My eyes widened at his words.

He knew how to speak his mind and he wasn't afraid to either. His breath fanned against my forehead and my legs weakened. I could feel my pussy throb from his words.

"I-" I started to speak but I was at a loss for words. I couldn't think correctly at all with the sudden arousal between my legs. The proximity Vince was standing at didn't seem to make it better. The faint smell of his intoxicating cologne was drawing me in, refusing to let me go.

"Deal or no deal?"

I clenched my thighs together as my breathing began to grow rugged.

His dark dangerous eyes slowly trailed down my body to my clenched thighs, noticing my reaction, and a small yet ravishing grin grew on his lips. I could feel my face grow redder than I thought was possible. I was absolutely mortified but there wasn't much I could do.

This was so fucking pathetic. The burning desire for Vince that I harbored was much worse than I thought. I shouldn't be feeling this way for the person who had kidnapped me but yet I did.

He dipped his head to the side of my head, his lips brushing against the top of my ear.

"You get so flustered," Vince muttered. His leg moved forward, pressing between my thighs, eliciting a low groan from my lips. "Don't tell me you got turned on by just those words."

Yes. "No," I responded, ignoring my inside voice. I wasn't going to give in so easily.

I placed my hands flat on his chest before firmly pushing him away. He lingered there for a second, looking intently into my eyes before reluctantly letting go of my waist and taking a step back.

I let out the breath that I didn't realize I was holding in.

What I desperately wanted right now was some sort of release but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

There was a short silence.

"My friends will come looking for me," I suddenly said. At some point or another, Erin and Blake would look for me after I didn't come home from work. It had been a little bit over a week since I'd been kidnapped so they could've been looking for me right now.

But I had a gut feeling that Vince had that situation already dealt with.

"I already took care of that." He said, saying the exact answer I had been dreading.

My expression fell. I hadn't expected anything less from him. With the measures he took to kidnap me, he probably already fixed every inconvenience and problem there possibly was going to be. There was no hope of getting out of this.

I watched him, studying him. He didn't look much older than 30. Mid-twenties?

He started to walk off, towards the kitchen.

"How old are you?" I asked, causing him to halt at the sudden change of subject. He glanced shortly over his shoulder.

"29." He responded before he continued turned to walk into the kitchen.

I pressed my lips together, not expecting him to be so old. Considering his wealth and how successful he was for his age, he was young. But compared to me, our age difference was pretty big. I didn't mind the age gap but I still felt the need to comment.

"You're old," I noted, the words coming out more of an insult than a statement. I heard him make a noise that seemed like a low grunt as he walked up to the fridge and opened it.

I leaned onto the piano, watching him for a moment as he looked for food. I sighed before walking into the living room and sitting down on the couch. My body relaxed, sinking into the soft rich leather of the couch. I grabbed the TV remote off the table in front of the couch and turned on the TV.

The large flat-screen TV was situated above the long rectangular fireplace beneath it. I was certain that the fire wasn't even real, like those faux electric ones but I wasn't completely sure. There was a glass that prevented me from getting too close to the fire to tell.

I flipped through the channels for what seemed like to be the 100th time this week. Being bored was an understatement for how I felt all week.

"Can I have my phone back?" I asked as I leaned my head back over the couch. I looked over at Vince, standing in the kitchen who was now upside down from my perspective.

I had my phone with me when I was kidnapped so I knew he had it hidden somewhere.

"I'll give it to you tonight." I heard him say.

His answer surprised me since I hadn't expected him to say yes. There wasn't much I could do anyway. If I had alerted the cops, I would die. If I told my friends, they would most likely call the cops and I would die. There was no way out of this and I knew it.

The only person I wanted to call right now without risking my life, was my dad.

I heard the sound of Vince walking off. I yawned, still tired since my sleep was cut off from the bright sun beaming through the window this morning. The sound of the TV seemed to drown out as I fell asleep on the couch.

