Poker Face (The Masks Series Book 4) (3 page)

Caitlyn

I slept on the floor in my torn gown. I couldn’t bring myself to climb up on the bed, too freaked out by images of what other bodies had been doing on those silky sheets. Nightmares of rough hands tearing my clothes off haunted me as I huddled against the wall beneath the window. I was snapped awake countless times throughout the night. The only thing to calm me down was memories of Eric, his body covering me, keeping me safe. But his body would swiftly dissolve, only to be replaced by men with malicious eyes and evil smiles.

My eyes flicked open and I jerked to attention. There was a thin line of light dividing the room in half. I turned to look up at the small crack I’d left in the curtains.

“Morning,” I mumbled.

There was nothing good about it. The darkness may have gone, but the daylight did nothing to quell my fear. No matter how hard I prayed and wished, there was nothing I could do to change the fact that I was waking up in the penthouse suite of a high-class casino.

I sat up, my weak arms shaking as I pulled myself up to standing. Inching the curtain aside, I wrapped my arms around my waist and gazed down at The Strip. I had no idea which casino I was in, but across the road, I could see The Bellagio and I also had a pretty good view of Caesars Palace.

Las Vegas.

I’d always wanted to visit. Just not like this.

Tears sprouted onto my lashes as images of my friends and I laughing our way through this town disintegrated to ash.

There would be no fun here for me. In fact, I had no idea what awaited me. The very thought filled me with an overwhelming dread that made me sink into the plush chair by the window.

I felt like Rapunzel, locked away for her magic hair, except there was no tower and my prince would never come for me. How could he? He had no idea where I was.

My note was worthless now, because I wasn’t coming back.

I pictured Eric pacing the apartment, waiting for me. He’d be worried; there was no doubt about it. I cursed myself for not putting some kind of time frame in my note, but I’d been scribbling so fast and too scared of being busted by Kaplan to even think straight. It was a miracle I got down what I did!

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to recall my exact words, but I couldn’t remember them. Something about living without him being foreign and that I could never break his heart. That’s all I’d really wanted him to know. I’d been desperate to assure him that my break-up was a farce...desperate not to lose him.

But now I’d lost myself and I had no idea how I was going to get back to him.

At least when I didn’t return on Monday he’d know something was up. There was no way I’d miss the last few weeks of school before Christmas. We all had finals coming up.

I bit my teeth together. Hard.

Monday felt like an eternity away.

Had Kaplan started looking for me?

I wondered where Miguel was and if he’d been found. He would have escaped the raid with me in the trunk, through that long tunnel that popped out a mile or so from the house—an exit no one knew about. I was pretty sure Mendez wouldn’t say a word to help the FBI. He probably had no clue his head of security meant to steal me and sell me off to pay his debts.

I sucked in a shaky breath. The whole situation was screwed up. How could they find someone that disappeared without a trace? Even if they found that secret passage, Miguel and I were long gone. There’s no way they could track me here.

I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the tears cascade down my broken face. My hopeless fate was crushing. I felt weak, tormented, incapable of rational thought. My hands shook violently as I swiped at my tears, my stomach quivering with gut wrenching sobs that wanted to break free in a loud wail.

But they didn’t have a chance.

The door flew open.

I gasped, my body pinging straight.

Sal walked into the room. “Come.”

I gripped the arms of the chair, too afraid to move.

With a soft sigh, he came to my side and put his hand beneath my arm. “Come.”

I stumbled after him. I hadn’t eaten in nearly twenty-four hours. My body was weak and dehydrated. Any logical person would have sipped water from their bathroom tap, but I’d been too afraid to move from my spot against the wall. I didn’t even feel like peeing, which showed how little I’d digested throughout my harrowing ordeal.

Sal walked me past the gold elevator and through a set of wide double doors. Around the corner was a long, black table, shiny, of course, and set with gold-trimmed dinnerware.

“
Buenos dias
.” Santiago smiled at me and pointed to the chair beside him. “Please, come. Sit.”

Sal moved me to the chair and pulled it out for me. I plopped into it, running my hand up my arm and squeezing my elbow. The tatty gold dress only just covered me. Thank goodness Bruno wasn’t in the room. I didn’t think I could handle his leering gaze.

“Sal,” Santiago’s voice was soft and low. “Get her a robe.”

I flicked my gaze towards Santiago. I guessed it was a small form of thank you. My lips would never be able to say the words.

He smiled at me.

I swallowed and pressed my back into the plush chair.

“Please, eat something.”

He lifted the covers off the plates, revealing a vast array of fresh fruits, pancakes and bacon.

I gingerly reached for a slice of watermelon, keeping my eyes on Santiago as I bit into the sweet fruit. It felt divine in my stale mouth and it was an effort not to groan with relief.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Water,” I croaked.

He nodded, snapping his fingers. A small waitress with jet-black hair, tied in a perfect bun, appeared.

“Iced water.” Santiago pointed at me and she nodded once before disappearing out the door.

Sal approached the table with a robe slung over his arm.

I stood up, giving him a grateful smile as I reached for it.

“Take off the dress.” Santiago sipped his morning coffee, his eyes on the paper beside him.

I paused, my pulse vibrating through my veins. I cleared my throat. “That’s okay, I’ll just put the robe over it.”

“Take off...the dress,” he repeated clearly, his eyes now landing on me with that
don’t disobey me
warning. “It needs to be thrown away.”

I gave him a pleading look, even tearing off his mask to see if I could appeal to him in some way, but he was resolute.

His brown gaze grew hard. “Take it off or I will ask Bruno to come in here and rip it off for you. I’m sure he’d enjoy that.”

