I Told You To Run But You Didn't (Georgia) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23

67%

誠徵

Finished

Georgia’s POV

I made my voice tremble, playing my part. “How can you do this to me?” I whispered, looking past them as if searching for an escape. “Lucas… Lucas will be furious

Fatima let out a dismissive laugh. “Oh, darling. Lucas doesn’t care about you anymore. In fact, when we show him the video of what a slut you are, he’ll thank us for giving him an easy way out.”

Jasmine’s smile widened as she glanced at the two men. Alright, boys, playtime is over. Go now. Rip that expensive dress apart! I want to see it in shreds! Then, join her in bed. We need a very convincing performance for the camera.”

They approached, their leering smiles making my stomach turn. This was their plan. So sloppy. So

arrogant.

Laughter bubbled up from my chest, sharp and mocking. They all stopped, stunned.

“You should have done your research,” I said, rising smoothly to my feet. “This sedative has a fifteen-minute activation time.”

Before they could react, I moved. The first man’s clumsy grab was easy to redirect. A quick, brutal sequence of strikes to his throat and ribs sent him gasping to the floor.

The second was smarter, staying back, but I closed the distance, broke his stance with a sweep, and brought my heel down on his ankle. The snap echoed in the silent room.

I stared at the wreckage I’d created, a dark, satisfying fury burning through me. For years, I had suppressed this part of myself for Lucas. Now, I was finally letting it loose.

A strange heat bloomed in my chest, making the air thick and hard to breathe. I saw the vapor then, a sickly-sweet mist pumped into the room. A libido-enhancing drug. My blood ran cold.

Lucas burst in, his eyes wild. “Oh, god!”

Then Fatima said, “Lucas… we can explain! This is a set up! She set us up!”

“The camera!” Jasmine shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at a pinhole lens in the wall. “Everyone downstairs is watching! Turn it off! Turn it off!”

Patricia was suddenly there, a whirlwind of protective fury. “Get away from her!” she yelled, pulling me away from the chaos. “We’re leaving.”

The world was starting to tilt. I had minutes, maybe less before I was completely gone. In the elevator, I leaned against the cool metal, my body buzzing with a humiliating, drug-induced need.

The doors opened to the parking garage, and there he was. Estevan. Waiting. Patricia ran to find her driver. and Estevan was on me in a second, scooping me into his arms before my knees could buckle.

“Police,” I gasped, burying my face in his suit jacket to hide from the dizzying lights. “Take me to the police station.”

“We both know that’s the last place you want to go right now, Georgia,” he murmured, his voice dangerously smooth. His male secretary opened the rear door, and Estevan placed me inside. “I can be your antidote.”

15:06 Thu, Mar 5 AM.

Chapter 23

67%

Finished

This man is crazy. The secretary discreetly exited the vehicle, leaving us alone in the silent, luxurious car.

“Hospital,” I insisted weakly, but my body betrayed me. My hand found his tie, my fingers clenching the silk. The drug was screaming at me to pull him down, to feel his mouth on mine. I fought it, my knuckles white. “Please… hospital…”

He caught my wrist, his thumb stroking the frantic pulse point. His eyes were black pools of intensity. “I’ll take you somewhere safe,” he whispered against my lips, not a single inch closer. “I’ll handle it.”

He pulled away and shut the door. Through the tinted glass, I saw him give a short, curt order to a frantic- looking Patricia. She nodded, her face grim, and ran for her own car. Patricia was handling the law while Estevan was handling me.

***

The first thing I registered was the scratch of a hospital lanket against my cheek. The second was that I was still wearing my gown from the banquet. It was a small mercy.

The third was him. Estevan Salvatore was sitting by the window, not looking at his phone, not reading, just watching me with an unnerving stillness.

A soft cough escaped me, and his gaze sharpened. Memories from last night-fragmented, shameful images from the back of his car-flashed through my mind.

“Oh, god,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut as if that could erase the memory of my hands on his skin.

“Good morning,” he said simply. “The doctor said you’re fine. The drugs have cleared your system.”

“I…” I struggled to sit up, my whole body burning with shame.

He tilted his head, his expression unreadable. “You were quite insistent last night.”

My blood ran cold. “What?”

“I wanted to be your ‘antidote,” he stated, not as a tease, but as a simple fact. “But you requested to go to the police, a hospital, and my mouth on yours. I chose the hospital. You’re welcome.”

My breath hitched. He was laying it all bare, leaving me with no defense. I remembered his jaw clenching under my touch, his entire body rigid with the effort of ignoring my drug-fueled advances while he drove. He hadn’t just been a gentleman; he’d been unshakable.

“T-Thank you,” I finally managed, the words feeling utterly inadequate as I stared at my hands, too mortified to look at him.

But an antidote? Why on earth would he want to be my antidote? The man was either dangerously arrogant or… something else entirely. I frowned, trying to make sense of him, until the sharp buzz of my phone on the bedside table cut through my thoughts.

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