Chapter Twenty-Four
Jay
I snuggle deeper into Jordan, my head resting on his shoulder. My hand is on his bare chest, our fingers twined together. One of my legs is thrown over his hip, and I soak up all his warmth.
“I love waking up like this,” he says.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve never slept better than I do with him. Each night my mind would race with things I needed to get done. Sometimes I’d even wake up in the middle of the night and do the thing I was so worried about. But not when he’s in bed with me. He’s all I can think about, and now when I wake up in the middle of the night, it’s because he’s making love to me.
“Me too.” My voice is still full of sleep.
“Maybe we should paint this room lavender.”
I open one eye at his words and look around a little. “You want to paint your room purple?” I laugh.
“Our room,” he corrects, making me smile. “I want this to feel like your home, too. Your living room was lavender. I want you to love it here.”
“I don’t care where I live, as long as I live with you. And as long as you keep waking me up like you did this morning.” I wiggle, rubbing my naked body against him.
“I’d do anything to keep you here, so you’ve got yourself a deal.” He strokes my ring finger gently, making my heartbeat pick up. Then he rolls us over, positioning himself on top of me.
“I want you again,” he says against my mouth, already sliding into me.
I moan against his lips, wanting him too. I always want him. I will forever.
“Food!” I hear a shout, and it jolts me awake. My eyes fly open, and I look around, shocked. The sight that greets me makes me remember where I am. Not at home in the arms of the man I love, a place I may never be again. I blink a few times, trying to clear my eyes to see better in the darkness. I hear the door to our cell clang shut, and the lock clicks into place.
“I don’t want to eat it,” Summer mumbles, her head still in my lap. I have my back in the corner of the room, and I’m sitting cross-legged. I no longer feel groggy, but the concrete wall is doing a number on my back. At least my head isn’t throbbing anymore.
“Scared it’s not vegan?” I try to tease her. I don’t want her to start crying again. As much as she can drive me crazy, I never want to see her cry.
“Ha ha,” she says, rolling over to her other side, pulling her legs back into her chest and making herself into a ball. It’s a little chilly in here, and she doesn’t have much on but a tank and a pair of shorts. I rub my hand up and down her arm, trying to make sure she stays somewhat warm.
“I love you,” she says, taking me by surprise. “You always took better care of me than Mom and Dad.” I’m taken aback by her words. My eyes water, the emotions of the day weighing heavy on me. “I know I can drive you crazy, I just—”
“I love you, too,” I tell her, cutting her off. Coming from a home where your parents are all about the free love, saying “I love you” to each other isn’t that big. “To be honest, I thought I drove you crazy, too. Especially when we were little,” I admit.
“Remember when Mom got those chickens?” Summer says with a small sad laugh.
“How could I forget? She kept them in the house.” I want to be mad remembering it, but looking back now, I’m about to laugh, too.
“You ran around like crazy trying to clean up after them.”
“God, that was a nightmare.” I couldn’t keep up with those chickens.
“A funny nightmare. You said you were going to cook them.” Her tone is accusatory.
“Sorry about that.” I shake my head. I wasn’t really going to cook them, I was just annoyed. I’d keep putting them outside, and my mom would keep letting them in. “You lost it when I tried to cook their eggs. You ran around screaming and crying, saying, ‘There are baby chickens in those!’”
We both smile for a moment. “Like the adult, you went outside and spent two days turning that old shed into a place for those chickens to stay.”
“I wasn’t going to let us all live in chicken shit,” I say, shrugging.
“Yeah.”
“You painted flowers and rainbows on the outside. You made it look pretty.”
“I should have helped you build it. Not sit outside and doodle when you were doing the hard work. Like always.”
“You were doing what you do, and I was doing what I do.” My own words hit me.
My sister and I are day and night, and there’s nothing wrong with that. We should accept each other, maybe even learn something from one another. Maybe I’ve been harder on her than I should have. We are both products of our raising. While I went one way, she went another, and I can see why someone would choose to go the way she did. It’s easier to fit in. To feel loved.
“If we get out of here—”
“When,” I correct her. I want her to stay positive. I don’t want her having a breakdown.
