Fox: Are you ok?
Me: No. She broke my heart and I don’t want to talk about her again.
Arch: Back to ignoring band meetings, C?
Me: It worked before.
Fox: Come stay with me tonight. We’ll get her stuff moved out if that’s what you want.
Me: It is. I can’t be with someone who compares me to a fucking rapist.
Fox: I’m ordering takeaway. Nee is going to pack Fern’s things up. We love you, C. Always xx
Chapter 37
Fern
As I stood in the hallway of the TV studio, the weight of what had just happened hit me, making a loud sob rip from my chest.
“Fern,” Jarrid opened his arms, pulling me against his chest where I fell apart.
At some point, the alarms stopped ringing and voices started playing out. As I listened, the conversation I’d just had with Charlie sounded out, making me jerk back from Jarrid.
“Is that? Did someone record us? Are they playing it back?”
Jarrid’s face froze and then he nodded, before he raised his finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. He pointed to the emergency exit, but I shook my head, turning back to the studio.
“I’m so fucking sick of this,” I hissed, storming through the doors.
As soon as I got inside, a blinding light flashed, followed by a deafening bang that left me disorientated, the room spinning.
Fumbling, I yelled for Jarrid, expecting to find him nearby. When my hand landed on what I presumed was his thick bicep, I let out a groan of relief, trying to blink my eyes back into focus, but something sharp pricked the side of my neck, and the world fell away.
My bed was hard and cold and vibrated under me. I tried to sit up, but my body felt sluggish and the pain in my head, coupled with the ringing in my ears, made me want to stay horizontal.
Groaning, I thought back to where I’d been and what had left me in such a state. That was when I remembered Charlie. The look on his face, the words he’d fired at me. I’d deserved them all. A tear rolled down my cheek, and I went to wipe it away, crying out when I realized my hands were bound together in front of me. As were my feet. Fear rose in my throat, tasting like bile, as I tried to push myself up to sitting, unsuccessfully.
It wasn’t long before I worked out I was in the back of a van, and from the way I slipped around the space, we were moving somewhere along winding roads with lots of turns.
Eventually, we stopped, and the back door was pulled open by an enormous man. Dressed in black, with dark hair and a wiry mustache, he reached in and grabbed me tightly by the arm, dragging me unceremoniously out and throwing me to the floor at his feet.
“No point trying to scream for help, sweetheart. You ain’t going anywhere.” He laughed as he pointed in front of us, showing me the space we were in.
The sun was just setting, so the sky was a glow with pinks and reds, but that was the only good thing about the vacant lot wewere in. Derelict, run down buildings, burned out cars, pothole filled concrete, and high fences surrounded us.
“He did a good job, finding this place, I have to say. He definitely doesn’t want anyone rescuing you. You must have pissed him off good and proper.”
Before I could say anything, headlights appeared as a car approached slowly. For a second, I thought it was Thomas or Sean coming to the rescue, but that dream didn’t last long.
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” my kidnapper muttered, pulling on my elbow, forcing me to stand.
My legs screamed from being bound in one place for so long, but I refused to let anyone see that I was in pain or terrified. Hardening my face, I glared at the limo as the driver got out and opened the back door. James stepped out looking like a wanna-be celeb. Tugging down the cuffs on his suit, he ran his eyes up and down me before licking his lips.
“Fe, Fe, Fe. Look at the state of you. You have let yourself go. Don’t worry. You’ll be home before you know it, looking more like the Richard’s woman you were raised to be.”
“Fuck off, James,” I yelled.
His eye twitched as he closed the distance between us and I could feel the anger bouncing off him. He grabbed my cheeks between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing so hard that I let out a muffled cry.
