Trapped in the Don's contract

Chapter 4

Annabelle's POV

My heart slammed against the walls of chest beating wildly and threatening to fall out. I looked between George and the waiter, no one said anything. I quickly closed the door and ran out of the restaurant.

I had let myself believe that George was the man for me. The efforts he had put into wooing me and saving me from Constantine the way he just did. I thought it was my time to finally be happy but it seemed the universe wasn't done with playing cheap tricks on me.

I promised myself I wasn't going to cry but I couldn't stop the tears from pouring down my face the moment I was about three blocks away from the restaurant. I kept walking, allowing the cool night air to dry up the tears until I reached my home.

I bounded up the stairs and let myself in. Thankfully, Julian's corpse was no longer in the living room. Linda must have taken him away but she didn't clean the vomit he had been lying and so everywhere stunk. I wrinkled my nose and went into my bedroom.

The tears were failing freely now. I opened the box hidden under the floor box of my room and pulled out a wad of cash. The only money I had managed to save for myself. Then I took a shower and got dressed.

I needed a strong drink to drown out the voices in my head and to forget about the days events. I took a cab and headed downtown to the club.

Metallic music blasted off the speakers the moment I entered and I could hear the thrumming of the music in my chest. My feet vibrated as I weaved through gyrating bodies dancing on the dance floor.

None of it held any attraction to me. The bar was my target because I wanted to get drunk.

George Martin. A man I never truly knew. I had dared to hope. I had let myself believe my days of sufferings were over and now I was truly suffering for it.

I sighed and gestured to the bartender.

"What would you have, beautiful?" He purred seductively.

I didn't know much about alcohol.

"Give me a shot of your strongest vodka. I want something that would burn right through my throat." I instructed.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked me up and down probably wondering what a girl like me was doing with strong alcohol. But, he obliged and handed me a shot. I snagged it off the table and poured it into my mouth.

Exactly what I wanted.

"Keep it coming." I ordered.

"Yes ma'am." He chuckled and began mixing other drinks but he never let my cup run dry.

I kept pouring the alcohol into my blood while watching the people on the club. Everyone seemed to be in their own world. Drinking, dancing and smoking. I looked down at my phone next to my purse. I had been hoping George would call to offer some sort of explanation or apology but so far nothing.

I wondered if it would affect the agreement he just made with Constantine and whether I would be forced to go and work for him again. The thought made my heart ache and I drank some more alcohol trying to dull the pain.

"Damn. You may have finished a whole bottle." The bar tender gushed when he came to refill my drink.

"I'm not even drunk enough." I slurred.

He chuckled and left me alone to continue his job.

"Anabelle Daniels." A deep voice reverberated next to me.

When did my name suddenly become a household name that everyone could now call out to me?

I could barely keep my eyes open but I turned anyway to see who it was. For a moment, I thought it was George. But no, this man was older. There were wrinkles around his eyes. But there was something about him that made me think of George. I was too drunk to really about it.

"Do I know you?" I asked.

The man shook his head.

"Then, get lost." I ordered.

I grabbed my drink but he held my hand and stopped me from dooming myself. I struggled to get free of his grip but he held on tightly. Although not enough to hurt.

"That's enough." He said sternly.

I glowered at him. Who the hell did he think he was to tell me what to do?

I managed to wrestle free of his hold then I dumped my drink on his laps.

"That's what you get for picking your nose where it doesn't belong." I said proudly.

"You'll pay for that." The man warned.

I rolled my eyes and requested for the bar tender to refill my drink. The man shook his head next to me and the bar tender turned away without doing my bidding.

"What the hell do you want?" I snapped.

"To have a conversation with you." He answered simply.

"Then talk. I need to get back to my drinking."

"Meeting you like this was not part of the plan." He said wistfully next to me.

"What plan?" I furrowed my brows.

He just shook his head and got up.

"Come. I'll take you home." He draped the jacket of his suit over me and pushed the hair out of my face. I looked into his face for the first time. He was beautiful. Like a Greek god. Something passed between us. Some sort of charged magnetic field.

"I don't want to go home." I whispered tearfully.

He wiped the tear at the corner of my eye before it could fall.

"Will you tell me why?" He asked.

I sighed and drunkenly narrated about my stepfather and mother's deaths and debts and my ordeal with Constantine. I explained how I got away but didn't really give him the full details and also told him about the threat of homelessness I was facing.

"You see why I can't go home." I cried. "Please let me have another drink." I pleaded.

He signaled to the bar tender but the man just handed me a bottle of water. I tried to protest.

"Drink." The man ordered.

There was something in his voice that I couldn't turn away from. I guloed down the drink and belched loudly.

"Come with me." He offered me his hand.

I stared at it for the longest time before slipping my hand through his. I didn't know who this beautiful stranger was but I was willing to follow him if that meant I could run away from my problems even just for one night.

"Where are we going?" I asked staggering on my feet.

"My hotel room, Anabelle. I'm going to f**k you." He deadpanned.

I should have been scared. He was taking advantage of my drunken state. I should have run away or screamed for help but I didn't. I got into his car and went with him.