by Joya Ryan
“I’m going to get some water,” I said and squeezed Rhys’s hand as I walked around the corner and out of sight to the drinking fountain.
The few sips of cold liquid felt good going down my throat, which was dry and scratchy. I wanted to splash some on my face, but I was wearing my nice clothes for the first time in the past several weeks and I wasn’t willing to ruin the illusion that I was a put-together woman.
Taking a deep breath, I headed back the way I came. Just before I rounded the corner to where I left Rhys and my brother, the serious tone of his voice caught my attention and I stopped.
“I have a few men walking the perimeter of the building. If he comes close, we’ll get him,” Rhys said to Adam.
“I want to thank you for your work in this and for keeping Emma safe. I’ve never hired a bodyguard before, but I’m glad you were available for this extended period of time.”
My brain felt like it was instantly swelling, struggling to process what my brother was saying to Rhys.
“I sent contracts over to your New York office this morning,” Adam continued. “I’d like Striker Solutions to be Kinkade Enterprises’ security detail.”
I peeked around the corner just enough to see Rhys nod and my heart stopped. I felt dizzy and my face tingled like I had been smacked. There was no way I was hearing this right.
“Rhys?” I stepped from the corner and both Adam and Rhys looked at me. Rhys looked like he was caught in a firestorm and Adam’s expression was sort of sickly. Bad sign.
I kept my eyes on Rhys. “Did my brother hire you?”
“Just now?” Adam interjected. “Yes, I did.”
“No,” I said quickly. “I’m talking about me, and you know it.” I looked back at Rhys. “Were you hired to protect me?”
He didn’t frown like he’d misheard me or smile and shrug it off, saying I was being dramatic. He just stared. And one thing I recognized covered his face.
Guilt.
“Yes,” he said and his voice broke a little. “That’s how it started, at least.”
“Started?” I breathed out, my world suddenly lacking enough oxygen. “When exactly did this start? After the night I came to your hotel room?”
He closed his eyes and looked down.
“No . . .” I shook my head, bile rising in my throat, threatening to make me throw up. “Tell me it at least started after that night.”
“Adam hired me the night before the gala.”
“You mean before we even met?” My heart dropped to my feet. That was the beginning. Before the beginning. Rhys approached me knowing I was a job.
“But it . . . how . . . no . . .” I was mumbling, couldn’t find any solid ground to stand on. “The night I came to your hotel, the night Mase almost got me in Times Square…”
“I was right behind you the entire time. I was about to take Mase out but you broke free and ran. I went after you instead of him.”
Reality hit. I had been running toward Rhys, and he was following me the entire time. That was why he came in after me. Because he was hired to do so.
“Emma,” Adam said and held up his hand. “I knew you were running. Knew that’s why you went to New York. You weren’t listening to me, to Kate, we couldn’t get you to tell us anything or come home. I just wanted you to be safe. Rhys came highly recommended and — ”
“Did he?” I choked out. “I’m so glad he was a good choice for this setup.”
The only thing my brain would churn out right then was every moment, every experience, I had shared with Rhys. Everything I’d said . . . felt . . . all of it just left me the fool.
“It was all lies,” I said, water creeping up behind my eyes.
“No, Emma.” Rhys stepped toward me and I backed away. “Everything that happened between us was real.”
I looked at him and for the first time, I couldn’t hold back the tears. I didn’t cry when I was roofied, didn’t cry when I thought I was being followed, didn’t cry when the apartment got broken into. But there, standing in front of Rhys and realizing what a pathetic person I was . . .
I cried.
“You were unprofessional.” I repeated the words he had said and now the meaning finally kicked in. I hadn’t thought anything of it. But it was a slip. One I’d missed. That was why he’d tried to pull away that week. Because I was a job.
I hadn’t known it, but I was trading something for his protection. And the cost was far greater than what my brother was paying.
“There’s nothing professional about us, baby.” Rhys stepped forward again, but I backed away. “You’re so much more to me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I was going to once all this was done.”
