The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress
[Book 2] Chapter 66

Lorelai

POV

My head is throbbing. My mouth feels like it's filled with cotton balls. My eyes are gritty and as I force them to open, I can feel my body lying on what feels like hard concrete, my hands tied awkwardly behind my back. I s**k in a breath. I'm in a cell. Or at least it appears to be a cell. It has bars across it and there's very little light except for the narrow rectangular window high at the top, that's impossible for me to reach even standing on tiptoes.

I struggle to get into a sitting position, wincing as I feel the circulation through my arms, biting my lip. My clothes are torn and dirty, my hair cascading loosely down my shoulders. I glance around but there is nobody there. The last thing I remember was being pricked by a syringe and dragged or rather placed into the cleaning trolley. After that, my memory was blank until I woke up just now.

"Hello?" I cough, seeing a door in the room, a distance away from the cell, "is anyone there?"

Why would anyone do this to me? I struggled to my feet, almost falling over, and then stood at the bars, testing the door to the cell. Locked. Somehow I was not surprised. I could feel how parched my mouth was and I began to crave food and water. How long had I been out unconscious? Where was I? There was no way to tell my location from the small window. All I could see was sunlight and the merest hint of green grass. "Hello?" I shouted, banging my hands at the cell to draw somebody, anybody's attention.

It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but the other alternative was to sit and wait for somebody to come in, which could be hours or not at all. I would rather know if there was somebody here than wonder.

I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. They were loud and unhurried. I licked my cracked lips and stood back from the bars, my eyes fixed on the door with apprehension. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest. My body trembled. I wished that Knox was here. I wondered if he knew if I was missing yet, or if Dean still thought I was in the dressing room. I could feel tears pricking the corners of my eyes as it occurred to me that I might never see Knox again. I should never have gone to the mall alone. I should have told him about that message. When was I going to learn that it was no good to keep a secret from him?

The footsteps stop outside the door. I wait. Slowly I hear the sound of a key turning in the lock and then the door swings wide open. The figure is encased in shadows. I strain my eyes as they begin to walk forward. The last person I expected to see stands there smiling at me. I don't understand. Knox had assured me that she would not be able to get anywhere near me. He had his people following her. He had been certain that nothing like this would ever happen. My lower lip quivered as she c****d her head and regarded me softly.

"What's the matter Lorelai?" she asked moving closer, her mouth curved up into a malicious smile as I stepped back further "Aren't you happy to see me?"

Karen. How had she gotten free? How had she managed to engineer something like this by herself? Had she done something to the men that Knox had shadowing her? She smiles at me, a cunning expression on her face.

"It was relatively easy to slip past Knox's so-called guards," she said shrugging "All I needed was a decoy who looked like me to swap places at the right exact moment. For a moment I didn't think they would fall for it, but they did" she laughs, running a hand through her hair "the idiots probably haven't realized yet that I'm no longer in their sights."

She gives a long dramatic sigh. "You know, I thought about going after Knox and lan again but they're always so protected with security. So I figured the next best thing would be to go after you" she said smirking "After all Knox loves you, which means hurting you is like hurting him in a sense."

I struggle to remain calm. I don't like the strange glint in her eyes. "Karen, how could you know that I would go to the mall in search of my mother?" I demand slowly.

This isn't right. Something is off about this whole thing. Something's fishy. There's no way she was able to lure my parents out and do this whole thing. It's impossible. Not when she was under guard this whole time.

She giggles "I just knew that your parents would be the whole key to getting you out of that house and away from Knox and his overprotectiveness. When I saw your background, it was a simple matter of replaceing them and offering them money. It's a bonus that they managed to wreck your reputation at the same time" she says nonchalantly as I glower at her.

"Why? Why do all this?" I ask pointedly, as she gets close to the bars, a gleam in her eyes.

"You ruined my revenge," she said coldly, as I stared at her in disbelief "You had to go and sacrifice yourself to stop me from shooting the two of them. I almost went to prison because of you. Do you have any idea how many people I had to bribe to ensure that didn't happen?"

I had a feeling it was a lot. She breathed heavily, clutching at the bars while I backed into a corner. "You were going to kill them," I said, as she tightened her lips "I couldn't..."

I stopped. She smirked "I'm still going to Lorelai, but only after I've had my fun with you. It's a shame that I have to hurt you, but Knox needs to get the message that I'm not joking around." "Karen, you don't have to do this," I tell her, my eyes widening as she begins to slowly back up towards the hallway "You could just leave.""

"Oh I plan to," she says grinning "Did you think I would hang around while this happened? I'm not stupid Lorelai" she mocks, putting her hands on her hips as I stared at her, the blood draining out of my face "I just wanted you to know who was responsible for this happening to you. I'm not the only one you've made angry you know" she said as I frowned at her "it appears that you seem to make a habit of pissing the wrong person off. At least when they replace your body, Knox and lan will know that I'm coming after them next. I will avenge my daughter" she said quietly "I will avenge her against everyone who conspired to kill her. Nobody in that Grant family is innocent" she said bitterly, her voice rising "none of them deserve to live. Charlotte should never have died like she did. Now all of them can go to hell, and I'm going to be the one to send them there."

"Karen stop" I shouted but she just stood at the doorway and motioned to somebody which made my body stiffen in fear. Who else was here? Why did she look so triumphant as she glanced back at me? I could feel nausea churning in my stomach. There was nowhere for me to go. A man stepped through the opening. A large man, with tattoos covering his arms, a hulking body, cold eyes, and a wicked grin on his face stepped through the opening as I fought to keep myself from crying out. Another man joined him and another one.

I watched paralyzed as Karen lightly trailed a finger up and down his bare chest.

"It's almost time for you to play but remember what I told you," she says as the man stares down at her silently.

I want to scream. The way the men are staring at me fills me with disgust and makes me shiver. The man, the one with tattoos appears to be in charge as he nods at Karen.

"You want as much pain as possible over a long period of time" he says glancing at me as I bite my lip so hard that it begins to bleed "Don't kill her straight away."

"Precisely" Karen chuckles, patting his cheeks "Have fun Jean Luc," she says, flipping her hair over her shoulder and beginning to waltz out. "I imagine it won't be too long until her fiancee tracks her down but you should have enough time to do what you want with her." "Karen" I shout, as the man turns towards the cell, the other two behind him, smiles on their faces "Karen, don't leave me. Don't do this."

But I'm shouting at an empty doorway. She's gone, leaving me with these three thugs who are eyeing me as though I'm something delicious to eat. I shudder. The large one, Jean Luc, rifles through his pocket and withdraws the key to the cell, causing me to give a small cry of fear. The last thing I want is that door opened. I fling myself at it, trying to prevent it from being opened as he slowly and deliberately places it in the lock. The men laugh at my efforts as the key turns and Jean Luc begins to open the door, pushing me back with ease.

Desperation warrs with the instinct to survive. Whatever these men have in store for me it's nothing good and I stumble backwards as Jean Luc's frame fills the doorway, cutting off any hopes of escape. My hands strain and pull at my bindings. If I could get my hands free I might just have some sort of chance at defending myself. I glance at the floor but there's nothing that can be used as a weapon. I'm screwed. Jean Luc slowly licks his lips and steps in, while the other two men watch eagerly.

"Please" I plead, as he stares at me, "please, let me out."

He grabs my hair roughly, causing me to shriek. "Oh we'll let you out eventually" he purrs as I fight the urge to vomit, his hand yanking my hair back to make me look up at him "there's a bedroom just waiting to be used, but I think we'll start with the pain first, just like we promised. We have to earn our money after all" he turns and looks at his men who nod in agreement "don't we boys?"