Bane let his hand rest on the naked skin on Emma’s back. Walker was sitting on the couch, his eyes half closed as his pet was giving him a blowjob. Bane fought his urge to shoot the man. Walker had been getting on his nerve since he walked into Bane’s office. He was rude, crewed, and acted like a fucking animal. It wasn’t the first time Bane had been around men like him. The underworld, his world, was filled with them. It rarely bothered him. But now his angel was in the room and he was furious that she had to be a part of this. Luke passed him his whiskey and then handed Walker his. Walker grunted as he came and then pushed the woman away. He put himself together and turned towards Bane. Bane was still pretending to have his own moment with his pet. When he figured he had kept Walker waiting long enough to make him irritated, he grunted.“You are doing great, angel. It will soon be over,” he whispered to Emma, making sure no one else could hear him. He motioned for her to get off his
“Should I call to a meeting da… boss?” Jacob asked. Carl Walker sighed. “No,” he told his son. Carl had been married four times, and had nine children within those marriages, all daughters. He had countless mistresses during the years, they had given him even more daughters. The only son he had was the idiot sitting across from him in the limo. He was the result of one of Carl’s first pets. He had allowed the woman to carry his child full term, and it had been a son. But she had been the reason he made sure none of his pets would ever bear a child. He didn’t need that. Carl had ignored the boy for most of his life, thinking one of his wives or mistresses would give him the son he wanted. When that didn’t happen, he had gone in search of his long-lost son. Only to discover he was a moron that would probably never amount to anything. Walker was planning what to do with the business he had built on his own once he got too old to run it. One of his closest men had been blessed with a dau
Emma was sitting and reading patterns. She had finished her latest project, a huge stuffed vampire penguin, the night before. She was going to visit Ben and his family later that afternoon, and it was a gift for his daughter. Ben had finally been cleared to come back, and Emma just wanted to make sure everything was okay. “Angel, could you get my charger over there?” Bane asked her, pointing towards the bookshelf. She shook her head as she got up. Emma knew exactly why he wanted her to get it. It was so he could get a view of her back. She had on a black pencil skirt and, what from the front, looked like a modest white shirt. But the back was open, the shirt only held together by a band of fabric over her shoulder blades. “Sure,” she said and got up and took his charger, making sure he got what he wanted from it. She then got back to her crocheting patterns. She was wondering if she was brave enough to try a sweater next, or maybe a bikini. Emma wondered if Bane would allow her to w
Bane looked at the man sitting on the other side of Bane’s desk. Emma’s uncle had nothing in common with his niece. Not his looks, not his personality or his manners. Bane wondered briefly how Emma had turned out the way she had when she had been raised by these people. Had her parents left such a strong imprint that not even these people could ruin it? Bane was battling his urge to kill the both of them. If he did, they wouldn’t take his angel from him. But it was too late. They had already said the words that had shattered his world to pieces. Somehow, this slime of a human being had come up with enough money to pay off his debt. Bane had hoped the transfer wouldn’t go through, that the money was just a bluff. But as he looked on his computer screen, he could clearly see the money the man had deposited. It had killed Bane to ask Emma to pack her things. He needed her out of his office in case he did something. If he lost his cool, she didn’t need to see that. Not now that she would
Emma watched the city move outside the window of the car. Her aunt and uncle were chatting in the front seat about what they would do with the rest of the money. Her uncle must have hit the jackpot. But Emma was lost in her thoughts. She tried to push the pain away. She didn’t want her relatives to see it. Emma could cry when they got home, safely locked in the bathroom. She would let herself have one evening of self-pity and then she would rebuild her life. First step would be to call Simon and see if he still wanted her to live with him. She would take him up on his offer if he did. Then she needed to get a lawyer to evict her relatives and get her own place. She wasn’t as prepared for her new job as she would have liked. But she was sure she and Simon could work something out. But first she needed to get her feet back under her and that work would start as soon as she got back home. At that thought, she realised she didn’t recognise the area they were headed to.“Uncle Jonas, where
“Where the fuck is he? Move out of the way or I will fucking end you. I don’t care if I love you!” Bane looked up from his work as the shouts boomed in the house. The voice was familiar, and it peaked Bane’s curiosity. He needed something to take his mind off his angel, so he walked out of his office and looked over the rail to the floors below. What he saw had him stunned. Luke was trying to restrain a struggling Simon that did his best to slip out of his boyfriend’s grip.“Calm down, he is not in a good mood,” Luke tried to say.“I don’t fucking care. Do I look like I’m in a good mood? Take your hands off me now, Luke. I am not telling you again. I am going to talk to Bane if I have to walk over your dead body to do it,” Simon told his boyfriend. Bane could see Luke flinch.“What the fuck is going on?” Bane asked. Simon’s eyes shot to Bane and Bane had to use all his willpower not to take a step back from the pure anger that shot from them. Jax came walking to see what was happening
