While my night was far from dreamless, I hadn't woken up tied down to anything. In fact, from how everything was still piled on the desk exactly how I had done it the night before, it seemed no one had even tried to get in. I stayed under the blankets for a long while, afraid that getting up would just make whatever hell I was in for today start earlier.
I wasn't sure how long I laid there before there was a soft knock on the door. "Ms. Ella?" a soft feminine voice called from behind the door. "Mr. Hawthorne wanted me to wake you for breakfast."
I sunk further into the blankets as the woman unlocked the door. When she wasn't able to push the door open, I heard her soft knock again. A couple of minutes later the door was relocked and she began to walk away.
I knew that I couldn't hold up in this room forever. Eventually I would need to eat something but I could at least postpone the inevitable a few more hours. Right?
"Ella?" Leo's voice sounded from the door a few minutes later.
Again, I said nothing, closing my eyes and pretending that I was still fast asleep. There was a jingling on the doorknob as he tried to force the door open. I heard him order someone to bring him his phone.
"There you go Boss." I recognized Travis' voice from yesterday.
It was quiet for a few minutes. "She's still asleep. Looks like she pushed the desk in front of the door last night."
I had obviously been right about the cameras hidden somewhere in the room.
"Want me to get a few of the guys to force it open?" Travis asked.
Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. I silently begged.
"No. I don't want to scare her anymore than she already is." There was a gentleness in his voice that confused me. "We'll let her sleep till lunch."
The two men walked away and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I laid there for probably another fifteen minutes before I needed to get up to use the bathroom.
I stared over myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. I had expected there to be bruising on my ass from where he had hit me with the ruler but there were none. Maybe the hits weren't quiet as bad as I had thought. I recall parents telling their kids that they wouldn't be able to sit down when they were done with them. I had sat fine yesterday so they must not have been that hard, but they certainly did feel like they were.
Heading back out to the room I went to the closet to find something to wear. I looked around, wishing I could be excited by the closet. A quote from one of my favorite movies as a kid came to mind. 'I have my own mall.' I had never seen so many clothes in my exact size. There were more jeans than I had owned in probably ten years. There were dresses ranging from simple sundress to extravagant evening gowns. What the hell was going on? How could he treat me like he did and then turn around and give me all of this?
Slipping into a pair of jeans, that fit like a damn glove, and a simple tee I headed back out into the room. Checking the windows found that they sealed shut. Still, I spent a good half hour trying my hardest to pry the damn thing open. When that didn't work, I searched the room for something hard and heavy. Eventually I ended up yanking the shower curtain rod off the wall and using that to slam into the glass. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There wasn't even the slightest crack in the window. Of course, I would get the crazy stalker who was smart enough to replace the windows with, probably, bullet proof glass.
Defeated, I made my way over to the books to see what he had stocked them with. It was all smut. I should have figured that. Give me things to read that would get me horny so he'd have less work to do. I couldn't even blame that on him though. It seemed like every single book on the shelf had been on my TBR list that had been growing longer and longer for the past couple of years. I probably shouldn't be surprised that he had managed to hack my phone to get the list.
There were all types of stories on the shelf. Second chance, paranormal, enemies to lovers, anything you could think of. Sadly, what there seemed to be more of than anything were dark romances. Stories where the heroine was stalked and kidnapped, and yes, even raped and assaulted in some cases. I had always been fascinated by those types of books. Dark fantasies that good, respectable girls weren't supposed to have. And ones that you'd never fess up to. Now that I was living in one, it just wasn't as appealing as it had been when I was reading about it in the apparent safety of my home.
A few hours went by and there was another knock on the door followed by the same soft female voice this morning. I had been reading one the of the paranormal books, wanting something that could ACTUALLY never happen to me. Though who knew, I thought this could never actually happen to me and look how that turned out. Maybe if I ever escaped, I'd get caught up with a pack of horny shifter.
"Ms. Ella? Are you awake? Lunch is being prepared."
