Page 4 of Emily's Essence

“Yeah, they all do.”

“Then it will work. Let’s head up,” Hawk said.

His hold on her tightened as they took the stairs, and she was thankful for it.

“Yo, Blade, give me the one with the king.”

They got to one of the rooms, and Hawk unlocked it. When it swung open, she finally realized how this would play out. “Is this mine?”

“Yes, and me and my vice, Brick, will be in here, too.”

“Can’t I have my own room?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, we can’t protect you that way. Babe, nothing is going to happen.”

“But those men are dead,” she said. “I shouldn’t be in any danger now.”

Hawk’s brows rose. “And you think they’re the only bad ones around here?”

He set her on the mattress. “One of the guys will bring your bag up, and then we’ll get you in the shower.”

She tensed again.

He held up his hands. “I’ll be out here unless you need me.”

Emily exhaled. One of the other men she hadn’t met handed her the bag.

“Go on in. Call out if you need me,” Hawk said.

“Okay.”

She gingerly got up off the mattress and went into the bathroom. She was finally able to relax when the door was closed and locked. Her whole body ached so bad she felt like an old lady because she couldn’t straighten up, and her strides were slow and short.

A gasp tore from her mouth when she first looked at herself. She had blood smeared all over her face and neck. Her torn shirt was blood-soaked, mostly from the guy with his neck torn open, and she had bruises and scrapes all over. Her hair, which she dyed black, made her look even paler. Her eyes were swollen mostly from crying, she guessed, and her lip was split on the bottom.

She runs from her hometown to escape her abusive father and ends up getting into a worse situation. How pathetic was that?

She jumped when there was a knock at the door.

“Babe, get in the shower. The food will be here soon.”

“Okay.” She stripped and threw her ruined clothes in a pile. Even her socks had blood and dirt on them. She’d have to make a trip to a store because she only had two more outfits.

Emily got out her small bag of feminine products and started the shower. She hissed when the hot water hit the scrapes on her body. She scrubbed herself a few times before turning off the water. Grabbing a towel, she twisted her hair up in it and then used another to dry herself off.

The next time she looked in the mirror, she thought she still looked bad but didn’t have the blood on her skin anymore. She got dressed in the large t-shirt she wore to bed and a pair of yoga pants before drying her hair with the towel the best she could and combing it.

Emily packed up her things, left the pile of bloody clothes, and walked into the room. She stopped short when she saw all eight men sitting around eating hamburgers. They’d brought in a few more chairs and had a game on.

“Emily.”

She turned to look at Hawk, who sat on the end of the bed.

“Sit here and get comfortable.”

Setting her things down, she walked over to him and crawled into the bed to sit back against the headboard, pulling up the blanket he held out.

He handed her a sandwich.

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