Chapter 3
Emma
Iwas a woman who liked to keep things positive, but my optimism was starting to fade.
That probably wasn’t unusual since I’d been chained to a metal support beam in a rundown building in a very desolate, wooded area of Lania for two days.
Nick and I had been visiting an unpopulated area on the Lanian coast that was slated for development in the future when that pleasant, beautiful day had turned into a nightmare.
Nick had wanted to give me some idea of what the area looked like, so I knew what I’d be working on for branding and marketing in the future.
We’d been flown in by helicopter, along with three bodyguards for Nick, something he hated but tolerated.
I’d been strolling the beach some distance from Nick when the bullets had started to fly.
I’d hit the sand after I’d recognized what was happening. Nick had been hauled bodily to the helicopter by his bodyguards as I’d been snatched up by the people responsible for the assassination attempt.
Nick had tried to get to me, but he’d been no match for his three, burly bodyguards whose only purpose was to protect the Crown Prince of Lania.
After that, my memories were somewhat blurry.
I’d fought the kidnappers, but they’d been way too powerful for one woman.
I’d been drugged to make me less combative and taken away to a wooded area of Lania that had probably been the home of the Lanian rebels at one time.
The cement building I was being held in looked like every other prison I’d seen for captives during the days of the Lanian rebellion.
It was dark except for one small, barred window. The place was also filthy, as if it hadn’t been opened or used in years.
I couldn’t move far from the metal post I was chained to right now.
I was thirsty as hell and lightheaded.
The only small amount of water I’d gotten was when they’d shoved another dose of drugs down my throat.
I knew I was getting seriously dehydrated, and I was feeling the effects of that dehydration.
And I had no idea how this ordeal was going to end.
Don’t panic, Emma.
Having a meltdown wasn’t going to help my situation.
I knew that Nick was turning Lania upside down to search for me. He’d been alive and screaming my name when he’d been shoved into that helicopter.
Nick had become a friend over the last few years and not just my client. I knew he’d keep searching for me until he found me.
I also knew that Brock, Nate, Gage, and Seth were eventually going to come looking for me, too.
I’d missed checking in with Brock both yesterday and today.
My friends had always been overprotective and watchful, even though I was older than all of them.
They were probably already looking for me.
My friends would find me.
I was really scared, but I had to stay hopeful.
I let out a tremulous sigh and tried to ignore the musty, rank smell of the prison and the fact that the building had probably been used for countless hostages in the past.
Hostages that had probably never left the building alive.
I had to keep reminding myself that I was apparently a political prisoner and not a rebel hostage, a woman Nick’s enemies were probably using for leverage of some kind.
I’d been questioned excessively about my relationship with Nick and punched in the face over and over when I’d refused to answer their questions. I’d been punished for my lack of cooperation, but they weren’t cutting off my fingers or body parts…yet.
Honestly, I didn’t know what to tell them.
I was basically screwed.
If they thought I was a love interest to Nick, that could backfire.
If they knew we were nothing but friends and business associates that could get me killed because I wasn’t that useful to them.
The kidnappers had insisted on knowing if I was Nick’s secret girlfriend, but I’d remained stoic and quiet.
I’d decided it was better to stay silent.
Honestly, the idea of me being romantically attached to Nick was utterly ridiculous.
He was younger than me, and probably one of the most sought-after bachelors in the world.
We’d developed a really solid friendship over the years, but I’d definitely never been infatuated with the handsome prince.
Nick was…Nick.
He was a man who loved his country and wanted it to be a democracy.
He’d come a long way in achieving his goals of modernizing Lania, but as of now, the country was still ruled by the monarchy.
Lania was an old country that had been ruled the same way for centuries. Nick knew that change wasn’t going to happen quickly.
Apparently, he had enemies that weren’t on board with the changes that Lania was going through, and those changes would probably continue to happen even faster once Nick was king. He’d be the sole authority for Lania and not have to jump through hoops to make the current king’s advisors happy.
I knew I wasn’t in the hands of guerrilla rebels right now.
My guess was that the men who were holding me were the paid thugs of someone who was opposed to the changes in Lania and the fact that Nick would become king after his father’s death.
