There had to be cameras hidden in here someplace so that he could watch her every move. A horrified shudder rippled through her. It was creepy enough knowing that she’d told him everything about herself, but to know he was sitting somewhere watching her every move completely creeped her out.
Who was this man?
She knew for sure who he wasn't.
He wasn't Leopoldo Kevay. He wasn't her Prince Charming. He wasn't the man she had spent countless hours talking with. He definitely wasn't the man she had believed she would marry, have children with, and grow old together side by side.
Was anything he told her true?
Were his parents German and Irish? Had he grown up in Ireland for the first four years of his life before moving here? Had he gone to Germany for a couple of years after college? Did he really have two brothers and a sister? Had he really played football in school? Did he really want to learn the saxophone? Did he really spend his spare time training for and running marathons?
Now she doubted everything.
How could she not have seen that he was a fraud? Her sister warned her to be careful. Told her several times that sometimes people on the internet weren’t who they said they were. And she knew that there had been a woman whose body was found in the bear enclosure at the zoo who had been abducted by a man she met on the internet. But she had been so sure that nothing like that would happen to her. Thatherman was the real thing.
A key sliding into a lock caught her intention.
He was coming.
Leo was about to walk into this room, and she had absolutely nothing with which to defend herself.
Georgia fought the urge to run and hide, instead, she climbed off the bed and stood there, waiting. Leo scared her, she knew he was dangerous, she’d heard what he had done to that woman. But she couldn’t show weakness in front of him. She had to show him that she wasn't intimidated, that she was strong and tough, and that no matter what he did to her he would never, ever, break her.
“Good afternoon, Georgia.”
Oddly enough his voice sounded almost exactly as she had heard it in her head before they met. “Good afternoon,” she returned, forcing her arms to remain stiff by her sides instead of wrapping them around her middle.
He had a tray in his arms and set it on a small table by the door while he locked it, then put the key on a chain around his neck. He carried the tray over to the seating area and set about laying out the food, but all Georgia could focus on was the key. All she had to do was get to it then get out the door and lock him in, then she would be free. But how was she going to do that?
“Come. Eat,” Leo ordered.
She didn't move. She wasn't going to let him boss her around. Who did he think he was? He wasn't her father, and she wasn't a little girl. She was an adult. A well-educated adult with a good job where she had a lot of people working underneath her. She wasnotused to taking orders from anyone, and certainly not by a man who had abducted her.
“I said come, eat,” Leo repeated firmly, a scowl had creased his face. Itwasa handsome face even if it wasn't the face of the man she had been corresponding with. She wasn't surprised that he hadn’t sent her his real photo. Why would he if he was luring her into a false sense of security so that he could kidnap her?
Still, she held her ground. “Is your name really Leo?” she asked.
With surprising speed, he moved toward her. Before she could even process what was happening and do something to stop it, he had wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her to the bed. He sat on the edge and bent her across his lap, locking one leg around hers and holding both her wrists in one hand. His other hand delivered several swift, painful blows to her backside.
Spanking her.
He was actually spanking her like she was some disobedient child.
Tears of humiliation burned her eyes and blurred her vision as she struggled to get out of his iron grip.
“Refusal to follow instructions will result in punishment,” he informed her, delivering another slap to her bottom. “Being insolent will result in a punishment. Speaking when not spoken to will result in punishment. Breaking rules will result in punishment. Not following set routines will result in punishment.” With each instruction he hit her again and again until her backside stung.
Why was he doing this to her? The man she had gotten to know in the Happily Ever After Club was a gentleman looking for a beautiful princess to spend his life with. What did that have to do with following rules and not being allowed to speak without permission?
“Do you understand?” he demanded.
She couldn’t agree to let him treat her like this. Her pride wouldn’t let her.
When she didn't answer he grabbed hold of the hem of her nightgown and pulled it up around her shoulders. Then took hold of the waistband of her panties and yanked them down, exposing her bottom. He slapped it three times in quick succession. “I said do you understand?”
Georgia battled her pride. Her backside hurt so badly. She had never been spanked in her life. Her parents had never disciplined her that way. Her brain was yelling at her to just tell Leo what he wanted to hear but her mouth wouldn’t cooperate.
His hands released her wrists and she heard something, a swishing sound. Then a moment later something cracked through the air and pain exploded in her backside.