“I trusted you.” I felt sick. So incredibly sick. Yet he looked at me like I was the one who sucker-punched him in the gut.
“I know. I didn’t want to hurt you,” he said.
I shook my head. “I hate it when people say that. Because that’s exactly what you did. And you knew it. The whole goddamn time.”
I swiped the back of my hand under my eyes, turned and ran into the ladies room and broke down. Crying for everything that hurt. All of it didn’t hold a candle to what had just been delivered.
The pain took me to the floor. Slicing over and over, cracking my ribs and burning my throat. I let it spread through me and eat me alive, because it was the only thing left to feel. All the goodness, the ignorant bliss of believing there was something between Rhys and me, was replaced with sharp stinging jabs of loss.
Lies.
All of it.
Every moment we connected, every time he looked at me, every ounce of his warmth, every sweep of his hands against my skin . . .
Lies.
I hated him. I loved him. The warring feelings were tearing me apart from the inside out.
I was never wanted from the beginning. Hell, before the beginning. I wasn’t wanted when I was still part of my mother. I wasn’t wanted by any family or foster home, and I was never wanted by Rhys.
I was a job. A fucking job. He was hired to watch me.
I should have listened to my gut the first ten times it told me that I didn’t belong with a man like Rhys. Didn’t belong in his world. Instead, I did the one thing I’d promised myself all those years ago that I’d never do: I hoped for more.
Then I stupidly trusted him to deliver on that. Stupidly believed that I deserved more, deserved what other people found so easily.
Picking myself up, I gripped the sink and hung my head. Nothing made sense anymore. Running from my past didn’t matter because it felt like my future had just been ripped from my hands. I needed to get away. I needed to testify and get out of there.
Though leaving now would have been preferable, I had to do my part to keep Castor locked up. If he got out and hurt someone else because I didn’t say something, that would be on me.
Once this was over, I’d be gone. Away from Rhys, from Adam, from all of this. And this time, I didn’t care who knew it or not.
Standing up straight, I gasped when I saw a reflection beside mine in the mirror.
“Hello, Emma.”
Mase.
I opened my mouth to yell but he stuck a gun to the back of my head. “You fucking scream and you know what will happen?”
“Yeah, the police will be on your ass in two seconds.” It was all I could do to fake confidence, especially when my eyes were puffy from crying and my throat still ached from the sobbing.
“No. You scream and that pretty boyfriend of yours will come running in and I’ll shoot him in the head.”
I swallowed hard, knowing Mase was right.
“Now, you’re going to come with me. Quietly.” He flicked the gun in the direction of the window.
“No,” I said, hoping he didn’t hear the tremble in my voice. “If you want to kill me, just do it. Right here, right now.”
I was tired of running. He caught me, this was it.
“Well, that wouldn’t look good for my brother’s case, now, wou
ld it? Little too convenient. No, I’m going to hang on to you for a bit. Let this hearing happen. Once Castor is free, then kill you.” He shoved me toward the window, opened it and gripped my arm, all but throwing me out. We were on the first floor which unfortunately made it easy to get out. “You open your mouth, I will kill your boyfriend and maybe even your brother just for fun.”
I swallowed hard. It was time to go quietly. I gripped my purse tight and crawled through the window. Mase was right behind me. Just when he got out, I heard the door boom open and Rhys call out for me.
“Get the fuck in the car,” Mase yelled and pulled me toward a black Suburban on the side of the road.
“Emma!” I heard Rhys call as Mase shoved me in the passenger seat, ran around the front of the car and fired a shot in Rhys’s direction.
“Don’t!” I screamed, and looked over the headrest. Rhys wasn’t hit, thank God. Mase got into the driver’s seat. Keeping the gun pointed at me, he started the ignition.
The tires squealed and I looked over the seat to see Rhys running behind me.
“Emma!” Pumping his arms he kept chasing, even as Mase picked up speed. “Emma!” he yelled again, not slowing down.
