I laughed and rolled my eyes before gasping. “Oh my god! I completely forgot about Jared! I have to go let him in, I’ll be right back.”
“Jared? Who is Jared? I’m going to wait for you here,” Allen said, leaning against the door frame.
“Jared Gilbert. I’ll be back soon.” I rushed out of the reception room and hurriedly made my way over to the side entrance of the venue.
The side entrance was almost completely unlit, with only a few yellow spot lights flickering in certain areas, making it difficult to make out any people.
“Jared Gilbert?” I called out after a few more glances.
“Not quite, but you’re pretty close.”
I froze in my position as the all too familiar voice of David Walter reached my ears, just as he stepped within range of one of the dim spot lights. “You know, it’s pretty embarrassing to have security escort you out of an event that has a lot of your clients. You can’t even begin to imagine the shame I felt.” He stuck out his bottom lip in a mock pout, before it turned into a sneer.
I began to back away from him and swiftly turned around to run away, but ran into a solid chest. The man I ran into instantly held me in place just before a rough material was pressed up against my mouth and nose.
“We’re going to have fun, you and me.” David chuckled in a low voice.
The cloth was pressed against my nose with even more force; and then, everything was black.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I woke up expecting the stench of wet mould to fill my nostrils; instead, I found myself in a queen sized bed in a dimly lit bedroom. I instantly bolted upright from my sleeping position and jumped out of the bed immediately, scanning the small area around me.
Trust David Walter to kidnap me and hold me hostage in a fancy room.
The gold dress was still weighing down my shoulder and hugging my figure tightly, and I was thankful the shimmering piece was not removed during the process of tucking me into the creepy bed. Unfortunately, my belongings – which included my phone and a very valuable tube of lip gloss – were taken away from me.
Deciding that nothing more was going to happen in the small bedroom, I went for the door, which, surprisingly, was unlocked. Stepping out into a brighter room caught my eyes off guard, and I had to squint in order for them to readjust to the lighting, and they narrowed even further once I heard an all too familiar chuckle reach my ears.
I turned to the side to find David Walter sitting on a plain white chair, smiling in my direction. “Sleeping beauty awakens.”
“What the hell is your problem?” I exclaimed angrily, clenching my teeth. “Are you that desperate for human companionship that you had to kidnap someone to get it?!”
“Now, now Emily. There’s absolutely no reason to be angry-”
“
No reason to be angry?!
” I repeated with an incredulous look. “You’ve
kidnapped
me!”
“Well, you wouldn’t come willingly, would you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Obviously not, you’re a creep!” I exclaimed, before blushing slightly. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be mean. But you are,” I re-stated once his expression turned to one of amusement.
“And this is why I’ve had to kidnap you,” he stated, as if I had just presented the reason.
I gave him a flat look. “You didn’t actually clarify the reason.”
“Look at you, Emily. Your appearance, as well as your personality is much well suited to me than it would be to Adrian Kingston. If you had just come with me the day we met-”
I let out an angry growl. “Stop right there. I don’t know how many times I have to actually say it to you; but I’ll repeat it once more just so it can sink into that thick skull of yours. This – whatever sick thing you have planned out in your mind – isn’t happening. I’m with Adrian, and I love him.
No one
is going to stop that apart from the man himself. Let me go.”
David blinked once before he began to chuckle again, and raised his eyebrow once he was done. “The man himself? You mean the one you fought with before I took you? He looked pretty angry with you… I wonder if he’s searching for you as we speak, if he even noticed you were gone at all last night.”
“Last night?” I repeated, whipping my head around in search for a window. The room was sealed with regal gold curtains; concealing any signs of the outdoors.
“Oh, how rude of me. Good morning, sunshine. You were out like a nightlight. It was almost peaceful watching you sleep – if I hadn’t known you were drugged.” He chuckled to himself again, and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.
“You’re crazy and I want to go home. Now.”
“Ah, Emily. So naïve. You’re not leaving until I get what I want from you.” David’s voice turned serious, and my fear spiked up.
“I’m not breaking up with Adrian, or doing anything that’s unfaithful to him,” I announced, trying to sound firm to conceal my fear.
“Not by choice,” David added with a wink and a sly smile.
“W- What do you mean by that?” I demanded, shaking slightly.
“ROBERT!” David called out suddenly, ignoring my question. I scanned the room again in an attempt to search for something that could be of use to me – like my phone – but was cut short once the same large man that I recognised from last night entered the room, holding a familiar looking cloth.
David motioned for him to stop moving and turned back to me with a small smile on his lips. “You seem tired, Emily. Let me help you out with that.”
“There is no way in hell I’m going to be drugged again!” I snapped, taking a step back with a glare. I instantly ran behind a chair as a barricade in case Robert decided to come any closer.
David sighed, before looking back to the tall, buff man. “Give us a minute, will you Rob? I need to talk some sense into her before she takes another nap.”
“No, you don’t.” I scowled immediately. “I want to go home.”
“To what? A very angry boyfriend? Ah! I must’ve forgotten to tell you. I’ve messaged your pretty little boyfriend and let him know that you were with me. Well, actually,
you
messaged him from your phone telling him you came with me for a chat and won’t be back for a while. You know Emily, using your anniversary date as your passcode is very predictable; anybody could get into your phone. You wouldn’t want that.” His pout was mocking as he shook his head in my direction.
“You’re an asshole.” I growled, growing angrier by the second. I could barely tolerate his irritating presence as it was, and now David Walter tells me he went through my phone? He tested my limits.