I pulled in a quivering breath, my eyes smarting with tears. Lifting my chin, I locked my gaze on the wall and slowly pulled my dress free. It fell to the floor, giving Sal and Santiago a full view of my naked body. The skimpy pair of panties I was wearing hardly cut it.

I felt totally violated. The only person who had ever seen me naked was Eric and I hated, with a passion, that the status quo had changed. My body was a gift for him, and no one else.

Snatching the robe from Sal’s hand, I pulled it on and wrapped it tightly around my waist, stepping out of the dress and sitting down with a thud. My eyes remained locked on the wall, my back straight and unflinching as I shakily tied the satin belt.

“You have a nice body.” I could hear the smirk in Santiago’s voice. “Maybe I am not just a curves man after all.”

My eyes snapped to his and I could see straight away that he was trying to mess with me. Even though he was joking, it totally felt like a slap in the face.

My molten glare made his smirk grow and he soon threw his head back with a hearty laugh.

The waitress arrived with my water. I took it from her and slugged it back. It was all I could do not to choke. The water bubbled up my windpipe and I shakily placed the glass on the table, hacking and pounding my chest.

Santiago moved behind me and slapped my back.

“Now, now, Carlotta. Breathe.”

I sucked in some air, fighting off the water until finally I choked up my mouthful. Droplets dripped from my lip. Santiago picked up the cloth napkin beside my plate and dabbed at my mouth. I snatched it off him and finished the job myself.

I wanted to ask him why he called me Carlotta, but stopped myself, remembering that Miguel had called me that at the poker game. I didn’t mind. I didn’t want these filthy men knowing my name anyway.

Santiago sat beside me, eyeing me carefully as I dabbed my face. My cracked lip still hurt. It was hard not to wince.

“It will heal.”

I shot darts at his soft statement. I didn’t want him talking to me anymore.

“Eat.” He pointed at the food. “There is work to be done.”

“What work?” I reached for a banana and grabbed a piece of wholemeal toast off the bread board.

“I want to work out the best way to use your ability to my advantage.”

Peeling the fruit, I took up my knife and started squishing the banana onto my toast. It reminded me of Mom. She used to make me banana on toast all the time and drizzle it with liquid honey. It was my standard Saturday morning breakfast. Images of my brothers and sisters burst into my brain, torturing me. They would have spent most of the previous day together, celebrating all the reasons they had to be thankful. Holly would have spouted on about becoming a mother, Seth would have paid tribute to his beautiful wife, and Layla would have gone on about her precious children. Toby would have had some smart-ass thing to say, which normally would drive me crazy, but I’d have taken it.

I’d take all my angst with him over one more second in this shark pit.

My body vibrated with the will to run, but my brain stopped me. There was nothing I could do to escape this without being raped or shot. So instead, I squished that banana until my toast was flat like a piece of paper.

Santiago’s eyebrows rose with amusement. My knife clattered onto the plate and I picked up my floppy toast and tried to eat it.

“I am guessing you looked out your window this morning. You know where you are?”

I nodded, licking a few crumbs off my lip.

“Do you know which casino you are in?”

I shook my head.

“Huh.” He grinned. “Well, welcome to Palacio del Diablo.”

“What does that mean?” I frowned.

He chuckled, his eyes lighting with glee. “The Devil’s Palace.”

My face scrunched with disgust, making him chortle.

“Come, come, you have not seen it yet.” He winked. “It is actually the newest casino in Las Vegas. I only opened it six months ago and we are doing...” He nodded, lavish pride blooming over his face. “Very well.”

“So what do you need me for then?” I dropped my half-eaten toast onto the plate and dusted off my fingers.

“I am going to try you in a few different areas. I’m thinking security may be useful, but you were also incredibly valuable to Miguel at his poker game.” He tapped his forefingers together. “Think of this as a trial period. We will work out where you are most useful to me and go from there.”

I nodded, dropping my gaze to the table as my mind raced with ways I could play this. If I was useless in the areas I didn’t like and shone at the things that weren’t so bad...

“Remember Carlotta.” He touched my arm. “I need your best effort.”

My eyes shot to his and I felt like I’d been caught doing something wrong. He couldn’t read minds, could he?

I studied his face carefully, trying to figure it out, and quickly came to the sinking conclusion that although he might not be a mind-reader, he was intelligent and he wouldn’t let me get away with anything.

“I know you don’t need me to keep repeating myself, but you saw last night how much Bruno wants you.” Santiago tipped his head. “He has always been fond of blonde girls and...” Santiago grimaced. “That boy seems to thrive on fear.”

The words dripped off his tongue like a poisonous warning.

“I do not know where he gets it from, but...” Santiago’s finger trailed slowly up my arm, his light caress sending spikes of terror prickling down my back. “He would have so much fun with you.”

I jerked away from his touch, rubbing the goosebumps from my arms. “I told you, if you let him touch me I’ll be worthless to you.”

“Oh, I know.” Santiago grinned. “I wanted to assure you that if you do your best for me, I will keep you safe, untouched.” He tipped his head with a small shrug. “However, if you do not, I will be gifting you to Bruno and when he is done, we’ll sell you to the highest bidder.”

He flashed me a broad smile, revealing straight white teeth; shark teeth that could rip me to pieces in a flash.

“Do I have your word on that?” I squeaked.

“Look at my face and you tell me.” He leaned towards me and I scrutinized his mask-less expression, my head finally bobbing in a shaky rhythm.

With a chuckle, he rubbed his hands together. “I am glad we understand each other.”

An icy numbness settled over my body, my joints feeling stiff and unusable as my brain tried to shut down, but Santiago wouldn’t let it. He popped from his chair with the vigor of an elementary school kid.

“By the time you finish your food, there will be fresh clothes waiting for you. I want you showered and dressed within the hour.”