“I know.”
Those are the last words he spoke to me before standing and leaving the room, tugging the door closed behind him and leaving me in the most ostentatious room I’ve ever seen in my life. I suspect this house is full of rooms just like this one, but I thought they only existed in the movies.
Do people really live like this?
I look at my surroundings again, and my eyes land on the pile of clothes Rayne mentioned. I’ve seen photos of him and his wife in the tabloids, and I highly doubt anything she owns is going to fit me, but I make my way toward it anyway. I need to get out of this dress because every time I look down at my bare thighs, all I can see is their hands on my skin.
A door on the far side of the room draws my attention and I slowly make my way toward it. Not that I think anyone else is in here, but who knows with a big creepy house like this. Could be haunted for all I know.
When I swing the door open and find a large bathroom covered in marble, I sigh in contentment. A shower, that’s what I need. I just need to wash away the night and get some sleep. I’m pretty sure I’m safe here, because although I know these people are involved in some shady shit, they all seem very genuine about wanting to help me, and I read an article about Emerson last weekend. Every Sunday, I riffle through our neighbor’s bin for the newspaper and sit in the alley behind our apartment block and read it. The one time I asked if I could have the Chicago Times delivered, out of my own money, I thought my father’s head was going to explode he was so mad. He resents me even more than mom and Sarah do because I’m smarter than he is. He did everything he could to drag me down through school, to stop me from getting a scholarship, and when none of it worked, there were days I truly feared for my life. From all I’ve seen and read about Emerson, l don’t think she would allow anyone to hurt me, but then again, she is married to a mob boss’s brother.
The cool marble under my feet has a shiver running up my spine, but I relish in the feel. When the drugs were raging through my veins, there were moments where everything was numb. Where although I was aware they were touching me, I couldn’t feel where, and that was the single most terrifying experience of my life, even more so than being sold by my own family.
I turn the water on as hot as it will go and tug the tight black dress from my body, followed by my underwear and bra. It’s like heaven stepping into the steady hot streams of water, and I don’t hesitate in using the array of products that line the shelf. Normally I wouldn’t. Hell, I’ve even hesitated when using my own mother’s products in the past, but Storm seemed so earnest about helping me, and let’s be honest, they have the money.
When my skin is red and tender, I step out of the shower and wrap a large fluffy towel around myself before spotting a robe hung behind the door. The fabric is softer than anything I’ve ever felt before, much nicer than the one I got from the dollar bin last year that had a hole in it within the first two weeks.
I wrap the robe around myself and pile my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head.
When I step off the cool tiles and onto the soft carpet, a scream catches in my throat when I notice a body sitting on the edge of the bed.
The woman turns around, her eyes wide with horror that she’s startled me, and I recognize her immediately as Emerson. Her silky auburn hair is piled into a high ponytail and her green eyes are tired with black marks beneath them.
“I’m so sorry for startling you!” She stands from the bed, raising her hands as if it’s going to make me feel any better. She’s not a threat, that much I’m sure of, but that doesn’t stop my heart from beating wildly in my chest. “I just came in to check if you needed anything and heard you were in the shower so I thought I would wait. But in hindsight I probably should have just come back later.” She rubs her hand over her face and I find myself wanting to comfort her.
“It’s okay. I’m just a little jumpy,” I rush to tell her. “And I don’t need anything. You’ve all already done too much.”
Emerson scoffs and shakes her head. “We haven’t done anything. Well, Storm has I suppose, stopped them from taking you, but Rayne and I haven’t done a thing.”
“You’ve welcomed me into your home when you didn’t need to. I told Storm I would work something out for tonight, and then I guess I’ll have to leave the city tomorrow morning, even just until the dust settles. I need to go home and get my stuff.”
“Storm is going to take care of that,” she tells me, taking several small steps toward me as if she’s approaching a wild animal. “I don’t want to frighten you anymore than has already been done tonight, but I don’t think it’s wise to flee the city, I think it would be better, if you’re comfortable to do so, that you stay here with us. These people, the ones that your family made the arrangement with, they are situated around the country and in parts of Mexico and Canada. From what I understand they have links to countries in Europe as well. I understand the want to run, but I don’t think these are the types of people you outrun.” The way she says it makes it seem as if she knows from experience, but I don’t want to pry. I’m a guest in their home, and it’s not lost on me that these people are dangerous. One wrong move and I could find myself at the bottom of Lake Michigan, and that’s not a fate I want to have.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” I whisper the words, afraid the weight of them will cause my voice to crack under the pressure.
“You can stay here for as long as you need,” she offers me a kind smile.
“Do you and Rayne live here too?” I ask before I can think better of it.
“No, we live in the city. Storm called us and asked for us to meet you here. He thought you may be more comfortable having another woman in the house and given my background, thought I might be able to help if you needed to talk.”
“That’s really nice of you, to come all this way in the middle of the night.”
Emerson half laughs and points to the space beside me. “Do you mind?”
“Oh, of course not. Please sit.” I shimmy across the mattress to make space for her and fold my legs beneath me.
She takes a seat and turns to face me. She really is beautiful, even without a lick of makeup she looks like she’s ready to step onto a runway, just as the case was for Snow, and it reminds me how out of place I am here. These people, this house, this life, I don’t fit the mold, and that’s something I have to be okay with. So while I may be able to take their kind offer of protection for the night, tomorrow I will have to work out what my next steps are going to be, and how I’m going to get through this without their help.
“This family is… close. Growing up, it was just my dad and me. My mom left when I was in middle school and we didn’t have any other family. My dad worked all the time at the youth center, and I helped out after school, that was our life. When I found myself with Rayne, I was surprised at the Saint James family dynamic. Their parents were some of the kindest people I have ever met, to the point that when they died they left a significant amount of money to the center even though Rayne and I had only been together a short time.” She sighs at the thought, her eyes locked on her hands in her lap. “I’m sure you know that not everything this family does is entirely legal. Very early on in my relationship with Rayne, an enemy made a threat against us and we all stayed at Rayne’s apartment in the city. I didn’t know how the siblings were going to cope with being cooped up together, and then throwing me into the mix as well, but they’re so close, and they would do anything for one another. So when Storm called tonight, Rayne and I got out of bed and we came here.” She shrugs like it’s the most simple thing in the world.
“My family aren’t close,” I tell her. “Well, they’re not close to me. Sarah and my parents are close, they do family game night and go out for dinner when they can afford it, but I’m not included in those things.”
Emerson nods, anger whirling around her green eyes. “Yes, Storm told us your family are cunts.”
I flinch at the use of the word, not because it offends me, because I’ve heard it a million times before, but because it seems so out of place coming from her.
“Sorry, mind my language. I just can’t fathom how they could do that to you. I have a terrible relationship with my mother, but she’s not capable of something like what your family has done to you.”
I close my eyes to fight the tears gathering at the corners. The more I allow myself to think about it, the harder it is to push down the emotion. I’m having just as much trouble accepting it as she is, but somehow I’m not entirely surprised they would do something like this. That doesn’t make it hurt any less though.
“I’ll let you get some sleep. Rayne and I are going to stay a few days. I have a lot of work to get through at the moment and the estate always helps me work better. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. I know we don’t know one another very well, but I’m here for you if you need me.”
“Thank you.”
Emerson stands from the bed and looks around the room, as if checking I have everything I’m going to need, before making her way toward the door. She’s nothing like I expected a Saint James to be, and there’s a glimmer of hope that maybe I can fit in, even if it’s just until the danger clears and I can go back to my life.
