Page 48 of Wanting the Fight

PEYTON

Icould feel the piercing in my skull before I even opened my eyes. The nausea was overwhelming. With my eyes closed, I could feel the room spinning.

Shielding my eyes with my hands, I opened them and looked around the room. I was hoping last night was all just a bad dream, but it wasn’t. I had no clue where I was. All I knew was that I’d been drugged.

However, I wasn’t expecting to wake up dressed in a sexy set of pink lingerie in a room that looked like it belonged on theGone with the Windmovie set. Every piece of furniture was antique, from the wardrobe and dressers to the four-poster canopy bed. There was even a fainting couch across the room, nestled up against the pale blue wall with my suitcase resting on it.

Heart racing, I jumped out of bed, only my legs gave out and I collapsed onto the floor. It felt as if I hadn’t walked in days. I had no clue what time or what day it even was. There wasn’t a clock or a TV in the room. Once I stretched my legs, I unsteadily got to my feet and stumbled over to the fainting couch.

I sat down and unzipped my suitcase, desperate to find a change of clothes. The thought of one of those guys touching me to put me in the lingerie made me sick. I didn’t want to think of what else they did to my body. From what I could tell, there wasn’t any pain between my legs, and there was no evidence that I’d been raped.

My phone was in my hoodie pocket last night, but I couldn’t find the sweatshirt anywhere in my stuff. So I dug through my things and changed into a pair of leggings and an oversized green sweater. My prenatal pills were underneath everything else, and when I reached for them, the door to the room opened.

Grabbing my chest, I jerked around to see an older woman, probably in her early seventies, with her gray hair in a bun and wearing a black housekeeping dress with a white apron. It was as if I’d stepped into an alternate universe. None of it made any sense. She had a silver tray in her hands, and on top was a covered dish and a small carafe of water.

“Good evening, Ms. Emerson,” she said sweetly, smiling kindly at me. “My name is Martha.” I was still in shock as I watched her bring over the tray and set it on the small wooden table next to me.

“Evening?” I asked. “Is it not morning?”

The woman chuckled lightly. “Heavens, no. You slept the entire day. I figured you’d be hungry, so I brought you some dinner. I wanted to ensure you were taken care of before I left for the day.”

“Where am I?”

Martha’s hazel eyes furrowed in confusion. “You’re at Aubrey Oak Plantation. I figured you knew that.”

Before I could speak, another woman marched through the door. She was younger and looked to be in her late twenties. Her sleek blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but it was her cold, dark eyes that made me wary. The black leather pants she wore hugged her petite frame, and the same went for her red top. When she smiled, I could tell it was fake.

“I can take over from here, Martha.”

Martha patted my hand in a grandmotherly way. “Be sure to check out the gardens. They’re beautiful.”

She strolled out the door, leaving me alone with Barbie and her crazy eyes. “Who are you?” I asked her.

The woman marched over to the windows and peered out, her expression bored. “Cecilia. I wanted to make sure you were awake.” She glared at me with her salty gray eyes. “Eat so we can get going. Someone is waiting for you.”

“Who?” I demanded.

Cecilia moved away from the window, her gaze darkening even more. “You don’t have the power to ask those kinds of questions. You’re in my domain now. The world doesn’t revolve around you here.” Her words were laced with jealousy and malice. There was something familiar about her, almost as if I knew who she was. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t place her.

“What about Ethan Jameson? Is he okay?”

Her sneer turned into a smile; I didn’t like it. “You mean your boyfriend? Yeah, that’s not a secret around here. You two should’ve been more careful if you were trying to keep that a secret.”

“Please,” I said, hating myself for even saying the word to her. I would do anything to make sure Ethan was all right. “Is Ethan okay?”

Cecilia shrugged. “I think so. You’ll get to see him later. He’s with the others.” She waved me off. “Now stop asking questions and eat. I need you ready in ten minutes.”

My stomach was too queasy to eat, but I knew I had to for the babies. When I opened the covered dish lid, steam billowed out and there was salmon, pasta, and broccoli. I forced as much down as possible and drank the entire carafe of water. Cecilia watched me the whole time, impatiently tapping her foot. Once I was done, I stood and followed her to the door. She led me out into the hallway, and just like in the bedroom, every bit of furniture was antique. We passed a library and another couple of bedrooms that looked as if no one had ever slept in them. Everything was pristine.

“Are we in Wilmington?”

Cecilia huffed. “Nope. Louisiana.”

The breath whooshed out of my lungs. “You can’t be serious? What the hell am I doing here?” What terrified me even more was how anyone would find Ethan and me.

She scoffed. “What did I say about the questions? You’re really fucking annoying.”

“Yeah, well, excuse me for wanting to know why Ethan and I were kidnapped in the middle of the night. None of this is making any sense.”

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