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Chapter Sixteen
RAELYN
“Do you want any of this?” Kayce stirs the Alfredo sauce into the fettuccini noodles, and I am practically drooling. The cheesy buttery sauce with a hint of garlic hits my nose. The minute it does, my stomach growls. Kayce’s lips turn up. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
He walks over to a cabinet and pulls out a bowl for me.
Then he takes the scooper thing and puts some in there for me.
Steam wafts off the pasta, and I close my eyes and take in the aroma.
He passes me a fork, and I don’t waste any time diving in.
The minute the creaminess touches my tongue, I moan.
Kayce drops the pasta scooper, and his eyes widen. “That was the best compliment a chef can get. Also, please continue. Don’t hold back. Make love to that pasta, Rae.” He smirks.
I can feel the heat in my cheeks as I look back down at my pasta. Kayce chuckles at getting the reaction he did from me. He loves to cook and has been making sure I’m fed and not going hungry.
“Jesus, it’s pasta, not sex.” Cameron frowns as he walks into the kitchen.
“Fuck off, asshole. She loves my cooking.” Kayce flips him off as he takes a bite of his pasta, munching happily.
“She’s a big girl. She can fend for herself,” Cameron scoffs.
He has a point. I don’t want them to feel like I’m taking advantage of them.
Suddenly, I’m no longer hungry. I push the plate away and get up to head to my room. The last thing I want to do is make it seem like I am asking them to take care of me. It’s quite the opposite.
“Look what the fuck you did. Goddamn it, you need to get laid. You’re a miserable cunt,” I can hear Kayce yell at Cameron.
I quickly head up the stairs and run into my room, shutting the door behind me and locking it to ensure I am left alone. It’s been a week since Drew brought me here, and it’s been nice to have a safe place to sleep.
I’ll be honest, this bed is way more comfortable than many of the other places I have slept with Ronnie or that room I was held in.
Ronnie.
I need to find her. I have no idea where she could be. I’m a little mad she left me at the bar. Or she disappeared long enough for me to get drugged.
Or maybe something happened to her? Maybe she was drugged too and wasn’t as fortunate to have a giant of a man come to her rescue. I rub my forehead. All of this is so much. It’s so overwhelming.
But being with all these men is a bit overwhelming, too.
Drew is a nice guy, and I oddly feel the most comfortable with him. Could it be some ‘he saved me’ sort of thing? I have no fucking clue, but he makes me feel at ease. He gives me space and lets me roam about.
Kayce likes to feed me. He’s constantly cooking and putting food in front of me. He makes funny little jokes that I try my hardest not to laugh at. Though it’s kinda nice to laugh. He seems to be the funny one in the group. And he talks a fucking lot.
Then there’s Tristan. The complete opposite of Kayce. He’s quiet. Tristan barely says much when he is around, but he’s always watching me. His blue eyes just bore into me. He tracks me throughout the house when he’s here. But he keeps his distance, sort of.
I walked into the kitchen needing some coffee the other day, and he already had a mug ready for me just the way I like it. I always know when he’s watching because I get a little tingling feeling.
Asher has been, well, professional. He is constantly monitoring me and asking me how I feel.
My answer is always the same. I shrug and tell him I’m fine.
What else can I possibly tell him? That my mind is a mess and I feel like a little lost puppy?
That I try to stay awake at night so the dreams don’t come?
Asher has even mentioned that he would like me to talk to someone. I don’t know what they are going to tell me that I don’t already know.
That I’m fucking crazy. That I’m damaged goods.
And that leaves Cameron. What a fucking asshole. A complete and total ass fuck. He does everything to try and get the guys to hate on me.
Here’s the kicker: I have no idea what I did to deserve that.
Though what I gather is that he and Drew are tight because he has to catch for Drew. I’ve heard him tell his pitcher that I’m a distraction. He constantly acts like I stole his puppy. But whatever, he can hate me for whatever reason he has. It is what it is.
The worst part? All of them are literally hot as fuck. Like, each one of them is right out of the pages of the spiciest of romance novels. They shouldn’t be real. Yet here we are.
A knock sounds at my door, and my eyes dart right toward it.
“Rae? Hey, it’s Kayce.” He quiets for a moment, and I can hear him shuffling behind the door. “Uh, listen. Don’t listen to Cam. He’s a dick.”
No shit. Way to point out the obvious.
“Look, I know you may not want to come out right now, but the food is in the fridge for you when you get hungry.” I hear him let out a sigh.
“If you need me, I’ll be around. But don’t feel like you have to hide because Cam is a miserable bastard, okay?
Just, I’m around, Rae.” With that, I hear him shuffle away.
Curling into my pillow, I let out a sigh.
My body is fighting me on the one thing it needs.
Sleep. Maybe I’m being overly dramatic because of my lack of rest and sleep.
But the problem still remains that the moment I close my eyes, vivid dreams take over.
