Nurturing Britney (Surrender Book 7) by Becca Jameson (best books to read fiction .TXT) 📗

the SUV. He glances around and then yanks a young woman from the back seat.

I watch in horror as he drags her into the garage. The door goes back down. It all happens so fast that even I’m uncertain I seriously just witnessed my replacement. “Let’s go.” I’m anxious to stop this poor woman’s life from being ruined. Now.

Gordon grabs my hand and squeezes it. “Let’s wait a few moments.”

I jerk my gaze to him. “Are you crazy. Let’s go.”

He finally starts the engine and then says nothing as we pull into the driveway and casually exit the car. When we get to the front door, Lazinski opens it before we even knock. His expression is one of incredible shock.

“Look who I found,” Gordon says smiling.

“Hey,” I say. “Didn’t mean to scare you. I was really sick. I went to a friend’s house to stay.”

He stares at me for several seconds, his eyes wide. Finally, he backs up and motions for us to enter, his eyes scanning the street like he’s worried about the neighbors seeing us. “Come on in. Damn, woman, you scared me to death disappearing on me like that. I don’t like my girls to go missing.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t thinking. I had a high fever and was kind of delirious for a few days. I didn’t go back to my place until this morning. It was trashed. Someone broke in while I was gone. I couldn’t think who to call, so I called Gordon.” I ease farther into the foyer, my heart racing.

“I’m so glad you did.” He’s nervous and keeps glancing behind him. He’s still holding the front door open. He’s also sweating. I don’t like it. My nerves are frayed but I need to pull this off.

“Listen,” Gordon says, “I wanted you to know she was okay, but I’ve got a ton of errands to run. I told her I’d drop her here so she can make some calls and figure out what to do about her place. Can you help her out?”

“Of course.” Lazinski looks relieved. “I’ll take care of her. Don’t worry about a thing. Thank you for bringing her here. It was the right thing to do. I’ll see you at the club later tonight.”

“Yep.” Gordon backs out the door, waving. “See ya, Britney. Glad you called. Glad you’re feeling better.”

“Thank you for helping me out, Gordon. I didn’t know who else to call.”

I feel like I’m going to vomit. The moment the door closes, I jerk in my spot.

Lazinski wastes no time. He grabs my arm and pulls me through the house.

“I really appreciate you helping me,” I say, not pointing out that he’s hurting my arm.

When we reach the kitchen, he opens a door that leads to the basement and shouts down the stairs. “Jeff? Can you come up here? I need some help.”

I try not to shake too violently as I hear footsteps on the stairs and then a man appears. The one who just arrived in the SUV. He’s fucking huge. Bigger than Gordon or Davis. His eyes are wide, and he looks back and forth between me and my boss. “Shit. Is this her?”

“Yeah.” Lazinski jerks me forcefully to a chair. “Sit.”

He starts pacing.

“What are we going to do now?”

“Let me think,” Lazinski says.

“What’s going on?” I ask innocently.

“Shut up,” Lazinski shouts.

I wince. “Boss?”

“Just shut the fuck up for a minute.”

My heart beats wildly as he paces and the man named Jeff shuts the basement door and leans against it. “Back to plan A?” he asks.

“Obviously, but what the hell are we going to do with the other girl?”

I have to react. After all, as far as these guys know, I’m in the dark. “You’re scaring me. What other girl?”

“Shut up,” Lazinski shouts even louder, leaning into me.

I start to rise. “You’re obviously busy this morning. I’ll find someone else to help me with my apartment.”

Jeff sets a hand on my shoulder and shoves me back onto the chair before circling behind me and holding me in place with both hands next to my neck.

I fight him, but he’s much stronger than me. I start to cry. It’s not an emotion I’m feeling yet, but I force it. It’s what I would do if I were in the dark.

Lazinski stops pacing. “Go get the damn dress. We only have a few minutes before we need to leave.”

Jeff releases me and hurries back downstairs.

“Boss? You’re freaking me out.”

It’s like he didn’t even hear me. “Take off your clothes.”

Now I’m really freaked out. For real. If I remove my clothes, I’ll lose the fob.

“Hurry up. Either strip or I’ll do it for you.”

I need to buy some time. “Okay, but can I please use your bathroom first? I’m about to pee myself. I haven’t gone since I drank two cups of coffee.”

“Jesus.” He grabs my arm and yanks me from the chair, tugging me down the hallway. We reach a guest bathroom and he shoves me inside. “Hurry the fuck up, and come out naked.” As he shuts the door, he mumbles under his breath. “The last thing I need is for her to fucking pee herself.”

Chapter 32

Master Davis

“Please tell me she’s okay,” I shout when Shepherd finally calls me. I’m a block from Lazinski’s house.

“She was when I left her. I think Lazinski bought our story.”

“I don’t know if that’s good or bad at this point.” I’m furious with Shepherd for agreeing to this, though I realize my anger is probably unwarranted. It’s certainly true that I wouldn’t be this worked up if I weren’t in love with the woman we’re now using as bait to stop a human trafficking ring.

“I agree. I see you pulling up behind me.”

I park behind Shepherd and shift my gaze to the house. “Do we know how many people are inside?”

“Yes. Two people entered before I took Britney to the door. One of Lazinski’s men and a young woman. I assume she’s the replacement. Heat detectors tell us there are four