AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“In a way, they’re almost like artists. The way they can cause so much pain and suffering andstillkeep the poor SOB alive so they can experience it… It’s impressive.”
“Please, stop.”
“What’s the matter? You don’t want to hear about the consequences of your actions?”
“Myactions? You’re telling me this is my fault?”
“That’s right, Em. Marta’s mission was to convince you to come back with her. She failed. So, she had to pay the price. I’m not, nor have I ever been, one to reward incompetence. It’s a shame that after so many years of loyalty to me that Marta’s tenure had to come to an end. But without you, what good was she to me?”
I was too shocked to say a word. More tears poured from my eyes.
“Oh, she cried and sobbed and begged for forgiveness. Poor Marta was so upset that she hadn’t been able to get you to leave with her.” Dad’s horrible grin deepened, and he leaned forward. “I wonder if this would’ve changed your mind? If you would’ve known the price Marta would pay for your selfishness, would you have made the same decision?”
“You didn’t have to kill her.”
“If you’d come back and decided to be a good girl, then you might’ve been right. When the mission failed, however, I needed to tie up all loose ends. Not to mention that I was pissed when she’d told me how badly she’d fucked up.”
Dad let out a sigh, shaking his head sadly before his expression turned severe once more.
“And make no mistake, Emily—I havezeroqualms about putting you through the same fate. You might be my daughter, but you’re a tool to me, something that I’m going to use to get what I want. You’re going to have the chance to come home one more time. Donotfuck with me again. Fight me, and what happens to you will be far, far worse than anything you can imagine.”
With that, the call ended, the screen turning blank.
I sat there stunned, unable to move, to think.
I tried to stand, my legs weak and wobbly underneath me. Nausea gripped me, and I felt the urge to run to the bathroom and vomit. Instead, I gathered what little strength I had and ran out of the office, sobs pouring from me and pain searing through my ankle as I ran downstairs and past the kitchen.
“Emily,” Logan called out after me, but I just kept going.
Desperate for fresh air, I ran outside and into the garden. Once there, I kept on running until I reached the beach, the world a blur around me. My ankle throbbed, but I didn’t care. More sobs wracked me, memories of the day the men in the boat had arrived flooding back to me. I dropped to my knees in the sand, all the tears and moans of anguish that I’d been holding back letting loose, the ocean before me listening indifferently to my cries.
When I couldn’t cry another tear, I let my arms drop to my sides. I sat, totally numb, watching the waves crash into the shore.
“Emily.”
Without another word, he stepped to my side and dropped down to his knees next to me. Logan was calm and even and stoic, just as he always was. I’d had my issues in the past with how cold and detached he could seem, how he would never share his feelings or what was on his mind. In that moment, however, he was a rock. And a rock was just what I needed.
“You don’t have to tell me what happened,” he said after several moments of silence. “But if you want to, I’m here.”
I took a deep breath. He had a right to know. More than that, he needed to know what he was up against so he could make the decision on what to do with me.
“My father admitted that he was the one that set up the kidnapping attempt. And when Marta came back without me…” I trailed off.
“He killed her,” Logan finished. He didn’t try to mollify me; didn’t tell me it would be alright. How could it be? The closet thing I’d had to a mother was gone, and it was because I wouldn’t go with her.
Silence hung in the air. I wondered what he was going to say next. Logan gazed at the ocean, and I could only imagine what was going on in his head as he considered what he’d just heard.
“You can’t go back. Not a goddamn chance. No way I’m going to let you go back to that murderous bastard.”
Calm washed over me at his words. “He said he’d come for me again.”
“Let him come,” Logan said. “He’ll find out what happens when he fucks with me.”
Logan’s words were braced with complete determination and confidence. I was still scared out of my mind, shaken to my core by what I’d learned and how my father had threatened me. Knowing that Logan was in this with me and had my back went a long way.
He wrapped his big arm around me, pulling me close against his strong, solid body, his nearness, his warmth, wrapped around me like a heavy blanket. I turned, nuzzling my face into his chest and breathing in his scent.
As he held me there, I knew what I wanted. I took my face from his chest and gazed up at him.
