Page 122 of Nails

“Wait!What’s your name?Why are you helping me?”

The woman hesitated, then leaned in close.“There’s something under your pillow.You’ll need it.”

Before Riley could respond, a voice echoed from the hall, deep and impatient.“Willamina!”

The woman’s eyes widened in alarm.“Stay strong,” she whispered, moving quickly toward the door.

“Why are you helping me?”Riley called after her.

The woman turned back with tears in her eyes.“Because I’ve been where you are.”

Then she was gone.

Riley’s chest tightened.Her hand trembled as she reached beneath the silk pillow.Her fingers brushed something cold.She pulled it free.

A small tactical blade, no bigger than the palm of her hand, but solid and sharp enough to inflict a little bit of damage.

Hope flickered in her chest.The woman wasn’t just trying to comfort her.She was giving her a chance.

Riley clutched the knife in her free hand and stared at the door, her body trembling with adrenaline.

It opened again, and two men stepped inside.

The first was stocky with dark hair and olive skin, dressed in all black with tattoos peeking out from his sleeves.He reminded her of a security guard.

The second man wore a tailored gray suit, which he immediately began unbuttoning with casual arrogance.Tall, pale skin, a cleft chin, and oily blond hair slicked back to perfection.His eyes were soulless.

“Who the hell are you?”Riley demanded, already knowing she wouldn’t like the answer.

The man smiled slowly.“I’m your new owner.”

Riley jerked against the cuff.“Nobody owns me.”

He laughed.“Darling, I just paid one point eight million dollars for you.I’ll do whatever I please.”

His eyes raked over her body like she was a steak on a plate.

“Where’s Chen?”she growled.

The man shrugged out of his jacket.“Gone.Long gone.And you?You only need to concern yourself with me now.”

He began to unbutton his shirt with lazy intention, every movement predatory.

Riley’s heart thundered in her chest, but her mind sharpened to a blade’s edge.

Because while he thought he was about to devour her, he didn’t know what she had.

He didn’t know about the knife.

Her fingers tightened around the handle beneath the sheet.

Let him come closer.

Let him make the mistake of thinking she was just another girl in a gilded cage because Riley Aiken wasn’t done fighting.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Riley’s mind reeled.She was a little disoriented, foggy from whatever they’d drugged her with, but she felt sharper now, driven by one all-consuming force—survival.