Danger Deception Devotion The Firsts by Lorhainne Eckhart

Author:Lorhainne Eckhart [Eckhart, Lorhainne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Women, Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Romance Series, Family Sagas, Mystery Thriller, Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Lorhainne Eckhart Publishing
Published: 2015-03-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Eric grabbed one of the steel-back chairs and slid it over beside the bed, lowering his large frame, all solid muscle, into the chair. He knew his size intimidated many, but he also knew he was many a woman’s fantasy, as he’d been propositioned more times than he could count. The last thing he wanted to do to Abby was appear threatening in any way. He leaned forward and inclined his head, staring at doe-like eyes that were bluer than some of the cleanest blue seas in the tropical south. “Abby, it’s time you tell me what happened.”

Her face instantly paled, and again she lowered her head. Her tiny hands fisted into the thin white blanket tossed across her lap.

“It’s okay, Abby. Whatever happened, you can tell me. Please trust me.” He reached out and slid his hand over hers until she relaxed. She glanced at the door, and he wondered for a moment if she wanted to race out of there. What she did surprised him. She blinked a couple of times and pursed her lips, hardening her young face, and he watched and waited for her response.

“I’m from Seattle. I…” She stopped and cleared her throat roughly. “I was travelling Europe. I went to a nightclub in Paris, and on the way back to my hotel, two men grabbed me and I was sold to an Arab man. I escaped from his boat, and then you found me.”

He was stunned by the lack of emotion in her voice, because there was no way a woman could be okay and so matter of fact after surviving that. He knew all too well that women didn’t just reappear in Europe. The human trafficking ring was massive, high-powered, and the women who were bought and sold disappeared forever.

“Abby, I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. It is what it is. When can I go home?”

He was stunned. He had expected tears, a woman on the edge, as he slid his eyes over her rounded belly. He also expected that the sick, perverted man who’d bought her was also the father of her unborn child. He shuddered to think of how it had happened. “Do you have family in Seattle we can contact?”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, as she stared hard at his hand, which still covered hers, until he pulled it away. Maybe his touch repulsed her—possibly all men repulsed her. When she answered finally, she looked at him with something haunting lurking like a shadow in her eyes. “No, not anymore.”

There was definitely something there, but he didn’t want to push too hard. He also had to realize she may have been suffering from Stockholm syndrome. This could have been some ploy to get her aboard his ship. “I need you to run through a few details, Abby, but first I need your full name.”

“Abigail Carlton, Abby for short,” she said.

He nodded and crossed his arms. “Tell me, how long ago was it that you were

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