Page 110 of The Prize

I snapped his hand away. “Don’t.”

“Do you know what happens to the human body when it’s deprived of oxygen? You actually get high. Right now, your Tobias is flying high on hypoxia.”

My throat constricted. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt him!”

Eli knocked me backward and I slumped onto the bed. My screaming was muffled as his palm slapped to my mouth to silence me. His hand struck again. “Shut the fuck up.”

My lungs fought for air—

I bit his hand and he slapped me across my face again, and the shock of pain stunned me still.

“Anything to do with Leonardo da Vinci is mine. If you see a da Vinci, you call me. If you hear of a da Vinci, you let me know. If you suspect a da Vinci is in your neighborhood, I want to know. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

He reached for my zipper. “Let’s have some fun.”

I struggled, fighting with everything I had and managing to snap his hands away from my trousers.

The door burst open—

Abby flung herself at Eli. “Get off her.”

He scrambled off the bed. “Sean!”

She reached out and grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “Zara!”

Eli grinned, as though he’d not just attacked me, and walked backward toward the door wearing that disgusting smirk. He spun around and ran.

I staggered off the bed and bolted after him into the sitting room—

Eli was gone.

TheMona Lisawas gone too. Turning slowly, I saw his bodyguard slumped on the floor and moaning, and my gaze snapped to Abby.

“The fucker deserved it,” she snapped. “What happened? Why are you in here?”

I yanked away from her grasp and bolted out, sprinting down the hallway and flying between the open lift doors and striking my palm against the panel.

The doors closed—

Abby raced down the hallway toward me.

“I’m sorry,” I called out.

The doors shut before she reached me. These four walls closed in and my breaths rasped for air...

When the elevator landed, I ran toward the revolving front door, bursting out to the street and scanning the faces for Eli or any of his men. Desperate for a sign of Tobias. My limbs felt like lead as I paced up and down, trying to look for a car or anything that would help me. Panic incapacitating me with the realization I’d messed up. I’d misjudged; I’d failed Tobias in every conceivable way. If anything happened to him I’d die from the agony.

The sting where Eli had struck my face burned like fire and this whiplash proved my recklessness.

I’d flown into the center of the flame.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I’DMISCALCULATEDWHATthe Burells were capable of.

The family who specialized in mass murder. Our rules were no match for their rigged game. This was never going to be played fair, though I had foolishly acted as though it was. Tobias had tried to protect me from all of this and that’s why he’d not wanted me at the ball last night.