Electrified (37 page)

Lila, still stunned silent, braced herself against the wall she was leaning against. The thought crossed her mind to pray for someone to rescue her, but she pushed it away.

First of all, there was no way they would even know where she was. This whole scenario was so absurd, how would anyone even dream it up, let alone figure it out? Especially when no one really knew all the facts of her past. Sure, Asher knew some, but not enough to connect these crazy dots.

Furthermore, she’d do anything to keep Asher and Mike out of harm’s way. A few hours ago, she considered Carson to be part of that group. There was no way Lila even wanted her friends to find her and risk them getting in trouble with the law, or hurt. This was her fate, whether she fell for Carson or not. She always knew her past would come knocking on her door. She just never imagined she would fall for the guy who might have brought them right up the walkway.

Elon’s voice came booming through the office, pulling her from her line of thought.

“After my pretty little seemingly religious wife left me, I had time on my hands to work on bigger and better deals like film and webcams. Everyone thought I was occupied looking for you. Who knew my little cash cow would lead me right to you, Sienna?”

He leered at her, obviously enjoying rubbing it in how stupid and unaware she’d been. “About two years ago, we started looking for a few big headliners for our movies. Where better to look than Vegas? Right there before my fucking eyes was my wife. My fucking wife, Vegas adult entertainer of the year. Of course, you don’t look anything like the frumpy piece of shit I married. No, you dolled yourself up for all those men to whack off to—nose job, curves, hair like a seductress, sticking your tits in anyone’s face who will look. My fucking wife!”

As Elon trembled with emotion, she realized that he was losing what little control he had. He slammed his hand against a file cabinet, putting a dent in the steel, and she was certain her face was next.

“Good thing my partner, Sam, found you and was able to act so damn stupid in that cowboy hat, all your little protectors discredited him. Who’s the idiot now? I got you back lock, stock, and barrel. You’re fucking mine, and I plan for you to make good on that starting right now. I own Sienna Fucking Flower, and she’s going to do a private show for me. Come on, take your clothes off, babe, and show me what you got. Then we’ll put those luscious titties and ass on film and make millions.”

Lila finally found her voice. “You’re not going to get away with this, Elon. I ran from you, and you know exactly why I did. Quite frankly, I did you a favor by not revealing the true reason. I never told anyone, I just wanted my peace. People are going to be looking for me.” She wished she could fade into the wall, close her eyes tight and disappear forever.

She really didn’t know who would be looking for her, but she had to try to scare Elon somehow. She hadn’t spent all these years trying to stay alive just to end up in a warehouse doing porn.

“No one is going to find you,” he spat out. “Your parents had some dumb shit rescue mission going that I just put an end to. They’d never dream you take your clothes off for money, have sex with men who pay you. It’s fucking ironic that the good little religious girl is nothing but a whore. One who is about to make me even richer. Now, strip!”

Lila trembled all over, from fear as well as fury.
I’m not a whore.

She needed to accept this as her punishment for running away that dark night so many years ago. Elon was right—her parents would never imagine something like this. Her few friends in Vegas knew so little about her past, they’d never dream to look for her wherever she was at the moment. As for Carson, she had no clue whether he was good, bad, or where he fit into this nightmare. It didn’t matter anymore.

Even if he was one of the good ones, like she was fooled to believe, he wasn’t going to want her after he learned about her past. Nor would he want her after she was defiled, as she was about to be in any number of ways.

There was no paper trail of Lila or Sienna, zero clues, and it was pretty likely Carson was involved, no matter what she tried to tell herself.

Lila kept her face down but started to take her clothes off, accepting whatever was about to happen.

She had no other choice.

T
HE LAST
thirty-six hours had been hell, and Carson felt the weight of the world on his shoulders while he waited. He needed to make sure Lila was safe, and then figure out how to tell her who he was and why he was really out west. And he hoped to do all this without severing his chances with the beautiful woman.

Did she feel the same about him? Or was he just a badly needed fling?

He didn’t have to time to question himself or Lila’s feelings. He knew how he felt and what he had to do. Unfortunately, time was standing still outside the warehouse. Inside it was a much different story, but he continued to wait outside with the rest of the ground team after Elon dragged Lila inside.

He could tell the asshole was manhandling her, and that severely strained the little patience he had left. Come on already, he thought. Clear the way for them to enter the building. Carson continued to pace the small interior of the van, desperate for some clue as to what was going on inside. This was the problem with getting emotionally involved in a case; you became a liability, and that was what he was. A big fucking liability who needed his woman back safe and sound.

Lila was in that building, and what the fuck were they doing with her?

The ground team, now multiplied by ten, was hidden and scattered all around the warehouse with a slight sight line into what was happening inside. Carson and Ray were running command from the van. Over the secure line, the team kept the two of them apprised of what was happening.

“Leading subject through building.”

“Webcam scenes still running. Confirmed, both women actors definitely appear to be minors.”

“Main subject looks to be fine. Walking on her own. Clearly absorbing all around her, confused but alert.”

“Finder and Charles now guiding subject beyond quiet movie sets to an office.”

“In office, door closed, sight line dark.”

L
ILA TOOK
her clothes off as slowly as possible while silently counting backward from a hundred in an effort to remain calm. Despite already resolving herself to a very bad ending, a small part of Lila hoped someone would find her. For some reason, she couldn’t extinguish the little spark of hope.

Mike, Asher, Carson. Any one of them would be fine.

“Good girl. Now get down on your knees,” Elon commanded as she finished removing her clothes.