“When we get out of here, I want us to be closer. To not fight so much.”
“I want that, too,” I admit.
“I’m tired of bouncing around, and I don’t want to go back to Mom and Dad’s. I want a home.”
“Then you’ll stay here. We’ll come up with a plan for you.”
“See? You’re always looking out for me.” I hear her sniff. I’m guessing this has really shaken her up. Made her rethink some things.
“Try to get some sleep. When we get a little more light, I’m going to try to get us out of here.”
“I’ll try,” she says, and I start rubbing her arms again.
I keep looking up at the skylight. It’s too dark for me to see the latch. I wish the moon would at least come out so I’d have some kind of idea how to open it.
We have to get out of here. If something happens to me, I know Jordan won’t be able to take it. He’s lost enough in his life. He doesn’t need to lose more. A lump fills my throat. He’s probably losing his mind right now. I have a feeling if he gets me back in his arms, he’s never going to let me leave the house again. That thought makes me smile.
I never thought in all my life I would find someone like him. Someone who makes me feel like I’m coming home for the first time. Someone who takes care of me. We both have our odd habits, and we love those things about each other. He was made for me. I know it.
Time ticks by, and I don’t know how long we’ve been here, but it feels like an eternity. I let my time with Jordan run through my mind. The memories make me want to smile and cry all at once.
I must doze off at some point, because when I glance up again I can see a hint of light starting to show. We haven’t had anyone else come back to check on us, and the tray of gross food still sits by the door. I assumed it was probably drugged, and I’m not hungry enough to eat it yet.
“Summer,” I whisper, giving her a little nudge.
“Hmm,” she says, sitting up.
I point up to the skylight. “See that latch? We have to get up there.”
Her eyes widen as she wakes up and nods. “Okay.” She stands up. I see a little more fight in her eyes, and I think maybe our talk helped.
“Okay. We’re going to move that bed over here, and I’m going to stand on it, then lift you.”
“Maybe I should lift you. What if I can’t get the latch?”
“You’re smaller than me. It will be easier to pick you up. Plus, you do all that yoga stuff. You’ve got more muscle tone than me and can probably pull yourself up. No way can I do that.”
“Okay.” She walks over to the bed with me.
“We have to pick it up. We can’t drag it. It’ll be too loud on the concrete floor.”
She nods and goes to the other side of me, and I gesture for us to both lift. It’s heavy, but not impossible to move. We have to go slow, but soon we get it right under the latch.
“Now. When you get up there, slide it open, okay? And be as quiet as you can.”
“All right.”
I reach out and put my hand on her shoulder. “Summer, I want you to climb through and go. Do you understand me? I don’t think you’ll be able to pull me up, and we aren’t wasting time trying. I don’t know how much longer we’ll have before someone comes back.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Her eyes search mine and begin to fill with tears.
“Yes, you are. You’re going to run as fast as you can and you’re going to get help.”
“But—”
“You’re not leaving me. You’re saving us,” I tell her. Suddenly she’s grabbing me and pulling me into a tight hug. “You can do this. I know you can.”
She takes a deep breath and pulls back to look at me. “Okay, let’s do this.”
I climb up on the bed, putting my feet on either side of the bed frame for support. She climbs up with me, and I hold my hands out like a cheerleader would to give a lift.
“I love you,” I tell her.
“I love you, too.”
She climbs up me, and I brace my legs, trying to be as sturdy as possible while on a cot. I can hear the bed groan under our weight. I close my eyes and give a small prayer, hoping like all hell this works.
She puts her foot in my hand and then steps up while I try to lift her. She puts her other foot on my shoulder and almost gets the other up to stand when the bed gives way. The frame snaps, and we both tumble down in a heap. I hit the dirty mattress that has fallen through the frame, and Summer lands on top of me, knocking the air out of my lungs.
I want to cry out, not just from the pain but from the fact that our last shred of hope has slipped away. It takes a moment before I can breathe normally again and my lungs aren’t burning from the pain.
“Are you okay?” Summer asks, hurrying to get off me.
I tell her I’m okay and start to get up when the door to the room flies open. Both of us jump, going to the far wall as fast as possible, trying to put some space between us and the man in the doorway.
