“Let’s start with some stretching,” Rudy said, moving toward a closet. “I’ll get the yoga mat.”
This was it. My moment.
As Rudy turned his back to open the closet door, I bolted. My running shoes made almost no sound on the padded floor as I sprinted toward the fire exit. I hit the push bar with both hands, throwing my weight against it.
For one heart-stopping moment, I feared it would be locked, that my one chance at freedom would be thwarted before it began. But the door gave way with a click and the bang of the push bar, swinging open to reveal a concrete stairwell beyond.
I slipped through, pulling the door closed behind me. The stairwell was dimly lit, emergency lights casting eerie shadows on the gray walls. I paused, listening for sounds from below, but heard nothing except my own ragged breathing.
Freedom. I was actually doing this.
I flew down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Three flights down, I paused on a landing, my mind racing. Rudy had alreadyreached the door, I felt certain. I needed to put as much distance between us as possible.
I heard the echo of the door from the gym opening.
“Louisa, honey,” Rudy’s voice echoed from somewhere above me, unnervingly calm. “You’re already in a lot of trouble. Don’t make this worse.”
My heart leapt into my throat. He’d moved faster than I’d hoped. I continued my descent, stepping as quietly as possible now, my palms sweaty against the metal railing.
Two floors down from Jax’s penthouse, maybe the building’s fifteenth or sixteenth floor, I eased open the door, peeking into a hallway that looked like it belonged in a luxury apartment building. Plush carpet, elegant wall sconces, numbered doors—this wasn’t a commercial area. These were residences. 1653, 1651, 1649… yes, the sixteenth floor.
I slipped through, closing the door silently behind me, and began walking down the hallway as calmly as I could manage. I was painfully aware of my state of undress—wearing only a sports bra and running shoes, my naked bottom and bare pussy exposed for anyone to see. But that might work to my advantage. Surely someone would help a half-naked, clearly distressed young woman?
I tried door after door, hoping to find one unlocked, somewhere to hide or someone to help me. The first four were locked tight. My panic grew with each failed attempt, but the rich people who lived in a building like this one, I knew, were the kind who thought themselves immune from crime. Someone would have…
The fifth door I tried, to Apartment 1648, turned under my hand. Relief flooded through me as I slipped inside, closingit softly behind me. I found myself in an elegant apartment, tastefully decorated in neutral tones. From somewhere deeper in the space, I heard voices—an older couple discussing their plans for the day.
“I think we should take the long route through the park,” a woman’s voice said. “The cherry blossoms are at their peak.”
“Whatever you want, dear,” a man replied indulgently.
They were coming closer. I darted to my right, finding a bathroom and ducking inside just as the couple entered the hallway. Through the crack in the door, I watched them pass—a distinguished silver-haired gentleman and his elegant wife, dressed for a morning walk.
“Did you leave the front door unlocked again?” the woman chided gently.
“I must have,” he replied. “Sorry, dear.”
I listened as the door closed behind them, my heart racing so fast I could hear it pounding in my ears. How long would I have before Rudy realized I’d slipped into an apartment? How many doors would he check? I needed to move quickly.
First things first—I needed to block the perineal sensor Jax and Esme had mentioned during the humiliating fitting. If what I’d overheard was true, they were tracking me through some kind of device placed inside me, somehow. The thought made me shudder with violation, but I pushed the feeling aside. I had to focus on escape.
I raided the kitchen, frantically opening drawers until I found what I needed—aluminum foil. I’d read somewhere that metal could disrupt electronic signals. I tore off a large piece and,blushing furiously at what I was about to do, fashioned it into a makeshift diaper. The foil was cold against my skin as I pressed it between my legs, covering the area where I imagined this invasive sensor might be.
Next, I needed clothes. I crept down the hallway to what I hoped was the bedroom, wincing at every creak of the hardwood floors beneath my feet. The master bedroom was immaculate—a king-sized bed with an elaborate duvet, matching nightstands, and a large dresser. I went straight for the dresser, pulling open drawers until I found women’s underwear.
The panties were enormous, obviously belonging to the older woman I’d seen. I took off the aluminum foil and slipped them on anyway, grimacing at how they sagged around my hips. Over these, I carefully repositioned my metal shield. In another drawer, I found sweatpants with a drawstring waist. I pulled them on, tightening the string as much as possible.
A closet yielded a plain t-shirt that hung loosely on my frame.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked ridiculous—swimming in oversized clothes with aluminum foil crinkling between my legs—but at least I was covered. The collar still circled my neck, a damning reminder of what I was escaping. I tugged at the buckle, but it seemed to have some kind of high-tech lock that only opened to Jax and his men. All the more reason to take it off, since it, too, probably had some kind of location device.
I went back to the kitchen and found something I’d seen earlier, a pair of poultry shears. I returned to the mirror. Carefully I maneuvered the shears until I had the leather of the collar between their blades.
I hesitated, barely able to think straight. If Jax caught me, and I’d destroyed my collar this way, he would punish me, I felt certain. He would go way beyond my daily whipping—I was sure about that, too. A distant part of me understood that the idea of ruining the collar held something else, too, though: fear of a different kind of consequence from Jax’s huge hand or his savage belt on my bare bottom. I would also ruin the strange, but real bond I’d started to feel with him, the affection I had crazily developed for my daddy.
All the better, my logical mind said.Do it.
I cut through the collar. A whimper escaped my lips, the sound coming from so many conflicting emotions that I could never have listed them all.