“Anyway, I wonder if your beloved boyfriend is even looking for you right now? He’s probably picking up his latest treat since you’ve abandoned him for a while with his worst enemy
and
you two were fighting beforehand.” David’s smug smile pulled apart the last string that was holding my patience together, and I grabbed the nearest thing to me – which happened to be a lamp – and launched it in his direction.
Robert immediately blocked David from receiving the hit, and turned to glare at me once the lamp rebounded off his back and landed on the floor in a clatter.
Panic began to rise in my throat once I realised I was completely defenseless now; so I did what natural human being instinct told me to do: I ran.
I ran in the opposite direction that Robert thought I was going to go in; giving me a 3-second advantage. Unfortunately; it was only that. A 3-second advantage. Within those 3 seconds, I was on the ground with a ton of human being pinning me down firmly so I wasn’t able to move.
“My, my. You are a handful, Emily Johnson.” David chuckled. I shifted my head and found his sleek black shoes in front of my face. He tucked one foot underneath my chin and pushed my head up so that I was looking up at him. I made sure my expression was nothing but the fiercest glare I could muster up, although he didn’t seem fazed by it.
“I think you should listen closely when I say this; there is no way of escaping this hotel room without me getting what I want. The windows are barred, and the only door to exit this place is code initiated. Even if you
did
manage to guess the code – which you wouldn’t, because I, unlike some people, don’t use an anniversary date-”
“Because you have no anniversary to use,” I spat out, still glaring.
He kicked my chin purposefully and glared down at me. “Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking to you. My point is, Emily, I have guards just like Robert here stationed at every entrance or exit of this hotel who know who you are. They are very loyal to me, so I suggest you give me what I want, and no one gets hurt.”
“What the hell do you even want from me?!” I exclaimed angrily. My eyes widened in shock just as the one possibility registered in my mind, and my glare transformed to a look of pure desperation. “Please, anything but that. I- I’ll give you money-”
David scoffed. “Money? I have enough money to buy myself an island and start a new empire. I don’t need any more money. I just want you. One night.”
I shook my head on his shoe. “No. No I won’t.”
David shrugged with the same amused smile on his face. “Well that’s a shame. Robert?”
I didn’t even get the chance to take a step before a thick arm wrapped itself around my waist while a soft, foul smelling cloth was pressed up against my nose. Everything began fading into blackness once again.
***
I woke up in the same bed.
Except this time, there was too much light and there was a steaming bowl of chicken soup, along with a tall glass of water, accompanying me in the stuffy room.
It was then that I also noticed the shimmering gold dress I had been wearing sprawled across a small chair near the door of the room, and my breath hitched in my throat as a million thoughts rushed through my mind.
Did something happen while I was out of it?
I looked down at my current attire in a panicked state, only to find myself wearing a thin cotton shirt and a pair of navy sweatpants that were both my exact size.
My stomach began to grumble just as the aroma of the chicken soup filled my nostrils, and I looked back at the while bowl with caution. There was no way David Walter would give me normal food or drink without spiking it with something.
Ignoring the urge to devour the food, I went back to trying to figure out how I got into these clothes.
I jumped out of the bed as soon as I heard a door slam shut from outside the room, and instantly threw my own door wide open.
David Walter strolled in with a lazy smug expression as he placed his phone onto the counter beside him and sipped on the blue cup in his hand. Once he noticed me standing at my own doorway, the lazy grin widened slowly. “Good morning, sunshine.”
“What the hell did you do to me?” I snapped, ignoring his greeting.
David raised his eyebrows. “Nothing yet, unfortunately. Does this mean-”
“Shut up. How did I get into these clothes if you did nothing to me?” I asked angrily in an attempt to hide my panic.
His eyes slid over my attire before he began laughing. I attempted to keep my expression angered as his laughter died down and his eyes settled on me once again. “As much as I would have loved to undress you, I didn’t want you to hate me more than you already do. So I got someone you’d be semi-comfortable with to do it for me, even though you probably hate her now.” He chuckled as a single name overpowered the thoughts in my head.
Anna.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, no matter how much you cater to my needs or try and make me feel comfortable, I’m not-”
“Emily,” David cut me off, setting his drink down and beginning to walk towards me. “It’s one night. Whether or not you want to do it willingly or I have to force you into it is up to you.” He stood right in front of me and I began to take a step back before he grabbed my upper arm, stopping me from moving any farther away from him.
“Let me go.”
“What is it exactly that’s stopping you from letting
us
happen, Emily?” David murmured, bringing his free hand to cup my cheek.
A look of disgust automatically made its way to my face as I tried to pull away from his hold. “Everything! You’re disgusting and desperate for something that’s
never
going to happen with me. Let me go, and we can pretend this entire thing didn’t happen.” I tried, keeping my voice even.
He chuckled again at my words and placed a kiss on my cheek before I was able to stop it from happening. My glare increased as he smiled in response.
“That won’t be happening. Have you eaten?” he asked.
My mind instantly went back to the bowl of soup that was still sitting on the small table in the room I was being held in. it was probably cold by now, but I didn’t care. “No.”
“I haven’t poisoned it, Emily.” David chuckled.
My eyes narrowed even further. “The fact that you had to clarify that for me says something.”
“I’m being honest with you. I could tell that you didn’t trust me so I brought it up for you. Would you like me to call up the chef so he can cook you a meal in front of you?”