Bane hated the thought of treating his angel like a pet. He hated it almost as much as he hated the idea of her being in the same room as that lunatic Walker. But it was the only way. He had thought about using a girl from the brothels. But he hadn’t been lying when he had said that Walker probably would have spotted it. Then there was the fact that the idea made his stomach turn. Just the notion of having another woman by his side, even if it was just acting, made him feel sick. He had noticed Emma tense up as well when he had mentioned it. He didn’t know if it was because she didn’t like to share his attention or if it was because she just didn’t like the idea of prostitutes. Either way, the idea was scrapped. He just had to keep Emma safe and remember to put in extra effort to hide his own feelings. If Walker ever found out that Bane actually cared for his angel, he would not hesitate to use that against him. They arrived at the club. It was later than they usually arrived because

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

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

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

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