It was ironic to think that only a few days before, she had found some sort of strength in stripping, taking her clothes off and dancing for a crowd. Now all Lila felt was naked, alone, and scared.

She had no other choice but to do as Elon said, so she lowered herself to a submissive position on her knees, surrendering any control she had left. She didn’t move fast enough, and Elon shoved her down the final few inches. The cold, hard floor sent a chill through her spine and her knees ached, but not nearly as much as her heart.

Elon tied her hands behind her and then blindfolded her, making the room go black for Lila. Perhaps this was for the best; she wanted to witness as little as possible. Lila tried to listen to what was happening, but only the worst, most evil and sordid thoughts ran through her mind, distracting her from the sounds in the room.

She took in a deep breath, but all she smelled was stale cologne and dirty, raunchy sweat. Then the door opened and she prayed Elon was leaving her alone, but that was only a pipe dream.

Lila heard what sounded like the footsteps of two more men enter the room. One smelled like he was greased up in coconut oil, and she couldn’t even allow herself to think why.

“Stan, take your camera to the far corner. Peter, position yourself in front of the whore,” Elon instructed.

Lila’s blood coursed through her veins at rapid speed. What was he going to make her do? On camera? With oil-slicked “Peter?” She shivered from the top of her head all the way down to her toes, an ice-cold sensation running through her spine, coating her insides and seeping out to her extremities, overwhelming her with dread.

Bile started to rise up her throat. Tears filled her eyes, and she pinched her eyelids tighter even though she was wearing a blindfold. She wanted, needed to close out whatever was happening, even more than the blindfold already did. The darkness of the blindfold wasn’t enough.

She started thinking about holding her breath in hopes of passing out, when she felt something making a path along her neck, stroking as it trailed down to her cleavage and back.

That isn’t a hand.

There was no longer any need to force holding her breath, Lila was on the verge of passing out all on her own when she realized it was a penis making its way around her neck and face. She felt the tip of Peter’s penis dripping with fluid, rubbing all over her.

Pinching her mouth shut as tightly as her eyes, she tried to hold both her tears and screams at bay.

She had never given oral sex. Just a few days ago, she thought she might give it a whirl sometime soon, but with Carson, not Peter or anyone else. This wasn’t how she expected to do it. Blindfolded on her knees with a dirty porn star slathered with oil, while being filmed, and her deceitful husband directing the scene.

Elon had approached and tried to pry her mouth open, insisting that she cooperate and “make nice,” when she heard the outer door of the building slam open and the sound of shouting fill the building. She had no idea what any of it meant, but somehow Lila discovered a newfound resolve to hold her mouth closed.

Are those the good guys outside? Did Asher send someone?

C
ARSON HAD
waited long enough. Since hearing Lila was currently locked in a back office with no clear sight line from the ground team, his body shook with rational and irrational thoughts.

“I’m going in, Ray,” he insisted tersely. “NOW!”

“Carson, let them just get settled for three minutes, then we go. Three minutes, that’s it. You know it works better when we have the element of surprise,” Ray countered.

He clenched his teeth so tightly he thought his jaw might snap. “I’m getting ready to go. You count or do whatever you need, but at the strike of three minutes, I’m heading in, so your team better be ready.”

As Ray gave the instructions to the ground team, Carson checked that he was armed, then tossed his jacket on to conceal his weapons. He waited at the back door to the van, tapping off the seconds with his foot, carefully counting each tap so he wouldn’t think about what could be happening inside the building.

When the count reached 179, Carson leaped away from the van and sprinted toward the building. The ground team met him at the door, and quickly and efficiently busted it down.

Shouts from the team rang out. “FBI, stay where you are, you are under a siege and search! Cooperate and this won’t be difficult!”

“Where is Elon Finder? You! Behind the camera, step forward to answer my questions!”

The cameraman slowly edged toward the team, but one of the actresses tried to make a run for it. Commands were shouted louder and with more urgency as the team dispersed to lock down everyone in the building.

With all the chaos, Carson found it easy to sneak back toward the closed office where they knew Elon was holding Lila. He grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open with such force, one of the hinges came loose, and the door hung, swinging at an angle.

Even with all the crazy irrational thoughts he had earlier, there was no way Carson could be prepared for what he saw before him. There was Lila, blindfolded and naked, on her knees on a dirty, cracked floor with a greased-up scumbag trying to stick his dick in her mouth, and Elon attempting to pry her jaw open.

Tears had seeped under Lila’s blindfold, staining her cheeks while she used every bit of her strength to keep her mouth locked tight. With her arms tied behind her, Lila struggled, jerking her whole body forward as she tried to knock the men away from her.

Elon looked to be on the verge of losing his patience. He was cajoling Lila to “open up” with clenched teeth, sweat running down his brow and pools of wetness staining his shirt.

Sam Charles stood next to a cameraman recording the disgusting scene, huge bulges evident in both their pants.

Sick fucks.

Carson took in the entire scene in less than a second. He felt vomit racing up his throat but tamped it down, knowing he needed to be there for Lila. He yelled for Elon to stop, but the man was so enraged and determined, he didn’t even notice.

Sam Charles looked up, and noting Carson standing in the doorway, shouted, “Oh, shit! Stop, Elon, stop. We’re fucked!” He then tried to slip around Carson and get out of the office.

Carson’s attention was diverted when Elon grabbed Lila by her hair and dragged her up to her feet, pulling her in tight against his body, squeezing the life out of her, claiming her when he had no right to claim.