Page 12 of Forbidden Captor

I was going to find Jack.

But where?

I flipped through the mental maps I had made of where Jack and I had been. But then, I had a thought occur. Jack was still recovering from the Kings’ attack, which meant he was probably at Reed headquarters. And I knew just where he’d be.

Normally, I would have been terrified, going straight to enemy territory, but I figured the Reeds had bigger fish to fry now that their kidnapping had failed. The Reeds needed leverage to get my father’s attention, and I had valuable information on the King Mafia to barter with. My father had been using the Kings for protection, and had simply bought me out from them instead of the Reeds. He had always said business was business, and a lower price was always the best business.

I hailed a cab, and the driver asked me where I was going. I gave him the address and paid him from the fat wad of cash I had stolen from my father. I was going to be the baddest, freest girl I could be. I had nothing to fear except for confinement and Jack’s lack of well-being.

Every second spent in that car felt like eternity. The driver didn’t help.

“I know this area,” the driver said. “I think it’s owned by gangs. What would a pretty girl be doing out this way?”

“I said no questions,” I told him coldly.

“Alright,” he said. “Just curious.”

The rest of the ride was spent in an awkward silence, as he made his way through city traffic.

It was a truly beautiful day, and the one thing that would make it better was to see Jack.

Finally, I arrived at the Reeds and approached the gate. With some trepidation, I pressed the button.

“Who is this?” a harsh voice asked.

“Emma Price.”

The gate opened. Two large men approached me when I entered.

“Shouldn’t have come here, little missy,” said the one on the left.

“I have valuable infor—“ I tried to say, but the one on the right grabbed my arm while the one on the left put his hand over my mouth.

“Can it, you little brat!” one of them snapped.

They dragged me into the house, where I was forcefully led to the basement. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been so dumb, but I hated the idea that Jack had been left to suffer without me. And now that I was closer to him, I knew that he would come and save me. I knew that Jack would find out I was there, and a small part of me hoped that he would be compelled to rescue me again. Of course, I wasn’t sure what would happen next, only that I was locked up in a dark room, yet again.

All for a man that I wasn’t even sure loved me.

What had I been thinking?

The only thing I could do was wait and see if my plan worked.

6

JACK

The pain wasn’t hard for me to bear. What was hard was the fact that I had no idea how Emma had fared.

What if she was dead?

Somehow I doubted that, but the guilt of my own failure to fully protect her wore on me like a crown of thorns.

I was in a small bedroom, recuperating from my wounds. I was in and out of consciousness and had no idea how long I’d been there.

“When you heal up…” the woman had told me. I was glad to see her go; I did not enjoy her ominous presence.

She wasn’t the only one who tended to my wounds, though I got the feeling that she was in charge of me. There were a few others, including a man with half of his face burned off. He was a sorry sight, but was at least kind.If only my caretaker was Emma.

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