.

I climb the bed and lie down, thinking of how I'd ended up here and how my parents would feel about this if they were alive. One thing I know is that if they were alive, I wouldn't have found myself in this situation. The stressful events of the day finally caught up to me.

I fell asleep with so many frightening thoughts in my head. I ended up having a terrible nightmare and was sent to jail. I wake up with a start, sweating and still shaking with fright.

“Good, you are awake.” I make an embarrassing squeaky sound. Nick was standing so tall, I had to crane my neck up and up into his dark, emotionless eyes.

“Get dressed, we have somewhere to go.” Nick threw some clothes at me and got out. I caught a pair of denim trousers and a cashmere turtleneck sweater, though it was spring, the evenings were a little chilly.

I sluggishly remove his clothes that I'd borrowed and put the new clothes he'd brought and the sneakers I'd seen on the floor. By the time I finished dressing, my eyes were wide open.

I walked into the sitting room, where Nick was typing and talking on the phone. He was wearing a black suit with a dark blue button-down shirt, and his hair was styled the way he normally does.

He looked immaculate, dark like a fallen angel, and so handsome my heart skipped a beat. When he finally noticed me, he headed to the door without saying a word to me.

I had no choice but to follow, so I did. Logan followed behind me. We rode the elevator down to the basement and got into the SUV.

Logan sits in the front with Nick's chauffeur, while I take the back seat, where Nick is busy listening to someone on the phone. I was extremely curious. And suspicious, my brain is telling me whoever he's talking to, they are probably discussing me.

I kept asking myself questions that only frightened me more. Questions like, " Where are we going? Was it now? Is Nick going to kill? Is that why he waited until nighttime to get me out of his penthouse? But then he could have also just killed me and cleaned up afterwards; nobody would have found me.

Nick could do that and get away with it. I mean, he tortured me for two days, starved me. It's understandable that I'm paranoid and frightened.

Forty-five minutes or so later, we walked into an eighteenth-storey building. We took the elevator to the 14th floor and walked into an open office with people working in half a dozen small cubicles.

We kept walking down a narrow hallway with doors that had different Name tags attached. Nick was still talking over the phone, while he walked confidently as if he'd walked this hallway a hundred times before.

Logan was literally glued to me; the guy was behind me, guarding my back. I don't know if he thought I was going to bolt at any moment and run away. But the thing is, where would I go? Even if I did run, I wouldn't get far.

Nick has money and ways to find me wherever I might go. So I know it's completely futile to run. But I was terrified for my life. What co uld be the reason he had to drag me to this place? wherever this is!