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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“A good decision is based on knowledge, not numbers”

~ Plato

Em

Ramsey had left fifteen minutes ago and hadn’t returned. Two guys were in the room, watching Andre and me as if we were going to chew our legs off to escape.

“What happens when this dickhole doesn’t deliver you in an hour?” Andre whispered.

“Saros has a plan. He knows you’re here too. We’re getting out of this—don’t worry.”

“You have a lot of confidence in him.”

I nodded and smiled. “I do.”

Andre sighed and rested his head against the wall. I stared at the clock and the two men. Saros was coming. I could feel it all the way to my marrow.

Ramsey strode in ten minutes to the deadline time with a victorious expression on his face that made my stomach twist.

He spared me a glance before giving all his attention to Andre. “Looks like your dad loves you a whole lot.”

“Is that a foreign concept for you?” Andre snapped, and I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped me.

Ramsey pointed his finger right in my face. “Saros isn’t going to have RJ forever. Once he’s back, you’re going to feel every second he’s pissed me off.”

I refused to blink. For years I’d kept my gaze from his, bowed to his will, stayed as small as I could, and said yes to every demand. Maybe it was the time I’d been with Saros, but all the rage started crawling out of me. I did what I could; I spit in his fucking face.

Whether it was instinct or reaction, he clocked me square in the jaw, my head whipped to the side, and slammed into the cement wall.

I chuckled through a mouth full of blood. “RJ’s gonna love that.”

Ramsey’s nostrils flared, his teeth clenched, and the smile he wore when he came in was long gone.

“You all right?” Andre asked, but I didn’t get a chance to answer because Ramsey was talking to him again.

“You worry about you. You have a chance of walking out of here.” He hooked his thumb at me. “This isn’t someone you want to tie yourself to.”

“Time’s almost up, Daddy.” I wiped my mouth with my hand. “If you think you’re a step ahead, you’re dumber than I thought.”

“You’ve gotten real mouthy while you’ve been out in the big bad world, haven’t you?” He hovered over me but kept his distance, likely so I wouldn’t spit on him some more. “I’m going to enjoy putting you back in your place.” He spun on his heel and left.

Five minutes left.

It was eerily quiet. The hour mark had come and gone. The two men were still with us, but we hadn’t seen Ramsey since he’d run off. Jim had made an appearance a few times, but at one point he’d argued with Ramsey, and I hadn’t seen him anymore. He’d likely run or Ramsey had killed him. I didn’t want to peek at Andre. I was sure he was having a lot of doubts in Saros, but I wasn’t. He had a plan; I knew it.

No sooner did that thought leave my mind than I heard a loud thump outside the door. The two guys watching us looked at each other.

“Check in?” one questioned the other.

He nodded and got out his phone. “This is Dawson. Heard a loud sound, can anyone confirm it was us?”

I glanced at Andre, who was avidly paying attention to everything as well.

“Someone come in?”

“Fuck,” the other man said and pressed his ear to the door. “I hear movement.”

“Go check.”

“Fuck you, you go check.”

It made sense that Ramsey would surround himself with cowards.

“I’d just stay put if I were you. You’ll find out soon enough who it is.” I smirked when they glared at me.

“Saros?” Andre asked.

“Probably.”

Both of the men paled—they were no one, and Saros would mow right through them.

I relaxed against the wall, my butt cushioned on the thin mattress. “Don’t worry, Andre, this will all be over soon.”

I’d never felt so confident in that statement as I did right then. Was it strange that I could feel Saros’s closeness? He’d come. He hadn’t just sent his men; he was here. I was sure of it.

Another thud followed by a boom sounded right outside the room. The two guys moved closer to us, guns pointed right at the entrance.

“There are two guys in here with us—they have guns,” I yelled, hoping to warn who was behind the door.

“Shut the fuck up,” one of my captors snarled. Three bursts, then the door was open. The men in the room fired but were down in a second. One fell with his head landing right on my mattress.

I looked up, and Benny rushed in with Gino and another guy—Theo, maybe? I wasn’t sure.

“Em?”

“Benny! Oh, thank God.”

“We’re getting you and Andre out of here.”

“We’re chained,” Andre said.

I pointed to a small desk. “I saw Ramsey toss keys in there.”

Gino went to the drawer, and sure enough there were keys. He made quick work of unchaining us, and I slowly stood. I was a little dizzy, but it was manageable.

“Stay between Theo and Gino, both of you. I’ll bring in the rear,” Benny instructed.

“Where’s Saros?”

Benny grinned. “Dealing with your folks.”

I wanted him, needed his arms embracing me, but he was making sure I was safe, doing what had to be done in a way only he could. I would have my time with him. I followed behind Theo, Andre behind me.

There were dead bodies everywhere. Ramsey had a lot of muscle—it seemed more than Saros. But sometimes quantity was nothing in the face of quality, and Saros only chose the best to work with him.

“There’s a van outside. That’s where you’ll go with Gino and Theo.”

“We can’t leave Saros.” I looked over my shoulder to Benny.

“No one is leaving him, I promise. Just do as I say, and we’ll all get out of this.”

I shut up after that. Gino took out a guy who came racing around the corner, but other than that we didn’t encounter anyone else.

The van stood idle right outside. I had assumed we were in the apartment complex Saros was watching, but it appeared we’d actually been in one of the houses Ramsey owned just outside Eastbury.

Once in the van, Theo took the driver’s seat, and Gino sat with us. Benny was outside the van, facing the house. Were we waiting for Saros? I hoped so.

“You looked banged up, are you okay?” Gino asked.

“I’ll be fine, better once I see Saros.”

Gino chuckled and nodded. “Understood.”

Only a couple of minutes later, I watched as Ramsey and Shyla were dragged out of the house and tossed into another van. As wonderful as that was to see, what was even better was that right behind them, Saros sauntered out. He wore all black—not a suit, he was dressed to fuck shit up. He walked straight to our van. Benny opened the side door and then, finally, I was face-to-face with him.

“Hey, baby,” Saros whispered, and I flew at him.

He wrapped me in those arms I loved, and I sobbed into his neck. He shushed me and kept saying over and over that he had me, that I was safe.

He carried me back into the van and I heard the door close, the engine start, and I knew we were moving, but I wasn’t letting go. Not yet, not ever.