My chest constricted. No one had ever come for me before. And he didn’t stop. Not when Mace gunned it, and not when he pulled into a major intersection. Even as the distance between us grew, Rhys kept going. Kept trying to reach me.
When he was just a small dot in the distance and I could barely see him, he was still running and calling out for me.
~
“Really coming up in the world, Mase,” I said as I looked around the abandoned warehouse dump he drove us to.
Remembering one of the self-defense sessions with Rhys, I did my best to stay confident and slipped off my shoes to get better balance. He wasn’t going to kill me just yet, so the best thing I could do was be aware of my surroundings and keep him talking.
“Shut up,” he said and pushed me further inside, snagging my purse from my arm and dumping the contents. He smashed my cell, then emptied my wallet and took the couple bucks I had.
“Didn’t you rip me off enough already when you wrecked my apartment?” I spat. I needed every survival instinct, every bit of street girl savvy and attitude I could draw on to stay alive.
“You didn’t have much to steal.” He strode closer and I kept him in front of me. Circling as he circled me.
“So this is your grand plan? Bring me out here to shoot me?”
“That wouldn’t be very much fun.” Mase’s voice was enough to send a dose of terror up my spine.
Clutching the gun in one hand, he ran the other along his belt while his eyes trailed from my knees to my neck and back down. My scalp instantly burned and pricked with unease. I recognized that creepy leer.
“We still have a few hours before we’re in the clear and Castor’s hearing is wrapped up.” Another slow slide of that disgusting gaze over my body and he took a step toward me. “And I know just how to pass the time.”
“With me kicking your ass?” Self-confidence was just a dream at this point, but I still tried.
He laughed. “Feisty. I like that. We both know how this is going to end, so be a good girl and make this easy on yourself.”
My stomach was in my throat and I refused to let my brain drift back to ten years ago. The only reason I functioned decently now as an adult was because I had successfully blocked out the short time I’d spent under the thumb of Castor. But I refused to be the victim. Then or now.
“You’re a worthless piece of shit,” I growled at him. Accessing every ounce of my energy and anger. Mase was right, I did know how this was going to end. With a fight.
“So you want to do this the hard way?” He took another step toward me.
I backed up until my shoulders met the wall.
“I will hurt you,” I informed him just as he reached me.
“I said, shut the fuck up,”
Without warning, he backhanded me with the gun. My cheek exploded in pain and my vision wavered. I stumbled, clutching the wall behind me, forcing myself to stay on my feet.
A crackle of heat raced to where the butt of the gun hit my face and a warm drop of blood trickled to my jaw.
Stay on your feet at all times . . .
I heard Rhys’s voice ring out in my head. Mase shoved the gun into his belt and pushed me flat against the wall.
“This stunt isn’t going to save your brother’s ass and the cops will find you and you’ll be rotting in there right next to him.”
That pissed him off. He went to grab me. I tried to outmaneuver him, but he delivered a blow to my stomach, knocking the wind out of me, and slammed me against the wall again.
“You always had a fucking mouth on you, didn’t you?” he said, saliva hitting my face when he spoke. Weaving his fingers in my hair, he tugged so hard it burned my scalp. He licked my mouth. I jerked my head to the side to get away. “Oooh, don’t like me anymore, eh, Emma?”
He stepped on my foot with one of his and pulled my hair again while his free hand reached down and yanked open his belt.
“Let’s see if I can get you to loosen up.”
Seconds. I had only seconds, and suddenly I felt very much like the weak person I wanted never to be.
No!
I forced myself to stay conscious and get out of this. Using my forearm like Rhys taught me, I punched out and caught Mase in the side.
“Fuck! You bitch!” He hit me again, this time with a fist instead of a gun and that about put me over the edge of consciousness.
My cheek and eye were swelling up and bleeding and this blow busted my lip and left a ringing in my ears.
He used both hands on my neck now. I shot my arms up and spread them to alleviate the pressure, then jammed my thumbs in his eyes.
