Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Eliza
As night enveloped the house, the sinister quiet was punctuated only by Mark’s movements and Emma’s innocent laughter. Mark had untaped Emma, fed her and convinced her we were playing a game of cops and robbers.
“You and mommy were the robbers,” he explained to her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m the cop, and I’m going to take you two away. You need to play along.”
Emma, still too young to grasp the reality of our situation, giggled and nodded, her joy the opposite of the terror gripping my heart. As I watched them, my mouth still sealed with duct tape, I felt a profound sadness mixed with a fierce protective instinct. I desperately clung to the hope that, despite his many faults and the danger he’d brought to our doorstep, Mark wouldn’t harm his own daughter.
As the hours ticked by, my thoughts inevitably drifted to Knox. I remembered the story he’d shared, the pain and desperation of a young boy forced to make an unimaginable choice to save his mother. My heart ached for him, knowing now the kind of helplessness he must have felt, the same helplessness that was suffocating me.
The realization that Knox was possibly sitting in a cell because of the twisted machinations of my supposedly dead ex-husband made my despair even deeper. I felt guilty for ever doubting Knox, for allowing past fears to cloud the truth of the man he was. If I could see him again, I would tell him everything, apologize for not trusting him completely, tell him how much he meant to me.
And if I had a shotgun, Mark would really be dead.
Lost in my turbulent thoughts, I was startled by a knock at the door. Mark tensed, a flash of panic crossing his features before he masked it with a calm I knew was feigned.
He whispered harshly to his mother, “Answer it, but be careful what you say.”
From my position on the floor, I could only listen as footsteps approached the door and it creaked open. The voices that followed were unmistakably gruff, those of the Royal Bastards MC, their tones taking no shit.
“We’re looking for Eliza and Emma. We know something’s not right. Let us in to check the house,” one of the voices said, a voice I recognized as Rocky’s, filled with concern and an underlying threat of action if denied.
Grandma hesitated, her voice trembling as she responded, “They’re not here. They left.”
I strained against my bonds, desperate to cry out, to let them know I was here, that Emma and I needed help. The muffled sounds of discussion continued, the members of the MC not easily persuaded, their insistence a thin lifeline thrown across the dark waters of my despair.
The exchange seemed to drag on, every second stretched into eternity, until finally, the sound of heavy footsteps signaled that they might be leaving. My heart sank, the fleeting hope dissolving as quickly as it had appeared. But then, a new sound caught my attention—the unmistakable noise of a scuffle, followed by the door being pushed open forcibly.
Adrenaline surged through me as the Royal Bastards MC made their presence known, their voices now clear and authoritative inside the house. Relief flooded through me, even as Mark cursed and looked around wildly for an escape that wasn’t there.
The next moments were a blur of activity. The MC members, a half dozen of them, quickly subdued Mark, their efficient handling of the situation more than welcome. As they freed me and Emma, the relief and gratitude I felt were overwhelming, tears streaming down my face as I hugged my daughter close, her laughter now replaced by confused whimpers.
As I comforted her, I looked up to see Knox’s brothers, my rescuers, standing over us protectively. Their presence underscored the loyalty and courage Knox had shown me from the beginning. In that moment, all I wanted was to be reunited with Knox, to tell him how much he truly meant to us, to thank him for setting in motion the rescue that saved our lives. The bond that had formed between us, tested under the harshest conditions, was unbreakable now, and I knew nothing would ever make me doubt him again.