CHAPTER 9

“Hey, Sean, I don’t think I can make it in today. I’m really not feeling well, and I don’t want to get anyone sick.”

“No problem, Jessica. We’ve got you covered. Please take whatever time you need.”

“Thanks so much. I feel terrible short-staffing the team.”

“Jessica, you haven’t missed a day of work. We’ve got this. Just feel better, okay?”

“Okay, thank you, Sean. See you later.” Jessica hung up, actually feeling a little sick to her stomach from lying to her boss about being ill, but she really wasn’t up for working today. The lack of sleep and whirlwind romance with Roman had kicked her ass—and heart.

She shuffled into the kitchen to make some breakfast, nothing really sounding good. She settled for making some coffee that would either satiate or stimulate the need for food. Jessica yawned, pulling her hair up into a messy bun, red waves poking out everywhere. She settled into her cozy, pillowy loveseat, tucking the quilt from her gran around her leggings and T-shirt.

“What were you thinking, Jessica? What? Like he was seriously into you? Like he could change your life from shades of gray to a spectrum of bright colors? So stupid.” She had a habit of talking to herself, especially when she felt she needed a reprimand. “Oh yes, it makes perfect sense—the man of your dreams sweeps you off your feet and into the sunset, or sunrise, whatever, just shut up.” She was trying like hell to shift into angry mode, but all she could muster was petulance; her heart was just too broken.

As Jessica sank into the sorrowful frustration she was feeling, she knew she’d be getting a call sooner than later. How did her gran always know? Yep, there she is, she thought as the phone rang.

“Hey, Gran.”

“Hey, sweet pea, sorry to bother you while you’re getting ready for work, but I couldn’t let it go.”

“I know. And I’m not actually going into work today, taking a mental health day.”

“Oh? Just feeling a little burned out? You’re not sick are you, hun?”

Jessica sighed. Her grandmother was anything but subtle in her attempts to get to the bottom of whatever Jessica was feeling. By this point in her life, her gran was an expert on all things Jessica, especially her feelings.

“No, I’m not sick. I just… I sort of… I feel like a moron.”

“I don’t think that’s quite the whole of it, my dear.”

“No, no it’s not. There’s a guy or rather, there was a guy, but that’s over now.” Jessica laughed humorlessly. “Not like it was anything really that started… but something about it was just… different, Gran, you know?”

“Ah, honey, I understand. I know I’m an old lady in your eyes, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t hang in there with the best of them when I was younger. Broke a few hearts of my own before your grandad.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Jessica genuinely smiled to herself. “It all just happened so fast. It was literally like I was being swept off my feet. And the crazy part is that we met when I showed up to give a massage.”

“Well, as much as I don’t love that detail, sweetheart, you’re young and should be living your life! You work too much—you worry too much. Especially about me, and you know I can take care of myself. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Was it at least fun?”

“Fun? Yeah, it was fuc—freaking fantastic! He may have turned out to be a prick, but he was definitely a rich prick and spared no expense while setting me up for his ridiculous game. And the uh… uh, intimate moments, really were incredible.”

“See? I bet maybe the time was worth a little bit of heartbreak. Makes a person feel alive.”

“Yeah, I guess it will be a great story someday, ‘Hey, this one time, I massaged a weirdo, got his blood on my fingers, thought I was going to get fired, and then he swept me off my feet for a couple days before trying to initiate either some weird-ass role play or getting off on a humiliation kink.’ I mean, the nerve!”

“Wait, hun, back it up a minute—”

“I mean, come on! What did he really think would happen with, ‘Oh hey, I’m an old-ass vampire’? Are there actually women who fall for that shit?”

“Jessica, slow down, we need to—”

“What was he expecting from me? Was it because of the blood incident that first night? Some sort of fetish? I don’t know. I wasn’t going to stick around and find—”

“Jessica Anne Roberts! You shush and listen to me right this instant!”

“Geez, sorry, Gran, I—”

“No, no, I don’t like this one bit. I thought, of all the places to live, the fucking desert would be the best bet. And now, here we are. I can’t believe… fucking vampires!” Jessica didn’t interrupt her gran again; she was stunned by her tone as well her words. They were very rare moments indeed where she’d heard the F-word fly out of her grandmother’s mouth.

“Jessica, listen. I think you might be in trouble. I’m on my way—”

The door to Jessica’s apartment split into a million splintery shards as a bunch of men came bursting into her apartment. One of them grabbed her phone from her hand and threw it at the wall, shattering that as well.

A large man wearing a leather jacket and a menacing-looking expression, grabbed Jessica off the couch, pinning her arms behind her back, and her face against the wall.

“Where the fuck is he?” He didn’t yell, but his tone was scarier to Jessica. Like, if she didn’t have the answer, things were going to get way worse.

“I… I don’t know who you mean,” she choked out.

“Don’t play with me, bitch. I know you were with him; your smell is all over his room. What did you do with Roman?”

“What? My smell… What the fuck? Roman? How should I know?”

“Look, I’m all for doing this the hard way. You feel me, princess?” And the man pressed against Jessica’s back, pushing her harder into the wall, almost to the point of not being able to breath.

“I don’t understand,” she breathed out, “I don’t know where Roman is.”

“Okay. The hard way then. Fine with me. Vance! Tie this bitch up. We’ll bring her with us.” Another man, this one still tall and muscular, but about half the actual size as the first, zip-tied Jessica’s hands and feet then placed some duct tape over her mouth.

“You really should have talked when you had the chance.” The man, presumably Vance, hoisted Jessica up over his shoulder and they left her apartment.

Everything was a blur to Jessica. They moved incredibly quickly from her apartment to waiting SUVs on the curb, making odd hissing noises between the building and the cars. Vance threw Jessica into the backseat in a laying down position. She couldn’t see where they were going and was elated when it seemed like they weren’t going too far. Or should she have been more terrified that the ride was over and whatever reckoning they thought they were doing was closer to beginning?

When they pulled her back up, they were in a parking garage. From the car, they carried Jessica to some elevators. No one was speaking, but every so often she would meet someone’s eyes and receive a sneer. When the elevator opened, she immediately recognized the interior of Muse. What the fuck is going on? In her hysteria, she imagined Sean sending goons after her for not coming into work, and she almost started laughing.

They entered a suite where more people were waiting and dropped Jessica onto the couch. A woman with long, straight, glossy, jet-black hair and ice-blue eyes walked up and ripped the tape off Jessica’s face. She didn’t have a chance to yowl from the sting before the woman slapped her.

“Where is he, you piece of trash?” Jessica just stretched and moved her jaw, blinking back tears. Her brain was going into overdrive trying to compartmentalize her trauma as she again almost burst into laughter thinking she was getting bitch-slapped by Snow White.

“Arabella. We’ll handle this,” one of the men said, then looked at Jessica.

“I realize Xavier there,” the man motioned to who Jessica had referred to in her head as the kidnapping gorilla, “already asked you, but let’s see if we can start over, shall we?” This man had kinder eyes and didn’t seem as worked up as the rest of the crew. She nodded.

“Great. I’m Ashford. And you are?”

“Seems like you should fucking know who I am since you kidnapped me.” Xavier made a move toward her, but Ashford put his hand up, and he paused.