“Ah!” When his grip eased further, I hiked my knee between his legs and he went down.
Breaking free and breathing hard, I tried to step around him, attempting to run.
He kicked out at my legs, taking me to the ground.
No! Feet! Stay on your feet!
“Help!” I screamed and scrambled to stand. “Help!” I yelled again, but knew it was useless.
I could barely see or maintain my balance from the throbbing pain in my head. I tasted blood on my lips, my belly stung and I couldn’t breathe right.
I was ten feet from the door when it was kicked open and I saw Rhys.
“You came,” I choked out. It was like witnessing a miracle. Maybe it was. Maybe I had passed out already and this was all a dream.
Mase yelled something from behind me. I turned to see him pull the gun from his belt and aim at Rhys. Fantasy or reality, my reaction was the same.
I ran toward Rhys and threw myself at him just as a loud bang went off and a sharp slice of pain hit my right shoulder.
More of the bangs rang out, hurting my already sensitive ears. Everything was a blur and I couldn’t stand up any longer. I tried to keep my body near Rhys, to cover him, but I was slipping.
A chill washed over me. It came from the inside, not the outside. Something like a warm blanket wrapped around me. With my eyes squeezed shut, I went to cling to it, to pull it tighter around me, but it wasn’t fabric, it was arms. Rhys’s arms.
“Emma? Emma baby, look at me.” Rhys said, holding me and gently easing with me to the floor.
No, not the floor. Feet! I had to tell him Mase had a weapon. Had to save him.
“Get away,” I said. “H-he’s got a gun.”
“I know, baby. He’s dead. He won’t hurt you anymore. You just hang on, okay?”
It took every ounce of will I had to open my eyes. But only one did, because no matter how hard I tried, the other wouldn’t move, it was swollen shut.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, trying to look up at him.
The concrete floor was so cold that even though Rhys held me, all I felt was a chill seeping up from the ground and clawing at me.
“I’m fi
ne. Ah, baby, what did you do?” he said softly.
“I saved your ass.” I smiled, then coughed and an icky metallic taste lined my throat. My lip felt busted and my inner cheek throbbed and bled from being cut on my teeth. Something heavy and painful pushed down on my shoulder and it took me a moment to realize it was Rhys’s big palm putting pressure on the wound. I thought I heard him say that the bullet when straight through.
“I tried to stay on my feet,” I said, but I didn’t recognize my own voice. It sounded too garbled and distant to be mine.
“You did so good, baby.” Something wet hit my forehead. Barely able to see through the haze, I made out that it was Rhys’s gray eyes shedding tears.
Sirens sounded in the distance and came closer. “Help is almost here, you just hang on.”
“You found me . . .”
“Of course, I bugged you, remember?” His tone was soft and I wanted to smile, but it hurt. “Emma, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. You’re my world. I swear with everything I am, Emma, you’re it for me.” His hands tightened. “This is my fault, baby. I’m so sorry. Please just hang on. Please.”
Somewhere in my foggy mind I realized that Rhys, a big strong man, was on his knees, begging me, a small woman, for something. I didn’t know if it was the feel of him holding me or the look in his eyes, but I believed him. And I didn’t care if that meant I was trusting or stupid. Instead, I decided that it meant I was in love with him. And there was something he had to know. I had to say before my mouth refused to stop working.
“Listen to me Rhys.” I coughed again and that time a hefty taste of blood flooded my mouth.
“Shhh, just rest, they’re almost here.”
I shook my head. “No, listen. This isn’t your fault. You have to promise me that you’ll let go of this. You can’t keep blaming yourself for all the badness in the world.”
“Emma . . .”
“I love you, Rhys.”
“Damn it,” he growled and more of his tears hit my forehead. “Emma Wade, you are the most stubborn woman on this earth. Don’t you dare give in now. You hold on. Do you hear me?”
“Will you just stay here for a moment?” I said, but it didn’t sound very clear.