Chapter 1

“Just be quiet.” The man removed his hand from my mouth. “I’m not going to hurt you.” I listened to his voice and shivered, pushing him away roughly as I rubbed my lips aggressively, trying to remove the taste of him from my mouth.

“I don’t care what you have going on, Brandon. I am not going to let this complicate everything. Get your ass down here.” Greyson’s voice was harsh as we listened to him through the door. “We have things we need to take of.” I stood there in the dark, biting my lip hard. I was scared to be in this room with a stranger, but I was even more scared of what might happen if Greyson knew I had heard his call. Was I the new girl he was talking about? Was that why Greyson was playing with me? Did he have darker intentions where I was concerned? My body shivered again and the man next to me grabbed me.

“Let go.” I hissed and pushed him again. “Who are you?”

“All your dreams come true.” He laughed loudly, and I wondered if I was with a crazy man.

“Turn the lights back on.”

“Want to be able to see my face when you kiss me?”

“I don’t want to kiss you.”

“Oh, only Greyson gets that honor?”

I gasped at his words and stood there in shock as the lights went back on. David, the head security guard, was standing in front of me. I stared at him in confusion. I had been positive that I’d been taken advantage of by Frank.

“You.” My eyes narrowed as I stared at his stocky build. How could I have thought, even for one second, that he was Greyson? “Why did you find me in here and kiss me?” I tried not to look too disgusted. I didn’t want him to get angry.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry.” His eyes looked apologetic, but I didn’t feel like forgiving him. “I couldn’t resist.” He shrugged. “You’re beautiful.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Why did you follow me in here?”

“You’re in danger. I had to warn you.” He whispered and came closer to me.

“How would you know?” I frowned at him, but my heart was racing. What if he was telling the truth?

“Meg, I’m an undercover cop.” He gave me a wry smile. “I’ve been working here undercover for the last two years.”

“Undercover?” I looked at him carefully to see if he was telling the truth. I’d taken some body language classes at a community college when I was in law school and I knew most of the tell-tale signs of a liar: shifty eyes unable to make eye contact, constant licking of the lips or lip biting, playing with hands or hair, foot tapping, wide smile and wide eyes. But David exhibited none of those signs. He looked me directly in my eyes and his shoulders were straight.

“I work for the vice squad in the New York Police Department.” His eyes were serious now and his voice was low. “I’m trusting you’re not going to let anyone in on what we’re doing here?”

“I don’t know what you’re doing.” I shook my head and stepped back.

“Don’t play stupid, Meg. We both know you’re a smart girl.”

“How do you know my name?” I was staring at him, but my ears were still perked up to hear what was happening outside of the door.

“I know all of the girls’ names.”

“You know what I mean.” I stepped towards him now. “Why did you come in here? Why share this information with me? You don’t even know me.”

“I know that you used to be a lawyer. I could use your help.”

“What help?”

“Everything is getting out of control here. We need someone on the inside to help us.”

“You are on the inside. You’re the frigging head of security.”

“I don’t know what’s going on.” He looked at me with a worried expression. “Twining is careful, very careful. He doesn’t let us see what happens after the tests.”

“What do you mean?”

“The girls disappear.” His voice was low. “They all just disappear.”

“What?” My voice was loud and his hand flew to my mouth.

“Shh,” he whispered angrily. “We don’t want to alert anyone to the fact that I’m in here.”

“Greyson may come in,” I told him reluctantly. “He’s come into my last two test rooms. He may come in here as well.”

“He’s really taken a liking to you, hasn’t he?” He looked me over in surprise.

“Why is that so surprising to you? Am I not his usual type?”

“I don’t know his usual type. He doesn’t normally come around the girls.” He scratched his head. “That’s another reason why I need your help. There’s something about you that intrigues him. You need to get us answers.”

“What answers am I supposed to get?”

“We think that Greyson is involved in some sort of prostitution ring. He’s grooming these young girls for rich men all over the world.”

“I don’t believe it.” I shook my head.

“Don’t you wonder what happened to Maria?”

“Maria?” My heart stopped as he said her name. How did he know about Maria? And more importantly, which Maria was he talking about?

“Your roommate, Nancy’s sister?”

“How do you know that Nancy had a sister?”