Page 27 of Deliverance

"We're going to the park."

"We are?" she squealed.

"We are. Get your shoes on."

Madam had given me a pair of jeans, a few T-shirts, and workout clothes—my reward for being good. The other girls also received clothes as though to prove how fortunate we were to live in a penthouse, and have Madam taking care of us, but I knew better than to believe hergenerosity.

I walked down the stairs to the kitchen just as Ric was coming up. "Hey," I greeted.

"Hey," he said back.

"Thank you again for my caramel apple the other day." Thanking him for the apple was all I could think to say because I wanted to talk to him. He was my friend, and I had to believe that one day he would fulfill his promise of setting me free.

We stopped in the middle of the stairwell. He was two steps above me, and I looked up at him. He smiled. "Was it good?"

"Delicious."

"Good."

He leaned in and brushed a piece of my dark-brown hair away from my face. His fingers grazed my skin, and I sucked in a small breath. "Sorry. It looked like your hair was in your eye."

"It's okay." His touch was warm and comforting, even if it was for a brief moment. He started to walk away, but I caught his arm. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"The girls mentioned a lady named Lana. They said she had a thing with one of the guards, and he got her out. Do you—"

"He didn't."

I blinked. "How do you know?"

Ric took a deep breath and then a step closer to me. He lowered his voice. "Because the day you were brought here, I watched Frank put a bullet in that guard's head, and then I locked Lana in a cage to be sold." My eyes widened. "I know. These are people we don't want to fuck with. They don't think twice before killing or kidnapping."

"Should I tell the other girls?"

"No. Let them think she did get out. My guys know Frank killed David. They won't be stupid enough to get mixed up with one of the girls unless they have a death wish."

"How did Frank find out about them?" I would think they would be careful because of the cameras.

"He said he saw them on the security feed from this stairwell."

I looked around, not seeing anything. "Is there a camera in here?"

"Not that I know of. The feed I've seen doesn't show the middle of the stairwell."

Once Zell and I were ready to leave for the park, we walked down the hallway to the main room. Ric stood when he saw us.

"I'm so excited!" Zell screamed.

"Shh," I said quietly. "We don't want to upset Madam."

"Oh, right," she whispered back.

We started for the elevator, Ric placing his hand on my lower back. It sent a tingle down my spine and caused butterflies in my stomach. I didn't know why other than it had been over a month since I'd felt a man's touch. I had yet to be with a client.

The elevator door closed, and I turned to him. "Is this the moment?"

His brow furrowed. "Moment?"