Page 2 of Freeing Emily

Praying under my breath, I begin scratching at the skin on my thigh - a new habit I’ve formed since being kidnapped. Pain is the only way I can escape from the misery in my mind. The only way the voices stop echoing in my subconscious. Scars now litter my body from where I have either scratched, picked, or cut myself but I can’t stop. The agonizing need to silence the noise is unbearable.

“Hey,” a whisper causes me to nearly jump out of my skin.

I turn my head to a beautiful woman close to my age with light green eyes, olive skin, and long dark waves. She holds her hands up.

“Do you know where we are?” she asks softly with a natural rasp in her voice.

“We’re at an auction… in Mexico,” I mumble nearly inaudibly.

Her face pales and she searches my hollow eyes. I’m not sure what she’s looking for. There’s nothing there anymore. My once bright blue eyes have now become as gloomy as the Black Sea.

“My name is Paige Henley,” the smile she gives me is sad, but I struggle to feel any emotion at the sight of it.

“I’m Emily,” I try to offer her a smile in return but I’m sure it looks more like a grimace.

Her lips part slightly, and her eyes fill with panic that I don’t understand.

“E… Emily?” her voice cracks as her eyes become glossy.

“Emily Moore,” I confirm. She doesn’t look familiar at all but then again, I’ve met an astronomical number of people in my lifetime.

A shaky hand raises to her lips as she continues to stare at me. Recognition and sadness begin to cover her features. My brows knit in confusion and the uneasy feeling that I’m not going to like what I hear spreads through my body.

“Oh my God… you’re Declan’s sister, aren’t you?” her question comes out in a pained whisper.

My body fills with adrenaline at the sound of my brother’s name on her lips. The fact that she knows who I am gives me some small piece of hope that maybe Declan knows she’s missing and will come.

“You know Declan?” I say and hunch forward. Each beat of my heart booms in my ears.

“Y-yes… Oh my God… Emily.” she sobs into her hand, tears flowing down her cheeks. “How are you here? Declan said you were in Ireland with your mom.”

The shame of my stupidity replaces my adrenaline. My stomach churns and I chew on my bottom lip.

I tell her about meeting a guy in Ireland just a few days after arriving and him kidnapping me. I foolishly allowed myself to try and find a distraction to help the emotional pain I was feeling, and it cost me everything.

I’m not sure how my abduction has been hidden from Declan and my ma for as long as it has and it’s unclear if I’ll ever find out.

When I ask her how she knows my brother, she tells me he’s someone very important to her, but she was too afraid of being with him, so she ran and ended up here.

My brother seems to have found the love of his life and she here in purgatory.

Ain’t that a bitch?

The back of my eyes burn as tears form. Reaching over, I intertwine my fingers with hers and we sit in silence surrounded by our depressing reality.

“Take Liam with you to the docks to check the shipment we are set to receive today.” Conor – the Irish mafia boss – gestures to me.

Declan and Rhys nod their heads in acceptance of the order.

“Let’s go,” Declan says to me and strides out of the study.

Today is my first official day in America. Cormac – Conor’s brother – sent me and a few other men from Ireland to work under Conor after he recently had an altercation with the Russians and lost several men. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about being here. I’ve never been to this country, and I don’t know much about Conor aside from him being a ruthless and cruel leader.

Keeping my strides even with the two men before me, I collide with a small body when we pass through the foyer, and they fall to the ground with an “oof”.

“Shite, I’m sorry,” I exclaim.

I work to help whomever I knocked over when bright, turquoise-blue eyes meet mine. I’m rendered completely immobile and speechless. The sweet scent of berries andwildflowers assaults my senses. Electricity sweeps across every surface of my skin.

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