Emma woke up with a throbbing head that was spinning. Her mouth was dry, and her body ached all over. She had vague memories of waking up before, of men coming into the room to beat and kick her. She had lost all sense of time as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Emma didn’t know if she had been in the room for hours, days, or weeks. She tried to sit up and felt the room spin even more. Emma had a hard time distinguishing between the pain from laying on the hard floor and the injuries she had sustained from the beatings. She gave up on trying to stand up, her body and head would not allow it. She crawled towards the blankets. They smelled terrible and were full of holes. But they offered some protection from the cold floor. Emma took one of the blankets and gently wrapped it around herself, and leaned against the wall. She tried to diagnose the aches that she felt. She could move her hands and feet, even though the muscles were sore and her joints were stiff. Her left knee was
The next few days were endless stretches of despair for Emma. She had no sense of time in the tiny room without windows. She based her conception of time on how often the door would open and a man came in to empty the bucket in the corner, give her half a glass of water and sometimes a piece of bread. The first time, Emma had tried to just drink a little of the water, hoping to spread it out to last longer. But when the man left the room, he took the glass and the remaining water with him. Emma learned quickly to drain the water and gulf down any food as soon as she could. Still, it wasn’t enough. Her body craved food and water. She had a constant headache and her stomach had stopped rumbling and instead set into a constant cramp. Another sign of the time passing outside the room was the changing of her bruises. They went from irritated red, to blue and yellow and then slowly fading. Emma tried to move around as soon as her legs were strong enough to carry her. The constant sitting or
Emma sat at her desk, she had gone through the last of the reports regarding the latest batch of potential new clients. She had selected three that she thought had potential. The rest would get a kind refusal letter, telling them the firm had too much on their plate to take them on as clients, but they could recommend the attached list of accountant firms. Simon’s and her business were blooming. They had stopped looking for new clients as they had their hands full with their existing ones and the ones that asked to join. There was a knock on the door and Tom opened it and came inside.“We need to get going in ten minutes if you want to have time to get ready, Mrs E,” he told her. “Thank you, Tom. Could you make sure that these three potential clients get wetted? I’ll just say bye to Simon and then we can go,” she told him. He nodded and took the folders from her. When Emma had started working from the office, Bane had insisted she needed a bodyguard. Since Tom’s injuries, his wife ha
It was time for Emma to deal with things. She had let Bane keep her in their room, with brief visits to the kitchen and the library, for weeks. She felt much better, especially since Bane had stopped thinking she was too frail for sex. Emma almost felt like her old self again. No, that wasn’t entirely true. She felt like a new and improved version, Emma 2.0. Somehow her time with Walker had given her a little more confidence, and the fact she knew she had Bane and Simon in her life left her with a sense of security that she hadn’t felt since she was a child. It was time she put this new version to the test.“I want to see my aunt and uncle,” she told Bane as they were eating breakfast. Emma had convinced him they should start having their meals in the dining room and not the bedroom. It felt like a good sign that he had agreed. “No.”“You said that it was my decision what happens to them,” she objected.“It is. You will tell me what you want, and I will make it happen. No where in th
Bane looked down at Emma. She was licking his still hard cock clean. She had not let go of his gaze and Bane admired the way the rhinestones sparkled in the soft light. His wicked angel. “On your feet, angel,” he told her, and she gracefully got up. It was evidence of how far along she was in her recovery. She had been right that he was trying to hold back, trying to not acknowledge how much better she was. Because if he did, he would have to let her go out into the world. And that scared the shit out of him. He just wanted her safe. But as he drew her into his embrace, kissing her like he had wanted to kiss her since she woke up, with a scoring heat. He knew he had to give in and let her keep going on with her life. “You have been a really good girl. Time for your reward. On the bed, angel, on your hands and knees,” he told her. He saw the radiant smile that appeared on Emma’s face as she almost skipped over to the bed. She was a needy little angel, he thought as he stripped out of
