Chapter 32 #2
I nod in agreement. Leaving things to the criminal system is definitely not my idea of a good plan. We help those who they refused to.
“Wait—Does that mean we can go home now? To the States?” I ask, hope suddenly filling me. Is this finally over?
Dex grins at me from the seat beside us. “Yep, we’re going home tomorrow.”
“Really?” I ask, my eyes filling with tears of relief.
Elias nods. “Robert and Ivan are dead. We have the list. The FBI has already confirmed the airplane they’re sending for us will land tomorrow at eleven a.m. Once back in the States, it might take a week or so, but they will get all of our names cleared, and we’ll be free to go.”
“I can’t believe it,” I whisper in shock. “We actually did it.”
“You doubted us, baby?” Dex asks with a grin.
“No, it’s just been so long. I can’t believe it’s finally over.”
I ride the rest of the way to the hotel in shock.
It’s hard to actually wrap my head around the idea that someone isn’t going to barge into our room in the middle of the night and try to kill us, kidnap us, or arrest us.
We’ve been living on the edge of our seats for months, and I don’t even know how to fully relax.
As we approach our hotel room door, Pete keeps grinning at me until I finally ask, “What?”
“Do you know what today is?”
I shake my head, and his smile just grows wider. He pushes open the hotel door with a flourish and gestures inside.
Stepping inside, my eyes widen as I take everything in.
Gold and dark blue decorations are hanging from the ceiling, with matching balloons all over the place.
I move into the living area and see a bucket in the middle of the table, filled with several bottles and surrounded by ice.
Six champagne glasses sit nearby, and across the back wall is a giant banner that reads ‘Happy New Year.’
“It’s New Year’s Eve?” I ask, my mind racing to try and figure out the date. I lost track in there, with no clocks or calendars to help mark the days.
“Yep! And we’ve only got an hour until midnight,” Pete says as he moves to stand beside me. I eye his guard uniform and frown. He looks down at himself, and a look of anger crosses his face.
“I’m gonna go change. Sly?” he calls. “You need to get out of that uniform, stat.”
“Why?” Sly asks, his eyes bouncing between us.
Pete clenches his hands into fists as he grits out, “Because the guards hurt her.”
“Take me back there,” Dex demands. “I’ll kill them all.”
“I already took care of the worst ones,” Pete tells him before looking at me. “They were, right?” I nod. “He said they were going to take you to the showers,” he says, stepping closer. “Does that mean what I think it does?”
I nod, and he gently grips my shoulders, his face looking pained as he asks. “Did they— Did they take you there before? Did they touch you?”
I quickly shake my head, not wanting him to think the worst. “No, they never touched me… sexually before. They liked to push me around and hit me a little, especially if I spoke back. So I learned to stay quiet.”
“Well, you don’t have to stay quiet ever again,” he tells me. “Unless we’re in a stakeout or something.”
“What he means,” Elias says, stepping up to his side, “is that you never have to hold your tongue with us.”
“I know,” I tell him with a smile.
“Yeah, we like your fire,” Pete says, the mischievous glint returning to his eyes.
A wave of emotion hits me, and my vision starts to turn blurry.
“Oh fuck, don’t cry, angel! I can’t take it!” Pete says, looking panicked.
“She’s okay,” Elias says, and he gently pulls me in for a hug. “Just a little overwhelmed at everything that’s happened, yeah?”
I nod against his chest, hugging him back, and feeling relieved that he understands without me having to explain.
“Oh,” Pete says, reaching out to stroke my head. “They’re happy tears?” he asks, sounding more relaxed.
“Yeah,” I say as I try to regain control of my emotions.
“Do you guys mind giving me and Wren a moment alone?” Elias asks. “We’ll just be in the bedroom for a minute.” I hear a few of them murmur their agreement as Elias leads me with an arm around my shoulder into the bedroom, closing the door behind us.
He takes a second to look me over. I can’t imagine how bad I look in my prison sweats, messy hair, and probably slightly red eyes.
He grabs my hand and pulls me over to the bed as he sits on the side and pulls me to stand between his knees. We stare at each other silently until I start to fidget, unsure what he’s thinking.
Finally, he reaches out with one hand to cup my cheek as he speaks. “You know, it’s okay if you want to cry.”
