Gemma
I’d been pushed around allmy life. I’d been forced to get on my knees and beg. I’d kept my lips sealed and my tongue clipped, letting threats and insults hinder me. I’d been broken, and torn apart, and had somehow morphed into someone who was vulnerable and weak.
But that wasn’t me any longer.
It wasn’t my brother disappearing and leaving me false hope that made me snap.
It wasn’t Richard and his looming threats.
It wasn’t the cool floor of that dirty basement or the abuse that followed.
No.
It was him.
Isaiah.
Isaiah was the one to do it.
There was nothing worse than giving someone pieces of yourself and allowing them the power to destroy every last one. I gave Isaiah the few parts of my heart that were the most jagged, the most tarnished, the ones that held both fear and hope, and he broke them in half.
And in turn, it broke me. But it broke me in the best way. Hope had diminished. Guilt was no longer a notion that I felt. Everything that had been holding me back from taking a hold of my life and fighting back was fleeting.
I wasn’t going to sit back and let them have me. I wasn’t a piece of trash or a little toy for them to touch for their own sick games. I was done being an object. I was done with people using me. I was fucking done.
So, when Cade’s breath fell over my ear with his grip hard against my body, I was ready for a fight. “Save yourself, Gemma. Fucking run.”
And that was exactly what I did.
As soon as my head had collided with Cade’s, his arm loosened, and I ran like hell. The moisture in the air coated my sticky skin, the fog hardly giving way to the forest below. My shoes slid on the wet asphalt, and I tripped a time or two, but I just kept running. Sticks snapped, and slippery leaves stuck to the bottoms of my soles. My hair slashed across my face, and my jacket had fallen down over my shoulder, letting the cool night wash over my skin.
I knew they were coming for me.
Just like I had known Richard would the first time I’d run from him, too.
Hurt seeped in as I jumped over a log, falling to my hands for a second. Mud coated my fingers, but I popped back up and kept on running. How could he do this to me? Did Cade tell me to run because he wanted me to survive? Or did he tell me to run because they liked the chase? I could hear them behind me. I could hear the rustle of leaves and breakage of branches.
My feet dug into the ground as a familiar tremor ran through my body.
No.
I wouldn’t allow the past to revisit me in a time like this—not when I needed to focus and figure out a plan. My legs picked up pace again, the air in my lungs coming out in choppy spurts as blood rushed through my veins. My legs burned from the fast pace, and I felt another slice of pain against my knees. Just like last time.
“No!” I whisper-shouted to myself, causing a nearby cricket to stop chirping. Richard wasn’t here. He wasn’t the one chasing me. My head snapped up as a thought came through. But... My gaze roamed all around the forest as I turned in circles. I was surrounded by large tree trunks and thick branches of pine that seemed to never end. If Isaiah had betrayed me once, he’d do it again. He was using me. Was he using me to lure in Bain? My head began to spin as I tried to make sense of it all. It didn’t make sense. The way he touched me. Kissed me. Looked at me. It didn’t make sense!
Nothing made sense!
My feet pulled me backward as my chest constricted.
I couldn’t breathe.
I clawed at my jacket and unzipped it, throwing it off to the side. My feet moved backward again, and I fell to my butt, dirt digging underneath my nails, before quickly climbing to stand again.
Was he even planning on giving me the money?
I needed the money. Where would I go without it?
The fake ID?
Richard would find me if I didn’t have one. I’d never be able to work. I’d never be able to survive if I couldn’t hide behind the identity of someone else. I would have to find a job eventually. Find a place to live. I couldn’t do that as Gemma Richardson.
He would find me.
I’d be his.
The chains would go back around my wrists until I submitted.
He’d make me beg for food. He’d make me beg for him.
“Call me daddy, baby girl. I’m all you have now.”
His finger would trail down my spine and curve over parts that weren’t his to touch. He’d fulfill his threats. He’d spread me wide and make me think twice about running. He wouldn’t stop until I told him I liked it. That I loved him. That I was his. That I wouldn’t break the rules like my mother did.
“Gemma! Fucking snap out of it.”
His hands were running down my arms, and I shook from fear. Not again. No. “Did you break the rules? I thought you were my good girl? Do you want to end up like your mother?”
I gasped and felt for my wrists. I wasn’t chained yet. There was still time.
“Gemma. Come on, don’t go to that fucking place.”
“I’m sorry. Please don’t chain me. I won’t do it again.” His laugh made me double over. The nausea came in crashing waves.
“Cade, she’s trembling. She’s not with us.”
“No. You won’t run again. I won’t fucking let you.” I felt the tears on my face as he shook me. I felt something hard behind me, but it wasn’t Richard. It was scratchy and grounding.
“Shaking her isn’t working. We need to open her eyes and—”
“Take her mind back…bring her back to the present.”
The scratchiness was gone, but the basement was still in sight. There were hands on me. But...goosebumps covered my skin. There were four hands on me. Four. Not two. And they weren’t his.
“That’s it. Relax.”
Where did the scratchiness behind my back go? It was gone. I was no longer being scraped or cut. The sharp pieces weren’t rubbing me raw anymore. Instead, it was firm and warm. There were hands on my hips and soft touches running over my chest, dipping down low enough to make me tighten.
“Just let it go. Open your eyes,” a deep, raspy whisper wisped around the inside of my ear. Something wet flicked my skin just below the whisper, and I felt my head sag.