Emma was slowly healing and getting her strength back. The first days she had been on a strict diet that Linda had ordered. But as the week moved on, she gradually could start eating like normal. Bane made sure she got all her meals and snacks in their room. He also made sure she had dessert with every meal. As he had told her, he didn’t leave their room. He was constantly by her side. If he needed to work, he did so from the armchair by the TV. He helped her to the bathroom, and he helped her to shower whenever she wanted to. There was a constant stream of people coming to visit Emma. She was moved by how most of the men, some she had only met in passing, came by to look in on her. She made it a point to thank each of them for helping to rescue her. Then there was Anna. She made sure to bring Emma’s meals herself and stayed to talk a little. Tom and Luke were almost in the room as much as she and Bane. Luke was looking better by the day as Simon was finally talking to him, even thoug
Emma looked up at Bane with big eyes.“But…,“ she started.“No but. You need to stop doing things that put you in danger, angel. But we will save the punishment for later. Now relax,” he told her, and he savoured the feeling as she made herself comfortable in his arms. Having her back where she belonged felt amazing, like the world suddenly made sense again. Her body felt too angular and thin, and her hair had lost its shine. But he didn’t care. She was back in his arms, in his bed, and he had told her he loved her. Bane still had a hard time believing she loved him back, and she forgave him. He didn’t forgive himself and would spend the rest of his life making it up to her if she would let him. A cold hand clutched his stomach as he remembered he didn’t know what they had done to her. He knew she had been beaten from the pictures. Linda had told him she had seen all the signs of starvation and dehydration. But other than that, Bane had had plenty of time to think about what else they
Bane was looking at Emma and at the spot on the bed next to her, but he didn’t move. Emma looked back at him and wondered what was going on. “Come on,” she said, patting the spot again.“I’ll just sit here,” he told her, heading toward the chair he sat in when she had woken up.“Why? I would like you to sit next to me,” she asked.“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.“Don’t be silly. Simon was sitting there not five minutes ago. Come on, let’s have a talk,” she told him. Slowly, with hesitant steps, Bane rounded the bed and gently got on it. He watched her to see if she was uncomfortable or in pain. Emma just smiled at him patiently. As he sat down facing her, he took her hands in his and looked intently at them. Emma just let him be. He had something he needed to talk about, and she would give him the time to think it through.“I’m sorry,” he said, looking up at her. That was not what Emma was expecting. “For what?” she asked, genuinely surprised. Bane smiled at her and caressed he
Emma woke up feeling dazed. Her mind was fuzzy, and it took her a minute to remember what had happened. She tensed up as she remembered the small room she had been in the last weeks. Then she realised she was home. No, not home. She was in Bane’s bed. Someone was holding her hand, and she squeezed it to make herself relax. “Emma?” she heard Bane say, and she turned her head towards the sound. Bane had pulled up one of the armchairs next to the bed and was sitting in it, holding her hand. Emma smiled at him and felt herself relax. He looked tired, but he returned her smile.“Hi,” she said, her voice sounded hoarse and dry.“Hi, angel. How are you feeling?” he asked. Emma thought about it. She had a feeling she should be in a lot of pain, but she wasn’t. “Fine, a bit fuzzy, like my brain is wrapped in a soft cloud. And I’m thirsty and I think I’m a little hungry as well,” she told him. Bane reached out with his free hand and stroked her hair. “You are on some heavy pain medication. I
Relief so powerful that it almost felt like a tidal wave flooded his system. That was, until he registered the state of her. She looked so tired, and why did it look like she had lost weight? But in her brilliant blue eyes, he could see hope. Then his focus shifted to the man that was dragging her backwards by the arm. Walker’s son, Bane realised. As Emma was dragged out of his view, Bane turned towards the chaos that was playing out on the ground level. Jax and his men had made progress. They were forcing most of Walker’s men to the right while some of Bane’s men herded the guests and workers to the left. No one was foolish enough to assume the guests and workers were harmless. They all knew that there could be numerous guns, knives and other things hidden amongst them. They would be searched and dealt with when this thing was over.“Found the item,” Bane shouted. Jax, Luke and Tom looked at him and he glanced toward the stairs. They all nodded. There was an effort made to clear the
Bane was sitting in the dark van that was parked in an alley, trying to be invisible, which was hard for a vehicle of its size. Bane had a hard time sitting still. He was bouncing his knee up and down, staring at the com system, willing it to come to life. Jax, that was sitting next to him, gave him an annoyed look. Bane glared back at him. Bane’s temper was not at its best. Three weeks. Fucking three weeks. They had made him wait. If Bane was being fair, which he wasn’t in the mood to be, it hadn’t been Jax’s, Luke’s or Tom’s fault that it had taken three weeks. If they had known where Emma had been held, nothing could have kept him from going after her. But that had been the issue. No one could find where Walker had been keeping her. It had taken Spenser less than three hours to find Emma’s aunt and uncle and drag them back. That had been an entertaining evening, Bane thought. Within thirty minutes of Bane stepping into the same room as Jonas Cobler, he had told Bane everything he k