Page 17 of Tempted By Sin

Huh… when did the masked man have time to take it off? When he left me last night, thoroughly exhausted, the chain had still been attached to me.

Now that I think about it, where is he right now?

“Let’s go, miss. We need to get you checked out.” The officer extends his hand to me, and I take it, allowing him to help me off the bed. After he cleaned me up last night, my kidnapper provided me with a clean T-shirt. I’m wearing that, my bra, and my jeans. I have no idea what happened to my ruined panties.

Maybe he kept them as a souvenir.

“Where is he?” I murmur, looking around the room I have been trapped in for seven days. “Did you find him?”

“The man who kidnapped you?” the officer questions as he guides me out of the room. “No, we haven’t been able to locate him as of yet. But rest assured, we have our best men on the job. We will find him. From what we have surveyed of the area, whoever kidnapped you left no evidence behind. This leads us to believe he was a professional.”

A professional? Why would a professional kidnapper go through all this trouble to kidnap me, keep me trapped here for seven days, and then suddenly disappear without so much as getting a dollar for me?

He got nothing from me at all–besides my dignity after last night, of course.

None of this makes any sense.

We step into the hallway I had heard my captor walk down three times a day for the past week. As we walk down it, the floorboards creaking beneath us, I realize it’s not as long as I thought it was. Or maybe that was just my imagination tricking me into thinking the house was larger than it is. In reality, I have been staying in a shack.

The hallway opens into what appears to be a small living area with an attached kitchen, a single couch, and a tiny television on a wooden table. No artwork hanging on the beige walls, the kitchen cabinets and appliances have seen better days, and the cushions on the couch have holes and burn marks scattered across them. There isn’t much to the small space, and as I walk toward the front door, I realize the room I was trapped in was the only bedroom.

Had the masked man been sleeping on the couch this whole time?

The moment I walk through the front door, sunlight assaults my vision. I hiss at the intrusion and cover my eyes. As much as I’ve dreamed about feeling the warm sunlight on my skin, I wasn’t expecting how much it would hurt seeing it for the first time in seven days. But I don’t let it deter me from gazing around at my surroundings.

Trees as far as the eye can see surround me in every direction. No matter which way I turn, thick green foliage meets my gaze. It doesn’t feel like I’m anywhere close to New York City, so where the hell am I?

“Come on, miss. We have someone waiting to see you.”

I follow the officer over to the multiple SWAT vehicles parked among the tree line nearby. It’s hard to make sense of the number of officers lingering around, talking on their phones or to each other. About what? I’m not sure. Maybe they’re discussing where my captor went and how best to find his ass.

A head of dirty blond hair catches my eye before I see his face. Liam turns away from the officer he’s talking to and meets my gaze. A smile splits his face at the sight of me, and I must admit I do the same.

I never thought I would see my fiancé again, and now that I’m looking at him, a wave of emotions crashes over me.

He’s here. Liam is really here.

He rushes in my direction, and as soon as his arms wrap around me in a tight embrace, I’m unable to stop the waterworks. Tears stream down my face as he brushes his hand over my hair, soothing me. This is the physical touch I have been craving.

“Oh, Pae, I’m so glad you’re okay,” Liam murmurs against my hair, his arms tightening around me.

I bury my face in his chest, inhaling his familiar scent. Tears continue to moisten my cheeks as I sob into his white button-down shirt. I’m creating a mess, I know, but I’m helpless to stop it. My emotions are all over the place. Guilt is one of them, reminding me of my betrayal of Liam last night, but I push the feeling away, not wanting to think about it.

“You’re okay,” Liam coos, rubbing my back with his other hand. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

Blinking away the tears, I lift my head to meet his gray eyes. “How did they find me?”

“When Raya called to tell me what happened the night you were kidnapped, I went straight to the police to help in any way I could. I provided them with as much information as possible that could be used to track you down. We have spent every waking moment the past seven days trying to locate you, and after we got wind from an informant in prison about a young woman being held captive out in the forest outside of the city, we knew we had found you.”

Through my blurred vision, the warmth in Liam’s eyes calms my racing heart, and the tears slow. Being in his arms still doesn’t feel real, but I know now I’m safe. I’m free of my captor, and hopefully, I never have to see his face again.

“You saved me,” I breathe. Knowing Liam had a hand in my rescue swells my heart with pride and love. He did everything he could to help me, and I’ll be forever grateful for his dedication. All those nights I laid awake wondering what he was doing, and if he was looking for me, weren’t for nothing. “I love you.”

Liam smiles and leans down to press a delicate kiss to my forehead, nearly bringing more tears to my eyes. “I love you too, Pae. Now, let’s go get you checked out. The further we are from this place, the better. From now on, you’ll always be safe with me.”

Liam wraps his arm around my shoulders, holding me to his side as he guides me over to the ambulance nearby. The further I get from the shack, the stronger the memories become of what occurred while I was trapped inside. No matter how hard I push them to the back of my mind, they continue to claw their way to the surface, making their presence known. They refuse to allow me to forget—to move on.

I manage to smile at the kind nurse waiting to look me over, but I’m lost once again in the deepest part of the ocean, slowly drowning but unable to scream for help.

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