Surrender 01 - Surrender

impulse to jump in alarm. She entered the car before the doors were fully open, then immediately stepped to the lit panel inside and pressed the lobby button, followed by the button to close the door .
    As the doors began shutting — heavens, it seemed to take forever! — Ari finally glanced up, her eyes colliding with Mr. Palazzo’s intense stare. As hard as she tried to break the connection, she couldn’t manage to turn her head away. When the doors finally snapped shut, she sagged against the back wall of the large box and waited for its slow descent.
    After the elevator made the journey without stopping along the way and the doors opened to the lobby, she stepped out and quickly made her way across the marble floor and straight through the front doors.
    Ari didn’t stop until she made it to the next block. Finally, with disappointed steps, she slowed down to a more leisurely saunter until she found a bench. She gratefully sank down. Only in that moment did she allow herself to take her first deep breath since leaving Rafe Palazzo’s office.
    She sat for a while, trying her best not to hyperventilate. She felt as if she just couldn’t get enough oxygen, but she determinedly took in slow, measured breaths. She should have said, Thank you for the offer, but no . She should have laughed at the ridiculous request. She should have…
    With a quiet, deprecating laugh, Ari cut off those thoughts. It was a waste of time to think about what she should have done. Her what if s were bad enough.
    But…could she do it? Could she sell herself? He was asking her to be nothing more than a high-paid prostitute, right? That’s what it boiled down to, like a scene right out of Indecent Proposal .
    Forcing herself to stand, Ari began walking the three blocks to the Palazzo Corporation parking garage. Without noticing the time that had passed during her rambles, she went up the outside steps to the third floor of the parking structure, spotted her car and climbed in the front seat. She just sat there for a moment.
    As she started the engine and began driving slowly down the ramps to the exit, she remained lost in thought. She needed to get home and review the papers he’d given her — reassure herself that she couldn’t take the job.
    Making such a colossal decision required serious consideration. A few months ago, she never would have even considered the possibility that something like this went on. She’d been truly naïve to the world around her, protected from life’s harsh realities. However, all her innocence had shattered the day the police had shown up at that college party.
    In her mother’s last conscious moments, her only concern had been for Ari’s safety. Her mom had managed to tell the officers they needed to get to her daughter — that Ari was in danger. Only then had her mother succumbed to her injuries.
    Instead of her mother, it was the policemen who’d showed up at the frat house where Ari was waiting, and then who’d transported her to the hospital. She’d waited for hours in the lobby, terror helping to sober her up fast.
    When the doctor eventually came out of surgery , his news hadn’t been good. Her mother was stable, but in a coma. They’d done all they could do for her. Only time would tell if she’d ever come out of it.
    Sandra Harlow had had severe swelling in her brain, and they’d had to operate, drilling burr holes in her skull. Along with the head injuries, she’d also suffered two broken ribs, a cracked hip, and lacerations to her face. When Ari entered her mom’s room, she’d nearly passed out at the scene before her. Its image haunted her even now.
    If the staff hadn’t guaranteed that the person lying in the bed was her mother, Ari wouldn’t have known. The woman had been unrecognizable with her swollen face and the bandages covering her. Ari had sobbed as she’d laid her head on her mother’s bed and apologized repeatedly. If it hadn’t been for Ari, her mom would be home, sleeping safe and sound. Ari would never forgive herself for what she’d done.
    Struggling to push such heart-wrenching memories aside, Ari focused on the road and pulled up at her small studio apartment. She slowly made her ascent up the staircase, her feet dragging as her mind raced. The papers Rafe had handed her were burning a hole in her purse.
    She got to her door and fiddled with the key for several moments — if she didn’t get it into the lock just right, it wouldn’t turn. Heck, she