“What?” My head pulls back an inch in surprise, not expecting him to say that.
And despite my resolve not to cry, I can feel my eyes instantly fighting back the tears.
“Why would I cry? Everything is finally perfect. I’m free.
You and the others are going to finally be free, too.
Nobody is injured. Everything is perfect.
” But my voice betrays me, cracking on the last word.
Instead of looking like he pities me, he gives me a small smile.
“You’re right. Everything is perfect. But sometimes it takes a little time for our emotions to catch up with our brains.
Don’t forget that until a few hours ago, you were imprisoned for three weeks where you were hurt, and completely alone.
And today’s rescue, being stuck in that laundry bag, must have been extremely difficult for you.
That’s a lot to go through. Your mind is probably on overdrive right now. ”
I nod in response, afraid that if I try to speak, I’ll start crying. Somehow, he’s able to verbalize how I’m feeling.
“It’s not healthy to hold back your emotions.
And you never need to,” he says as his thumb wipes at a stray tear.
“Not with me, and not with them. Some of them might not know what to do with your tears,” he gives me a conspiratorial grin, “But we both know that they’d never judge you for them, either. ”
“I don’t want to be weak,” I admit to him.
“Oh, sweetheart. You’re the strongest person I know. Crying doesn’t make you weak. In fact, being able to share that part of you with us makes you incredibly strong.”
I press my lips together, my emotions still running rampant through me. I want to feel happy, excited, and relieved, but instead I just feel like bursting into tears. “Being in there, especially without being able to see any of you,” I start to tell him. “It was so hard.”
“It must have been horrible,” he says, still stroking my cheeks gently.
“Your letters kept me going. And I never cried, not even once.”
“See?” he says with a smile. “You’re strong. I bet even Sly shed a tear when he landed in prison.”
A laugh escapes me at that picture, but it somehow opens the gates, and my laughter quickly turns to tears. Elias, knowing exactly what I need, pulls me sideways into his lap and holds me tight as he whispers words of reassurance. “That’s it, sweetheart. Let it all out.”
I press my face to his chest as I finally let go, all my emotions pouring from me as I cling to him.
After a minute, I hear Dex’s panicked voice. “Is she okay? Is she hurt?”
“She’s okay. Just overwhelmed. She needs to get it all out,” Elias replies. I feel other hands start touching me. Someone rubs my back, another hand strokes down the back of my head, someone squeezes my shoulder.
I feel the bed move a bit and lift my head to see Jagger sitting beside us.
He lifts his hands and signs, “I love you.” Silently, I start to reach for him, and knowing what I want, he pulls me into his lap so I’m straddling him.
I press my face into the crook of his neck, and he holds me tight.
I take a deep breath as a few more tears escape.
“I don’t like when she’s sad,” Dex says, breaking the silence.
I lift my head and sniffle before telling him, “I’m not sad.”
He frowns. “You look sad.” His honesty makes me smile, which turns his frown into a smile. “That’s better.”
“You look a little better,” Sly comments. “Do you feel better?”
I take a second to assess myself and realize that the relief I’d expected to feel as soon as they rescued me is finally here. As if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. “I do,” I finally reply. Elias might be right; crying is therapeutic after all.
“Good, because there is something I need to take care of,” Sly says.
“What? You’re leaving?” I ask in worry.
“Leaving?” he asks in confusion. “No, never.” That one word warms my heart as the momentary panic quickly fades.
“What do you need to take care of then?”
“You.”
“Uhhh…” I say eloquently, unsure what he means.
“I need to see what they did to you. I want to note every bruise and every mark.”
“Why?” I ask, turning myself to see Sly better. I settle my back against Jagger’s chest as he wraps his arms around me. “It’s not like you’re going to go back there and kill them again, right?”
“I just need to know.”
Looking up at him, I can see the tension coiling under his skin.
As hard as it’s been for me this past month, I at least had their letters to know how they were doing.
They had nothing from me, and for a controlling guy like Sly, it must have been hell.
His protective instincts must be in overdrive.
Setting my feet on the ground, I stand and step toward him, lifting my arms out to the sides as I tell him, “I’m all yours, Sir. Inspect away.”