...

"Extra strong protection for all sizes! Your dangerous little soldiers will never get through this latex!"

I rubbed my eyes, groaning at the loud male voice. Who the hell-

"Prevent STDs and pregnancies!"

Jesus Christ. I groggily opened my eyes, my vision adjusting to the light. On the TV in front of me was a condom ad.

I stretched my arms, my body sore. Although the couch was comfortable, it wasn't made for sleeping. I hopped off the couch and then turned off the TV, cutting off the annoying commercial. Glancing over to the large window off, I realized that I had slept much longer than I intended. The sky was almost dark and it was evening already.

Having nothing else to do, I decided to go explore more of the place. Maybe if I wasn't being held here against my will, I probably would care about the fact that I was exploring someone's houses without their permission. But alas, that was not the case.

I walked into the hallway by the kitchen to find another whole section of the house that I didn't know even existed. The first door closest to me was open so I peeked in. Vince didn't seem to be home at the moment so I walked in, not bothering to knock.

The room seemed to be an office with a large black rectangular table and a matching chair behind it. On the other side of the table were two other chairs. The table was a mess with papers spread across it and a laptop messily placed over them.

Behind the table were shelves, cabinets, and bookshelves that made up most of the whole wall. It was almost like a mini library with countless books, papers, and other important documents filling up the shelves.

Walking closer to behind the table to the bookshelf, I noticed that there were tons of classics on the shelves. Poetry, romance, horror– from Shakespeare to Mark Twain, he had it all. It was a bookworm's fantasy.

Turning away from the bookshelves I walked to the middle of the room where a big round carpet sat. There were a few notes and textbooks open, laying on the carpet.

This had to be where Vince's office was and where he worked.

After I was done looking around the room, I left the room and went to the next one. I twisted the door handle and stepped in, finding a bedroom. It was a lot bigger than mine but most of it was just empty space.

There was an unmade king-size bed and a flat-screen TV that sat across. Next to the bed on both sides were matching sets of nightstands. Off to the side of the room were two doors that I assumed led to the bathroom and closet. On the other side of the room was a simple desk with another laptop and a bunch of paperwork. I assumed that it was Vince's room.

I walked over to the bed, running my fingers over the mattress. I pressed my hand on it and my hand sank into it. Like mine, it was soft and comfortable.

His whole penthouse just seemed cold and bitter. The whole place seemed boring and the furthest thing from a home. How could he stand to live here?

Just when I was about to leave the room, one of the other doors opened and I halted, slowly turning my head towards the door. My heart stopped when I saw Vince step out of the door.

Coming out of the bathroom, he looked fresh and clean as if he had just taken a shower. His hair was neatly slicked back on his head while he was busy buttoning up a light grey button-up shirt.

My eyes flickered to his well-defined chest, noticing the muscles rippling beneath his clothes. He had light chest hair that sprayed across his chest which only made him even sexier than I'd originally thought. I could feel the faint familiar throb at my core as my mouth watered at the sight.

My eyes flickered away once he finished buttoning up his shirt, hoping he didn't see me stare at him. Why was I getting turned on by just watching him button up a shirt?

He cocked an eyebrow. "Did you need something?"

I pursed my lips, unsure of what to say. I was just snooping around in your room. Hope you don't mind. There was no other excuse for what I was doing. He shoved his hands into his trousers, waiting for my answer.

Think, Darcy, think. I opened my mouth, ready to say some bullshit excuse.

"Sorry I-" I stopped myself. He fixed the sleeves of his shirt before glancing back up at me again. At this point, he already knew what I was doing. There was no point in lying.

"No, I don't need anything."

I watched him walk over to the nightstand, opening the top drawer. He fished for something before finally finding it and giving it to me.

I stared at the item in his hand for a few moments before realizing what it was. It was my phone.

I grabbed my phone, immediately turning it on. I was glad it still had any battery left. A small smile spread across my cheeks.

