He took her into the ballroom so they’d conclude this business with her boss, and he could have her all to himself again.
Eliana spooled away from him, flashing him an exquisite smile. “I’ll go finish my own mission.”
Before he could stop her, an erratic movement caught his eye.
Ferreira.
Rafael’s enemy was on a collision course with them.
Before any of them could move, Ferreira was pulling Eliana into his arms.
Aggression erupted, almost bursting Rafael’s head. He was her boss? And he was on hugging terms with her?
Then the words Ferreira kept saying as he clutched Eliana sank into Rafael’s mind.
Ellie, my baby girl, you’re okay.
Rafael stared at the woman he’d lost his mind over, in the arms of the man he was here to destroy.
And everything crashed into place.
* * *
From Enemy’s Daughter to Expectant Bride is part of The Billionaires of Black Castle series: Only their dark pasts could lead these men to the light of true love.
From Enemy’s Daughter to Expectant Bride
Olivia Gates
OLIVIA GATES has always pursued creative passions such as singing and handicrafts. She still does, but only one of her passions grew gratifying enough, consuming enough, to become an ongoing career–writing.
She is most fulfilled when she is creating worlds and conflicts for her characters, then exploring and untangling them bit by bit, sharing her protagonists’ every heart-wrenching heartache and hope, their every heart-pounding doubt and trial, until she leads them to an indisputably earned and gloriously satisfying happy ending.
When she’s not writing, she is a doctor, a wife to her own alpha male and a mother to one brilliant girl and one demanding Angora cat. Visit Olivia at www.oliviagates.com.
To Pat Cooper.
I’m so honored and grateful my writing has struck such a chord within you
Your reviews have literally changed my life.
Contents
He woke up in darkness again.
His cheeks were wet, his heart battering his chest, and his screams for his mother and father still shredding his throat.
“Get up, Numbers.”
The vicious voice had terror expanding in his chest. The first time he’d heard it, he’d been terrified, thinking it was a stranger in his bedroom. But he’d soon realized it had been even worse. He’d no longer been at home, but somewhere narrow and long with no windows and no furniture. He’d been on the freezing ground, hands tied behind his back. That voice speaking heavily accented English, the language he knew so well, had said the same thing then.
And that had been how this nightmare had started.
“Seems Numbers wants another beating.”
That was the other man. He believed he’d never see anyone but these scary men ever again. And they called him Numbers. It was why they’d taken him. Because he was good with numbers.
He’d been offended when they’d first said that about him. He wasn’t “good with numbers.” He was a mathematical prodigy. That was what his parents and teachers and all the experts who’d sought him had said he was.
He’d corrected them, and he’d gotten his first ever slap for it. It had almost snapped his neck, sending him crashing into the wall. As the shock and pain had registered, he’d realized that this was real. He was no longer safe and protected. Anything could and would be done to him.
At first, that had made him angry. He’d said if they returned him to his parents, he wouldn’t tell them they’d dared lay a hand on him. The two men had laughed, just like he’d always imagined devils would. One had told the other that this Numbers kid might take longer to break than they’d thought.
He’d still insisted his name wasn’t Numbers, and the other man had backhanded him on his other cheek, even more viciously.
As he’d lain on the ground, shaking with fear and helplessness, the men had told him what to expect from now on.
“You’ll never see your parents or leave this place again. You now belong to us. If you do everything we tell you, the moment we tell you, then you won’t be punished. Not too bad.”
But he’d disobeyed their every order ever since, no matter how severely they’d punished him for it. He’d hoped they’d give up on him and send him home. But they’d only grown more brutal, seemed to be enjoying hurting and humiliating him more, and the hope that this nightmare might end had kept dwindling.
“Shall we give Numbers a choice of punishments today?”
He heard his tormentors snickering, could barely see their