I’d been beaten, deprived of food, and I’d gotten very little water.
However, if they’d been Lanian rebels, I probably would have been raped, brutalized, and killed by now.
Were these men capable of killing me?
I had no doubt that they were if they were instructed to off me by someone who was powerful in the Lanian government.
All four of my captors had the cold, calculated appearance of contract killers with no real emotion or empathy.
I shivered a little and lifted my hands to rub my upper arms that were littered with goosebumps.
I was terrified of my captors, but I couldn’t let them see that fear.
I had to live through this.
Stop it, Emma! Get a grip. You are going to get through this.
I’d get rescued, and all of this would become a very bad memory.
I’d sleep in my own bed again in my little cottage in Cherry Cove.
God, I was exhausted, which was probably affecting my ability to keep those dark thoughts out of my head.
I’d dozed because of the drugs, but it was hard to truly sleep when I was propped up against a metal post. I was only shackled to the post by one wrist, but there was no way I was going to lie down on the filthy cement floor in this place.
I’d already had a rat scamper across my leg.
I wasn’t putting my face on the ground. Luckily, I’d decided to dress in jeans and a T-shirt for my outing with Nick, so none of my bare skin was touching the cement, and I wanted to keep it that way.
I’d been over and over my options for two days.
Rescuing myself was impossible.
My shackles were heavy and secure.
Even if I could get loose by some miracle, the window was too small to escape through, and the door was metal-barred from the outside. I heard that barrier slam into place every time one of my captors had closed the door.
Hoping for rescue from someone else didn’t sit well with me, but it was my only option.
I wasn’t used to asking for help from anyone.
However, I’d like nothing more than to see a bunch of muscular guys show up to break me out of this place right now.
I was extremely independent, but I wasn’t stupid.
Some brawny show of strength was going to be needed to overtake the goons outside these walls.
Lania’s military had improved enormously under Nick’s rule, so there was some hope that I’d get my wish.
I just hoped it would happen sooner rather than later.
I was getting weaker from the drugs and lack of water and food.
I leaned my head against the post, closed my eyes, and tried to relax.
My hand went to the chain and pendant around my neck automatically, and I grasped it as I’d done many times in the past for comfort or strength.
I pulled the pendant out from its hiding place beneath my shirt so the assholes who were holding me didn’t snatch it away like they had done with my cell phone and my purse.
The beautiful, antique necklace had been a gift I’d been given a long time ago by a man I’d never quite managed to completely forget.
It had been an outrageously expensive gift to a woman who was nothing more than a five-day fling to that guy.
Neither of us had wanted anything more than that fling, but it had always been hard for me to see those five days as something casual that meant nothing.
The gift was a necklace that I’d admired in a Virginia Beach antique shop when I was on vacation fourteen years ago.
I’d always loved antiques, especially anything art deco.
It was delicate for an art deco design, a simple circle encrusted with diamonds on a platinum chain.
I’d been forced to pass it up because of the price.
That special guy I’d been with had obviously noticed.
I’d found it on my bedside table when I’d woken up on that very last day in Virginia Beach.
I rarely took it off, and for some reason, holding that pendant gave me patience and strength when I’d needed it over the years.
Touching the beautiful circle had become an instinctive reaction for me when I was scared or uncertain.
I’d never really questioned why it helped me to touch the pendant, but it brought me a sense of calm that I really didn’t understand.
Maybe it reminded me of the strong, powerful man who had given me the gift, or maybe it just reminded me of those incredible days I’d spent with him.
We hadn’t stayed in touch.
That hadn’t been part of the deal we’d made.
But I had cherished this gift from him ever since.
Fourteen years ago, I’d been going through a very rough time in my life.
Meeting someone like him, spending time with him, had been exactly what I’d needed at the time.
Most likely, he’d forgotten me a long time ago, but I’d definitely never forgotten him or what that encounter had meant to me.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
I could feel my heart racing, and I wasn’t sure whether it was caused by my dehydration or my fear that I’d die in this dark, musty place alone.
I clutched the circle so hard that it would probably leave an indent in my palm, but right now I needed all the help I could get.