"Where are you going?" I asked, meeting his eyes once again while waiting for my phone to turn on.

He was well dressed as if he was going on a date. I wouldn't be surprised if a guy like him had a girlfriend. Maybe he was even married. I couldn't help but glance down at his left hand. I sighed in relief when there was no ring.

My mind wandered back to the blonde girl I had seen the other night when I asked for toilet paper. Sarena. What were they?

"Business meeting." He informed me before fishing for something else in the nightstand. His mood seemed different than this morning. He was more closed off and reserved than he was this morning. Something must have come up. I didn't question what.

"I guess I'll leave," I said, muttering to myself rather than telling him. He nodded, busy looking at a paper that he had fished out of the nightstand.

I paused at the door to give him one last glance before closing the door behind me. I practically pranced off to my room with my phone in hand, wanting to call my dad as soon as possible. I closed the bedroom door behind me and clicked on my dad's contact. I pressed the phone to my ear, waiting for it to ring. Almost right after the first ring, I heard my dad's angry voice.

"Ferraro, I swear to god if you did anything to h-"

"Dad, it's me." I cut him off, slowly realizing what was going on. Vince had used my phone to contact my dad on purpose to mess with him. There was a pause on the other line. My dad still wasn't sure if it was me or not.

"Dad," I repeated, more firmly this time, trying to convince him that it was just me.

"Darcy, are you okay?" His voice was frantic and distressed.

"Yes, I'm fine." I heard a sigh of relief on the other end. With all the work he had to do already, finding $50 million before two months was the cherry on top.

"I'm sorry, I should've been more careful."

I pressed my lips together. He didn't sound sorry. He sounded more mad than sincere.

"It's not your fault, dad," I replied into the phone. I could hardly imagine the situation he was in right now or how he felt. He was being put under so much stress and pressure and there was nothing I could do to help.

I wanted to tell him not to worry about the $50 million but I quickly realized that was a stupid idea. Hey, dad, you don't have to worry about paying Vincent the $50 million anymore, just let me die instead! I snorted at the ridiculous thought. My words would probably put him into cardiac arrest if I had said it.

"It's not as bad as you think," I said into the phone. "This penthouse I'm living in right now is nice."

I heard him let out a slow shaky breath.

"You're going to die in two months if I don't pay back $50 million. How is it not as bad as I think?" I winced at my dad's harsh tone but deep inside I knew he was right. Why was I still trying to sugar coat things?

"How do you know Vince?" I asked, switching the topic to a less sensitive one.

"His father and I were close friends."

I pursed my lips, trying to piece everything together but there always seemed to be too many pieces missing. I only knew a small piece of the puzzle and no one was willing to give me any more information.

"But w–" I started to ask but was quickly cut off.

"I'm glad you're okay, Darcy." My dad butt in, trying to ignore the question. He didn't want to answer any more questions. He never did.

I didn't understand why Vince just willingly gave my dad $50 million and just assumed the money would be returned with no complications.

I sighed, laying down onto the bed. I heard the front door of the penthouse close, telling me that Vince had left.

"Mhm," I muttered back, weakly. After everything, we didn't have much to say to each other.

I had so many questions I wanted to know but I held myself back, knowing that he wasn't going to answer any. I deserved to know what was going on around me but no one felt the need to tell me any more than what I knew already.

My stomach grumbled, reminding me I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch today.

"Okay I'm going to go, Dad, I have to go eat," I said, ending the conversation. We said our goodbyes before hanging up.

I walked out of the bedroom with my phone still in my hand. Usually, Vince's cook would bring dinner a bit later around this time but I was hungry and wanted something to eat.

I walked over to the fridge, opening it, hoping to find something to eat for a snack. You'd expect a rich man like Vince to have food packed to the brim but it was the opposite. The fridge looked depressing with the little amount of food it had at the moment. It was practically empty with only a few fruits and a ketchup bottle.