Some of them so horrid that fear chokes the life out of me.
But eventually, your body shuts down. Eventually, it just can’t sustain itself awake anymore. And as much as I want to keep my eyes open, at some point my body wins out, and my exhaustion takes over.
Everything in me hurts. My stomach is eating itself at this point. I can’t remember when they last fed me. Hell, I don’t even know how long I’ve been in this cement hell.
They stripped me of my clothes and chained me to the floor. The cement is freezing. My body is in a constant state of shivering. I can hear the teeth clattering of the other girls around me. That is when they aren’t crying, screaming, or pleading for their life.
Parts of my body burn from the pain I’ve been subjected to. How did I end up in this predicament? I was out with Becca. We were at the karaoke bar, singing. I close my eyes tightly, trying to picture that night, however long ago it was.
We had the night off work, so of course we needed a girls’ night out. Becca and I had just gotten to the bar and ordered our first drink.
My mind shuts down as a sharp pain radiates throughout my stomach. I cry out in pain from the stabbing feeling. My breaths shorten as I grit my teeth.
Footsteps echo somewhere in the darkness. I don’t know how many people are coming toward the cages, but it’s more than one. Laughter from the shadows rings out, and a shiver runs down my spine.
It’s never a good thing when they come for a visit.
“Ah, here’s the one I wanted to show you. She’s feisty,” the shadow says.
“Oh, I love feisty. I love to break them,” a voice I have never heard before says as he steps closer to the bars. “I can break her in an hour.”
The shadow laughs, “Good luck. We have been trying to for a while now.”
“Fuck you, you bastards,” I spit.
“See what I mean?”
“Oh, perfect. I’ll take her,” the creeper states.
“No! No! Leave me alone! I just want to go home! Please! Just let me go!” Tears roll down my face. My heart beats wildly out of my chest. Fear courses through my veins.
“Raelyn! Raelyn, wake up!” a voice stirs me from the nightmare, and I let out a scream. “Relax, it’s me. It’s Drew.”
My eyes suddenly focus on the man in front of me. I try to catch my breath, but my lungs feel like there is cement in them.
“Hey, hey, look at me.” Drew’s voice is almost a whisper. “Focus on me.”
My eyes meet his, and instantly, I feel more grounded. While my heart still feels ready to explode, I am starting to become calmer. I slowly try to breathe in time with his breaths.
“There you go, that’s it.” He runs his hand down the side of my face, and I lean into it instinctively.
His touch soothes me. Calms me. Until the images of my nightmare come back into focus.
My breath hitches, and he stops mid caress. “Talk to me, Rae.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. My skin is crawling, and I can still feel the concrete touching my skin. “I-It was so cold.” I lick my lips, remembering how thirsty I was.
“Wait, you remembered something?” Drew’s eyes widen.
I slowly nod. “I know it was a nightmare, but I remember it now. I remember the cement, the metal chains. I remember being naked and cold. There are still pieces missing, but I remember that much.”
“Okay,” he says softly. “Do you remember anything else?”
Biting my lip, I think back to what I saw. “Someone was going to take me.”
“Take you?” he clarifies.
“Yes. Like I was for sale or something.”
Drew’s eyes widen. “You were being trafficked? Holy fuck. Holy actual fuck!” His eyes stare into me for a moment before his mouth drops open. “Did I save you from the house of the monster who bought you?”
“I-I think so. I can’t remember the face from when I was in that cell. It was so dark. The voice sounded weird in my head, but maybe that’s just because it was a dream. I-I don’t know.”
“We need to let John know.” Drew starts to get up, but I pull him back down.
“No! Please! No more. Not right now. It’s all too much, and everything is so spotty I don’t want to be retelling this twelve more times. I don’t know if it was real. It could just be my imagination.” I grab onto his arm and will him not to go running to his FBI friend.
“Okay, fine.” He lets out a long sigh. “But the minute you’re sure that it’s real, Rae, we need to tell him. This, what you went through? It’s serious.”
“I am well aware of that fact, Drew. But my head is a mess. It feels like some pieces don’t fit where my mind is putting them. I don’t even know if that makes sense.”
He nods. “A little. Asher said you may remember things out of order or jumbled up. The mind is complex. So, we will wait until you are absolutely sure you remember an actual moment or telling situation, and then we will go to John. Deal?”
“Thank you,” I say softly. “Can you please…” My voice trails off. I feel bad asking.
Without hesitation or asking me to finish, he climbs into the bed next to me. “Of course. Is this okay?”
I nod. Drew wraps his arms around me and pulls me down onto his chest. His hand smooths my hair down, his heartbeat soothing me.
My mind tries to float back to the visions I’ve had. Trying to put the missing pieces together. But the calming effect of Drew is more powerful than the visions.
So instead, I embrace the feeling of safety. I embrace the calm. Because I am not na?ve enough to think that any of this will last.
This is just the calm before the storm.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19 (Reading here)
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38