Chapter 12

But Juan was a man of pride who did not like backing down. He let go of her dress but stood his ground. "Get changed," he rolled his eyes. "Stop being difficult."

She was still shaken up and even though her mouth was open, words did not come out. Tears were sliding down her cheeks, ruining her makeup.

"You have ruined your makeup," Juan hissed. "Why the hell are you crying?"

She shuddered and shrank into a corner, suddenly terrified of Juan. Her mind was a whirlwind of chaos, thinking of the possible things he could do to harm her. If he was so adamant in owning her, that could only mean she would end up becoming his sex slave.

"I give you five minutes to sort yourself." With heavy steps, he marched out of the room.

She met him downstairs in about fifteen minutes, dressed in the silk red dress that had a draped neckline, revealing a bit of her cleavage. The dress had a slit rose high on her thigh and it was strapless.

It hugged her body seductively, revealing her curves in the most appealing manner. The maid had also retouched her make up.

"You look beautiful," he commented drily. Juan himself had donned a black dress shirt that had not been buttoned up, paired with black suit pants. In his shirt, there was a rose peeking out.

Arya did not answer him but walked out with him to where the car was waiting with the driver. He opened the back seat for her and once she had settled in, he got in beside her.

Her mind was focused on only one thing, being able to escape at the dinner this night but she was suddenly distracted by his hands on her thighs.

She gasped softly and tried to adjust her position so that he would remove his hands but his grip was tight— in an endearing way.

Clearing her throat softly to get his attention, she gestured towards her leg but he only raised an eyebrow at her. With a sigh, she made a move to remove his hands.

He caught her hands before she could do so and placed it on her other lap before looking away.

As his hands stayed on her thigh, rubbing circles on it, a delicious feeling she had never experienced before began to spread through her body. She felt moisture between her legs and swallowed hard. This was the first time she was ever getting turned on by a man but as his hands moved up higher, images of her step father flashed through her head once more and the feeling she had enjoyed before suddenly made her skin crawl.

"Please... Stop," she mumbled, her voice laden with fear and uncertainty.

Juan turned to face her with a cocked eyebrow.

When he saw the fear in her eyes the second time that day, he let go of her thigh and faced the window once more.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*

"What the hell do you mean by she's missing?" Dominic hissed, his hands wrapping around the neck of one of the guards. "I put a weak girl in your charge and she was able to escape under your very nose?"

"I swear boss, she was in the room when I locked it. I have no idea where she disappeared to," the guard whimpered.

"Fucken bastard!" The guards head was pushed back by Dominic into the brick wall behind; a sickening thud echoed round the room and his cry of pain reverberated.

The second guard watched in fear but he was grateful that Dominic had not paid attention to him yet. Feeling pity for the his fellow guard, he finally mustered the courage to speak up. "Why don't you check the footages sir?" He said timidly, hoping he would not incur Dominic's wrath.

"The footage is fucken blank!" Dominic yelled at him. The other guard whose head had been smashed into the wall had sunk to the ground, in so much pain.

"Is there any other person who would have wanted the girl?" He asked. He didn't know where the courage came from.

Dominic's mind went straight to Juan. Juan always loved a good confrontation and he had not come for the girl, it was unlike him to do things sneakily. Juan would have come to him face to face to negotiate another time and if he didn't budge, they would fight it out.

It would be either someone dies while trying to get it, or one surrenders.

However, he could not eliminate the possibility of Juan having the girl. Considering the missing CCTV footage, it could have been a probability.

Or had one of his men sold the girl to Juan to get some money? What if one of the guards had collected a bribe to have the girl?

"Did either of you leave this place?" Dominic asked.

"Only when it was time for a shift." It was the man that was on the floor that spoke.

"I thought I sent someone to tell you there would be no shift until I was ready to make use for the girl?" Dominic growled.

"We were told and then later on, the directive changed."

"Who was the person that came to tell you this?" Dominic had concluded it was an inside job.

"The maid who came to inform us that lunch was ready," the second guard said. "Two other guards were with her and they took over."

"Can you recognize their faces?" Dominic asked. "Have you seen them before now?"

"If we see them again, we will be able to recognize them," he said. "We confirmed they were your men by asking for the password. Then they showed the tattoo on their foot and neck."

"Damn it!" Dominic cursed, punching the wall. He knew it was not the fault of the guards but he wanted someone to at least take the blame for her disappearance. "You two were not smart enough," he hissed. Pulling out his gun, he shot the both of them in the arm. "This will serve as a lesson to you."