I grabbed an apple and washed it in the sink before taking a bite out of it.

I decided to go look in the pantry for any other food. The pantry was where I had been tied up when I was first kidnapped.

Like the fridge, the pantry was close to empty. The only things that were there were boxes of lucky charms and pasta. I wasn't in the mood to make anything and it was too late to eat cereal so I went back out to the kitchen.

I sat down on the small seating area around the island table in the kitchen and opened my phone. I went on Google and then typed in the name Vincent Ferraro.

I wanted to find out more answers about him that I was hoping Google would tell me. After scrolling through dozens of websites and links I found more than enough.

Born in Italy, Vincent moved to the United States with his parents at the age of 7 years old. From there his father, Matteo Ferraro started a business named Ferraro Enterprises.

After a few years, the business began to grow, and not long after, Vincent Ferraro started university. But before he could even finish his studies, his dad died, leaving his pregnant wife and his 20-year-old son with the company. His mom managed the company while Vincent continued with his studies but shortly after, his mom died during childbirth after giving birth to a daughter.

So he had a sister. By now his sister had to be around the age of 8. I wondered where she was now.

Vince dropped out of university and took over his dad's company, growing it to become a multi-million dollar company within a year. As years passed by, the business only grew larger and larger. He was made to be in the business world, growing Ferraro Enterprises to become one of the most well known and biggest companies only a couple of years after taking over.

There was even more information about him, but most of them were rumors. Some talked about how great of a businessman he was and some even talked about how he killed both his parents so he could take over the company.

Geez, the internet was harsh.

I found a ton of fan pages of him on Instagram and Facebook. Most of them were all the same photos since he tended to stay away from the public eye and especially from the paparazzi. I found pictures of him at the coffee shop that I worked at that were taken not too long ago.

Why would he go out of his way to the coffee shop almost every day? And why did he move into the apartment above us? He had put in such an effort to spy on me when he could've easily hired someone else to instead. The lingering question remained in my head, unanswered. Why?

This wasn't something I could ask google. So if I wanted the answer to my questions, I would have to ask him myself.

Searching him up right now seemed like borderline stalking. I was acting like a total creep but I couldn't help but feel curious to learn more about him.

He had kidnapped me and was now holding me hostage which was a lot worse than what I was doing right now.

I threw away the core of the apple into the trash and washed my hands before I walked to the living room. I grabbed the remote, turning the TV on, and then plopped myself on the couch, once again to watch TV. If this continued to be the only thing I did all day, I would gain weight in no time but that was the least of my worries.

I clicked on Netflix and decided to watch Vampire Diaries. I've binged watched the show more times than I could count but there was no harm in watching it again. The show was addicting with a smoking hot cast and even better plot twists.

I began to watch season three, my favorite season in my opinion. I managed to binge-watch a couple of episodes before I heard the rattling of the front food that snapped me back into reality. I didn't realize how much time had passed until I looked out of the window to see it was dark already.

I broke my eyes away from the TV and looked over at the front door. The door opened and Vince stepped in, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and the first two buttons of his shirt unbuttoned. He looked worn out and tired. I didn't blame him. Being an owner of an enterprise so big, he was bound to be always weighed down by stress.

Vince closed and locked the door behind him and dropped the stack of papers in his hand on the table near the door. He finally looked up to look at me.

I had stopped breathing, caught by surprise by the intensity in his eyes as they met mine. Filthy thoughts raced through my mind and I was at a loss for words.

My body betrayed me when my lustful eyes stared into his, telling him every bit of how I felt. His expression seemed to darken as if telling me the same thing. No words were exchanged but our eyes told each other everything.

I shifted in my seat uncomfortable by the pool of arousal growing between my legs. As my heart raced faster, I became unbearably aware of the flush of heat that had rushed south.

I couldn't think about anything else besides the fact that all I wanted at the moment was him.