The next few days were endless stretches of despair for Emma. She had no sense of time in the tiny room without windows. She based her conception of time on how often the door would open and a man came in to empty the bucket in the corner, give her half a glass of water and sometimes a piece of bread. The first time, Emma had tried to just drink a little of the water, hoping to spread it out to last longer. But when the man left the room, he took the glass and the remaining water with him. Emma learned quickly to drain the water and gulf down any food as soon as she could. Still, it wasn’t enough. Her body craved food and water. She had a constant headache and her stomach had stopped rumbling and instead set into a constant cramp. Another sign of the time passing outside the room was the changing of her bruises. They went from irritated red, to blue and yellow and then slowly fading. Emma tried to move around as soon as her legs were strong enough to carry her. The constant sitting or
Emma’s hair was matted and looked lifeless, its usual golden blond was a dull dust beige. There were only faint bruises visible on her face. It didn’t look like any permanent damage had been done. But she looked like a walking dead. Her skin was dull, her eyes sunken in and she had a weary look in her eyes that Emma didn’t recognise. She sighed and wondered if she should strip out of her dirty clothes and lie on top of the bed. The thought of getting naked made her skin crawl. She sighed and went back into the room and slid down to sit next to the bed, resting her back against it. Emma fell asleep like that and was awakened by the klick of the lock. She struggled to her feet as the door opened. In walked the woman Walker had brought to Bane’s office. She looked as surprised to see Emma as Emma did to see her. “Hi,” Emma rasped. “The water has been turned on. It will be shut off in ten minutes,” the woman informed Emma, and held out a towel and small bottles with shampoo and conditio
Emma sat, newly showered, in her robe on her bed and waited. The lock clicked, and the door opened. Jacob walked into her room carrying a mug and a box. “This is for you,” he told her and handed her the mug. “Thank you, she said out of pure habit and started blowing on the hot beverage as she enjoyed the smell of coffee. “Do I need to drink it straight away?” she asked. Emma knew she would scold her tongue and probably her throat if she tried to force it down while hot. “No, you are allowed to drink it while you get ready, but don’t do anything stupid,” he told her. She nodded. “I’ll place this here. You have an hour to get ready,” he said. He placed the box on the bed next to her, took one look at her, and smiled. “You look really pretty like that.”“Eh, thank you,” Emma said. “See you later,” he told her before he left. Emma took her mug into the bathroom and placed it on the counter, taking a small sip of it. It tasted better than any other coffee she ever had. She knew it was
Walker yanked on Jasmin’s hair and she bent herself backwards until her body was like an arch, forcing her to look up at Walker.“I will fucking show you what happens when you think you can play me for a fool. Luckily for you, I still got something I wanted out of the deal, or you would have ended up dead,” he told her in a cold voice. “Victor!” he shouted. The door opened, and a man came inside. Emma had a vague memory of him from her first evening as Bane’s pet. “Take her to the guests. Tonight, and only tonight, we have a special discount. The madame is free for all, only restriction is no permanent damage and no killing,” Walker said, and pushed Jasmin towards Victor. Victor grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room. Emma could hear her objections getting weaker the further away he dragged her. Fear filled her. That could be her if Walker wasn’t happy with her. But to make him happy… She tried to swear in her mind, but as always, it just sounded strange and felt wrong. She h
“What have you done, pet?” Walker asked. Emma looked down at her hand and the glass she was still holding. Walker started walking and as he still held Emma by her hair, she was yanked along. They walked to where Jacob was shouting. “Shut the fuck up. What happened?” Walker asked. “The fucking little whore smashed my head with a glass,” Jacob screamed. Walker looked down at Emma, then at his son. “If I would have known that all it took for you to show some fucking balls was to let a whore smash you in the head, I would have arranged it years ago,” Walker said with a dark chuckle. “I find myself almost impressed. But just almost. She is yours to punish as you please. It’s your reward for finally showing what I have been waiting for since I found you,” he continued, pushing Emma straight into his son’s chest. Jacob grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her upstairs. Emma knew this was it. She had almost used up all her energy on trying to get away. She wouldn’t get a second chanc
Bane was sitting in the dark van that was parked in an alley, trying to be invisible, which was hard for a vehicle of its size. Bane had a hard time sitting still. He was bouncing his knee up and down, staring at the com system, willing it to come to life. Jax, that was sitting next to him, gave him an annoyed look. Bane glared back at him. Bane’s temper was not at its best. Three weeks. Fucking three weeks. They had made him wait. If Bane was being fair, which he wasn’t in the mood to be, it hadn’t been Jax’s, Luke’s or Tom’s fault that it had taken three weeks. If they had known where Emma had been held, nothing could have kept him from going after her. But that had been the issue. No one could find where Walker had been keeping her. It had taken Spenser less than three hours to find Emma’s aunt and uncle and drag them back. That had been an entertaining evening, Bane thought. Within thirty minutes of Bane stepping into the same room as Jonas Cobler, he had told Bane everything he k
Relief so powerful that it almost felt like a tidal wave flooded his system. That was, until he registered the state of her. She looked so tired, and why did it look like she had lost weight? But in her brilliant blue eyes, he could see hope. Then his focus shifted to the man that was dragging her backwards by the arm. Walker’s son, Bane realised. As Emma was dragged out of his view, Bane turned towards the chaos that was playing out on the ground level. Jax and his men had made progress. They were forcing most of Walker’s men to the right while some of Bane’s men herded the guests and workers to the left. No one was foolish enough to assume the guests and workers were harmless. They all knew that there could be numerous guns, knives and other things hidden amongst them. They would be searched and dealt with when this thing was over.“Found the item,” Bane shouted. Jax, Luke and Tom looked at him and he glanced toward the stairs. They all nodded. There was an effort made to clear the
Emma woke up feeling dazed. Her mind was fuzzy, and it took her a minute to remember what had happened. She tensed up as she remembered the small room she had been in the last weeks. Then she realised she was home. No, not home. She was in Bane’s bed. Someone was holding her hand, and she squeezed it to make herself relax. “Emma?” she heard Bane say, and she turned her head towards the sound. Bane had pulled up one of the armchairs next to the bed and was sitting in it, holding her hand. Emma smiled at him and felt herself relax. He looked tired, but he returned her smile.“Hi,” she said, her voice sounded hoarse and dry.“Hi, angel. How are you feeling?” he asked. Emma thought about it. She had a feeling she should be in a lot of pain, but she wasn’t. “Fine, a bit fuzzy, like my brain is wrapped in a soft cloud. And I’m thirsty and I think I’m a little hungry as well,” she told him. Bane reached out with his free hand and stroked her hair. “You are on some heavy pain medication. I