Chapter 26
Ensley
Since I regained consciousness in the motel room, Ryan had been leaving and coming back in intervals. I had no idea where he was going, and I didn’t want to ask him either. I was afraid of what he was going to tell me, but I could sense that he was making plans for our escape. I knew that he wanted to take me away from LA, somewhere Thorn and the Grim Reapers couldn’t find us.
Every time he left, I tried to loosen my hands from the chords, but I hadn’t been successful yet. Ryan had tied it tightly around my wrists, and he had done a very good job of it.
He was back from his prowl now and was taking clothes out of the closet and his scattered possessions around the motel room, and piling them into a bag.
“Are you going somewhere?” I asked him, and he jerked his head up to look at me. There was an evil glimmer in his eyes, and he was grinning like I had said something funny.
“You’re coming with me, sweetness. Wherever I go, you go,” Ryan said and folding a t-shirt neatly, he stuffed it into the bag.
I gulped, my throat felt suddenly dry, but I said nothing. Not only did I not have the energy to protest, but I also knew that I had to play nice. It was the only way that I could avoid being hit by him again. As long as I was with him, as long as he was holding me captive; I had no other choice but to play along with him.
Then maybe, I might be able to win some of his trust and give Thorn some time to find me. I hadn’t lost hope yet. I trusted Thorn with my life, and I knew that he was out there, doing everything he could to find me. I didn’t blame him or his club for the kidnapping. It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have opened the door without checking. I shouldn’t have been so foolish as to not look through the peephole before I let someone in through my door. Now, my only hope was that Ryan would let me stay alive, long enough for Thorn to find me. For that to happen, I needed to keep the conversation going with him.
“You know, sweetness, if you didn’t fight me so much, we could have a normal life together. You could get all dolled up right now, and we could go for a nice meal somewhere and catch up,” Ryan had forgotten about packing up, and he was stepping towards me again.
I flinched as I watched him approaching me. I hated him. I was disgusted by him, and his body and I didn’t want him anywhere near me. But I also had nowhere to go. I looked up at him, forcing a weak smile on my face.
“Let’s do it then. Let’s go somewhere and get a drink, we need to talk this through,” I suggested, hopeful that he might take the binds off, that he might let me out of this place. If I got the opportunity to get out of this motel room, I would do everything I could to get away from him.
Ryan was still grinning as he came to a stop in front of me.
“How stupid do you think I am, Ensley? I can see it in your eyes. You’re going to make a run for it, the first opportunity you get. You don’t get it yet. You don’t get how good this is,” he said, and that smile on his face turned into an ugly rage.
I shook my head.
“No, I won’t run. I promise, Ryan. I know that you’re going through something dark and you need my help. You need someone to talk to. I’m here for you, I want us to work this out,” I was begging him. I was so close to convincing him to let my binds off. Ryan clenched his jaw, and I watched as his nostrils flared.
“You want to talk? Let’s talk then. Why did you fucking leave me?” he yelled. I flinched again, gulped and tried to keep myself steady. I knew that the more I fought him off, the more I insulted him-the angrier he would get.
“I had to go because you hurt me, Ryan!” I said, my voice was screechy, and he shook his head.
“I didn’t hurt you. I was keeping you in place, and I’ll fucking hit you again if you step out of line!” he charged towards me and bunched up some of my hair in his fist. I squealed and started crying again, afraid that he was going to hurt me, but he let my hair go and stepped away from me.
“So tell me, Ensley, what are you getting from that idiot that I couldn’t give you?” I heard him say.
I looked up at him hesitantly, meeting his blazing eyes. I knew he was talking about Thorn. How long had he been watching us? How long was he watching my apartment?
“We are not together. I just hired him as a bodyguard,” I said, in a weak voice and Ryan threw his head back and laughed menacingly.
“Is that why he’s been spending nights at your place? Keeping guard over you while you sleep?” he spat the words out, and I bit down on my lip, trying to keep the cry from rising up in my throat.
“I just want to go home, Ryan, please just let me go home,” I was begging him again, and I couldn’t stop. I was exhausted and cold and afraid. He hadn’t given me anything to eat or drink, and I knew it was because he didn’t want me energized. The weaker I was, the more difficult it would be for me to fight him.
He stepped closer to me. I looked up at him with watery eyes. His nostrils were still flared, his face had turned a deep tomato red with anger.
“I’m taking you home, sweetness. I’m taking you back to where you belong,” he said and reached for my face. I couldn’t stop crying as he stroked my cheek with the back of his hand.
Images of our small apartment in New York floated up before my eyes. I couldn’t go back to that life. I couldn’t go back to being locked up in an apartment. To not have an outside life. To not seeing Thorn again.
The tears flooded down my cheeks, and he didn’t stop touching me.
“Don’t cry, Ensley. You’ll feel much better when we go back home, you’ll see. You just need your bed and me. Isn’t that all you need?” he said, and he opened his arms wide. I could sense that he was about to hug me, he was about to wrap his arms around my body. I shook my head violently as he came closer, but then he stopped.
We had both heard the roar of the bikes outside the motel. My heart stopped beating in my chest for a few moments. Could it be Thorn? The Grim Reapers?
“You fucking bitch!” Ryan’s punch came out of nowhere. His knuckles slammed against my jaw, sending my face sideways and I could feel the metallic taste of blood trickling slowly into my mouth.
He was raging.
“You told them! You told them where you are!” he was growling in panic. I shook my head and cried.
“You fucking bitch. How did you do it? How did you get to them?” he barked and crouching down behind my chair, I could feel him untying the knots on the chord. He was releasing me.
“You’re coming with me. We’re going to get out of here, and you’re going to do what I tell you to do!” he yelled and then I felt the metallic coldness of his knife’s blade against my wrist. He was cutting the cord off.
It snapped away and fell to the floor, and my first instinct was to lash out at him. I jumped off my chair, whipping around to face him. Ryan was crouched on the ground now with a shocked expression on his face. I could see that he hadn’t expected me to react this quickly.
“This is for every time you raised your hand at me,” I hissed and lifting my right foot up, I kicked him in the balls as hard as I could. I didn’t have much energy left in me, but whatever I did, I used it to bash my foot into his sad excuse for manhood.
I watched as Ryan rolled backward for a moment. He had growled out in pain, but within moments, he had recovered himself again. His eyes were bloodshot and focused angrily on me.
“You fucking bitch. You’re dead,” he hissed.