It only takes me a second to get my bearings, but once again the air is knocked right out my lungs when I see who is standing in the doorway.
“Mr. Spencer?” I say, as if I almost can’t believe what I’m saying.
He reaches outside the door and flips a switch, and light floods the room. As he steps inside, my attention fixes on the open door. He must notice it, because he shuts it closed behind him immediately.
This guy has been into Osbourne Corporation more times than I can count. He used to be nice to me, but as time went on, he got sleazier and more aggressive. Did he do all this? How could he possibly be involved?
A sick smile spreads on his face as he glances around the room and looks down at our untouched food.
“Is our food not good enough for you, little bird?” At the use of the name Jordan calls me, my stomach tightens. “Nothing is ever good enough for you, is it?”
“Why are you doing this? I brought the files. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? Let us go.” I stand a little straighter, trying to use the same voice I do when I’m at the office. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not.
I’m not even sure what’s going on at this point. I thought this was about the Lannister project. I was sure I’d end up seeing Stein, not Spencer. Unless they’re in on this together. Now I’m worried who else might be in on this. How far through the company does this go?
“I think we both know there’s something else I’ve been wanting to get my hands on for a while.” At his words, I move to stand in front of my sister. I put my hands on my hips, not only trying to make myself feel bigger, but so he won’t notice that my hands are shaking.
“I’ll fight you,” I tell him. And I will. I won’t make it easy for him. My stomach turns, and I want to throw up. My skin is crawling. I still can’t believe this is even happening. How could I feel like my life was finally perfect and now it’s all falling apart? I only got a tiny taste of it.
He closes the distance between us. I look up at him, meeting his eyes. “I think I’ll like it when you fight me.” He gets right in front of me and lifts his hand, dragging a finger down my cheek. “It will be so much sweeter when I get you to break.”
I smack his hand away, and he smirks.
“You’ll have to fight both of us,” my sister says, trying to step around me, but I block her with my arm.
“Two for the price of one. It’s my lucky day.”
“Fuck you.” I reach up and smack him.
The smack echoes around the room, and my hand burns. When his face turns back to me, I see blood where my nails dug into his cheek. His face turns redder than I have ever seen. The deadly anger is clear in his expression. Yeah, I don’t think he likes the fight, after all. I brace myself when he strikes me back. I almost fall backwards, but my sister catches me.
“You fucking bitch!” he bellows and lunges for me.
The door to the room flies open, and Summer and I use the distraction to move farther away from Spencer.
“That’s enough.” This new man’s voice is deep and holds a tone of authority to it. Spencer stops immediately. I can tell he’s fighting his orders.
“I can’t have you messing her face up. We need her to be able to talk to that boyfriend of hers. Seems there are more problems.”
“What kind of problems?” Spencer doesn’t turn to look at the man. I glance over at the new guy. He’s in a dark suit and fills up a lot of space in the door. I can tell that much. But his face is hard to see because he’s not stepping into the room, and my eyes are still watering from the smack. My cheek throbs, and I want to hold it, but I want to have my hands ready in case Spencer comes at me again.
“Our guy is having problems getting some of the stuff removed from the Osbourne servers.”
“Fuck!” Spencer grunts. His eyes harden on me. He walks over to me, grabbing me by the hair and pulling it. My sister tries to grab for him, but Spencer pushes her, sending her to the floor. I reach up, gripping his hand, trying to weaken his grasp.
“You’re going to make a little call for us, aren’t you.” There’s no question to Spencer’s words.
“Yes,” I say instantly, trying to seem agreeable. I know that if I say no they’ll threaten Summer, and I can’t handle that right now.
“That’s a good girl.” He leans down close to me, and he licks my face from my chin to my forehead. I have to bite back a gag when I feel his erection digging into me. “As sweet as I thought you would be.” Then he lets me go, throwing me down to the floor next to Summer.
“We’ll be back,” he says turning to leave but stopping at the door. “Don’t worry, though, Jay, we’ll still get to have our fun soon enough.” He reaches down and adjusts his crotch before turning and shutting the door. The lock clicks into place, and I finally let the tears come.