Three:

"Take them to one of our locations. Give them the instructions, and tomorrow, get them ready and send them out to work. Not that one. She stays here."

The hand that was grabbing me lets me go and I blink and try to squint my eyes, but everything remains blurry around me. Soon, the cries of the other girls die out from around me until it is clear that it is just two people left in the room.

I knew that dad was behind this.

"Water," I rasp, grabbing my temples. My throat is dry and I am dizzy. I hear footsteps, and then make out a bottle of water in front of me. I take it and swallow a long, grateful sip, and then  hold it out to my captor.

"Tell my dad I'm not going to make it this easy for him. I'll come right back if he tries to send me abroad," I slur and the man laughs, a brief, deep sound.

"I don't take orders from you, and I definitely do not work for your dad, young lady," he says back, and I snort.

"I'm not stupid. My dad told me everything... he's in the mafia, and you're his little puppets, aren't you? He sent you out to find me tonight?" I drawl.

For some unfathomable reason, I feel drunk.

Is it the cocktails? Is that why everything is so blurry and the room is leaning?

"My head is killing me. Get me an aspirin," I tell him, and he laughs again.

"What's so funny? I asked you to get me an—

Suddenly, he is so close I can feel the heat from his body. His fingers wrap around my throat tight enough to choke me but not quite enough to cut my air flow, and his face is only inches from mine.

His breath is warm, sweet and minty between my eyebrows and he is panting angrily.

"Do you know who I am, little girl?" he grits out, and I turn my head to the side.

"Yes. One of my dad's puppets. And I'll definitely be telling him about this," I croak defiantly, and my breathing starts to get strained as he tightens his grip.

Now that I know that he is so easy to piss off and rile up, I'm going to make him WANT me out of here as soon as possible.

"You seem like a very entitled little princess. But let me make one thing very clear. I do not work for your dad, or anyone else for that matter. And starting now, you're going to respect me, or I'll make you fear me. Understood?" He says, his voice lowered to a harsh whisper.

He lets me go and I snort as he straightens when the door opens. Little girl, little princess...why does he keep calling me little?

"Sir, we're ready to move the girls. Coco wants to talk to you—"

I chortle. "Coco?"

Is that the best dad could come up with? A fucking Disney cartoon character? And what was the point of kidnapping all the girls if they were just going to send them back home anyway? Dad could have just sent his goons a picture of me.

Sir, whatever his name is, groans and turns to face me. He reaches into the back of his pants and then I hear a gun click. I think he is pointing it at me...I can't be sure. My vision is only starting to clear, and the room is very dimly lit—but I almost dare him to shoot me.

"I'll deal with you later. Let's go," he says, replaces his gun and saunters out.

I hear the door close and then lock, wait a beat and then I shuffle off of the bed.

I rub my forehead to try and soothe the pain, and grab the bed post when I sway. It feels like someone is pounding on my head with a hammer.

Tyres screech outside, and while I can barely stand up straight on my own, this is my only opportunity to get away from my dad and this insane shit. The bottle of water is still on the nightstand, and I stagger towards it and splash some over my face, and thankfully, my vision clears enough for me to be able to see.

I drag myself unsteadily towards the door and pull my hotel room key card from the inside of my boot. I lean my entire weight against the door, and then stick the card between the door and the frame.

I move it up and down like in the movies, cursing under my breath at all the rattling. It doesn't work and the edge gets completely destroyed, but I flip the card over and try another corner.

"Fuck!" I whisper tearfully when the door doesn't budge, and then try again, putting more weight on the door. The card is completely ruined except for one last corner, so I need this one to work.

I slide it up and down, my knuckles grazing painfully against the wood, tears stinging my eyes.

And then, I hear a click and I turn the knob. The door swings open and I fall into the hallway and take off my heels. I stand up and just start running, without even knowing where I am going.

I must be in some kind of hotel, considering the number of rooms on either side of this hallway. I see stairs at the end and run faster, my body surging with adrenaline with each step. I descend into some kind of lobby, and my heart beats even faster when I see the open French doors right in front of me.

I run through them and down another staircase, and stop when I hear voices. I clamp my hand over my mouth to muffle my breathing and slowly descend the rest of the way down the first flight. Halfway down, a step creaks, and everyone goes silent.

"Who is there?" a man's voice comes from a room at the bottom of the stairs, and then he pokes his head through the open door. His fingers curl around a gun, and I feel hot  tears wet my palm.

Without thinking, I run down the rest of the stairs, taking them two at a time. There is no glass in the railing on the second flight of stairs, and I jump right through and land hard on the ground. Pain shoots through my wrist, but I stand up and just keep running.

"Stop," the man screams, his footsteps getting closer behind me. I run faster up another flight of stairs, taking them two at a time. They stop on another floor, and I see freedom. At the end are double wooden doors different from all the rest, the kind you would typically find at a hotel entrance.

My legs carry me on their own, the man not far behind me. I reach the door, turn the knob, step out, slam it behind me and drop to my knees with my eyes closed.

My body goes slack with relief as I laugh and cry all at once, not sure that this is even real... that I managed to escape so easily.

Victory feels sweet, until I open my eyes, and lock eyes with the man who not so long ago was choking the life out of me.

THE BOSS.