Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
30
DANIELA
I wake up with a jerk when my phone alarm goes off.
I think I slept. Maybe. I woke up a lot, thinking about the orgasm that Hawk gave me.
It was amazing.
I’m still warm all over from it, yet I’m also chilled.
A strange sensation, to be sure.
Because intermingled with thoughts of Hawk are thoughts of the note taped to my door yesterday.
Hawk promised to get security on me.
I thought I was done with all that. Done with having to fear for my life. For my body.
Here in the state of Texas, I thought I could live a normal life.
Apparently not.
Normal life just isn’t in the cards for me.
I get out of bed, shuffle into my bathroom, and turn on the shower.
One look in the mirror tells me the truth. My eyes are bloodshot.
I didn’t sleep.
Except that I did, off and on. But not enough to actually count.
If I hadn’t gotten that wonderful orgasm from Hawk, I probably wouldn’t have slept at all.
I run my brush through my hair, and then I step inside the shower, letting the warm water pelt me.
Hot water.
What a blessing.
I used to look for the blessings in little things back in Colombia to distract me from the horrors I endured nearly every night.
Hot water. How many people in the world don’t have it?
I may have been subject to rape and the occasional beating, but at least I had hot water.
Food.
We had a great chef, and I learned a lot from him. Even though I had to blow his giant smelly cock on occasion. And even though my father kept me on a strict diet during those years—I had to look perfect for his friends, after all—sometimes Chef would sneak me extra. When he was in a good mood, or when I’d given him particularly good head.
And even when he didn’t, I always had enough food to sustain me.
Food.
A blessing.
And now I have more than ever.
Clothing.
A blessing.
I didn’t always like the clothes my father picked out for me, but I had plenty of them, and when I wasn’t doing his bidding, I could dress how I liked. Comfortable sweats and sweatshirts.
Clothing.
A blessing.
And shelter.
Colombia had its share of homeless people, beggars on the streets.
But no matter what else happened in my life, I always had a roof over my head. When the weather was cold, I had heat. When the weather was warm, I had air-conditioning.
I had a built-in swimming pool for my use, as well.
Shelter.
A blessing.
And now I have this perfect little apartment in Vinnie’s house that he lets me use.
With plenty of food, plenty of hot water, plenty of clothing.
Such blessings.
So even if I need security twenty-four-seven, and a vaguely threatening note shows up on my door every now and then, I won’t let it break me.
Not this time.
I step out of the shower, wrap a towel around me, and squeeze the water out of my hair.
I dress more casually today.
Yesterday I wore a silk button-down blouse and dress pants.
But most of the others showed up in jeans and more comfortable clothing.
Not a bad idea. We were on our feet all day, and my heels—even though they weren’t that high—were uncomfortable.
Today?
Walking shoes.
A pair of loose-fitting boyfriend jeans, and a soft cotton T-shirt.
Today, I will be comfortable.
I fix myself a quick breakfast, pack another basic lunch of a sandwich and fresh fruit, and then I go into the main house to see Belinda before I leave.
She’s in the kitchen, eating a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon.
“Hey, Bee,” I say.
“Dani, hi,” she says. “School again today?”
“Yeah.”
She beams. “I had so much fun last night with you and Hawk. Playing Texas Hold’em for cheese balls.”
I smile. “I did too, sweetie.” I kiss the top of her head. “I have to go, but I’ll see you tonight at dinner, okay?”
She nods. “Have fun.”
The drive to the school isn’t long, about twenty minutes. Traffic isn’t bad because I’m going against it. The culinary school is located on the edge of our suburb.
I park my car, grab my purse, and head inside.
Jordan is already there at our station.
“Hey, chopper queen,” he says.
I give him a friendly wave. “Hi, Jordan.”
“Guess what we’re doing today?”
“I couldn’t possibly,” I say.
“We’re learning to chop vegetables.”
Seriously?
A whole lesson on vegetable chopping? Something I could do in my sleep?
“Okay,” I say.
He pats me on the back. “Yeah, you and I will be bored stiff, but that’s all right. We’ll show these others how it’s done.”
I sigh. “I wish there were some option to skip these beginner courses.”
“You mean like proficiency exams?”
“What are proficiency exams?”
“Like when you go to college, and you want to test out of certain requirements like a foreign language, for example. You take a test showing you already have competency in it, and then you get out of taking those required courses.”
I blink. “Oh. Right.”