I stayed silent on the couch. I was hungry but the idea of leaving the safety of the room wasn't something I was willing to do.
The woman left again and about thirty minutes later Travis came by telling me that he had left my lunch on a tray in the hall. I waited about fifteen minutes before pushing the desk away from the door just enough to see out. No one was in the hall but there was a silver covered tray on the floor in front of the door.
I ate the turkey salad sandwich as I continued to read. When I had read so much that my eyes started to hurt, I put the book down and looked over at the door. Since no one had tried to open the door to get me for lunch I decided that it would be an okay idea to move the desk back. I could just push the chair in front of it so that I wouldn't have to struggle so hard if they left my dinner in the hall. I mean it wasn't like it was impossible for them to get into the room. Travis had suggested getting someone to help him push it open. If I could move it Travis and Leo could have easily pushed the door open if they had wanted to. The desk being there was more theatrical security for me and I knew it so why leave it there just so that I would have to struggle with it.
I started cleaning the desk off so that it would be easier to move. Once it was cleared off, I grabbed the lamp that had fallen off the desk when I had moved it last night. The cord was slightly unplugged so I went to push it back in. That was when I noticed actual plug and the outlet. They were odd looking. The outlet was circular and the plug wasn't what I was used to either. I knew what that meant but I refused to put it into words right now. What good would it do?
When another knock on the door sounded hours later, I kept quiet.
"Ms. Ella... We know you're awake. Please come out for dinner. It's not good for you to stay in there."
I said nothing.
"Ms. Ella...Please come out."
Silence.
"Someone will be up with your food soon." The woman said after a few minutes.
She was right. I knew she was. Eventually Leo would get angry and come in here or I'd get stir crazy and end up walking out myself. About twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door and another woman's voice told me my dinner was out there. I waited another fifteen minutes before cracking the door.
A heeled boot kicked the door in causing me to stumble backwards. The woman from Leo's office yesterday stood in the doorway with a cold smile on her red lips. Past her shoulders I saw the man Leo had referred to as Jack. Panic swirled in my chest as he glared at me. From how angry Leo had been yesterday I hadn't expected to see this man again, especially not outside my bedroom door. Stepping in Kimberly closed the door, cutting off my view of the angry guard.
"Get out." My voice was horse from not using it all day but I still tried to put as much force as I could behind it.
Rolling her eyes, she headed towards my closet and disappeared. I gawked after her. Part of me wanted to run from the room but with Jack outside I didn't dare risk it. I could try to fight her but then Jack would hear the scuffle and come in. I was trying to decide what I could do when she walked back out of the closet and tossed a black set of lacy underwear, a sheer pair or black thigh highs and a black dress on the couch.
"Get dressed for dinner."
"And why the hell would I do that?" I questioned, crossing my arms across my chest, my attitude reminding me of a pissy high schooler.
"Because Leo told me to get you down to dinner by any means necessary. So that means you can do it yourself or I can call Jack in to hold you down while I do it." Her red lips pulled into a vicious smile that I could have sworn turned the room ten degrees colder.
"You wouldn't."
"Try me." We stood there glaring at each other for a few moments and when my stubbornness got to be to much she sighed. "Oh Jaaack." She quietly sang out as she took a couple of steps towards the door.
"Okay fine!" I snapped, snatching the clothes off the couch and heading into the bathroom. I was just pulling the wrap dress on when she walked in. "Excuse you." I gasped, pulling the dress around to cover myself.
Her eyes scanned over me, not completely unlike Leo had done countless times before. However, with Leo there was usually at least the slightest hint of something that could be considered warm behind his dark eyes. Kimberly's emerald green eyes were as cold as stone.
"Sit down." She ordered, pulling the small stool out from under the vanity.
"What's the point?" I asked, securing the tie at my hip before making my way over to the stool.
"Don't you want to look pretty for Leo?" It may have been my imagination but I could feel a bit of jealously coming off this woman.
"Not particularly." I grumbled. At one point yeah, I had wanted to look pretty for him. Just last month I remember seeing him cross the street, making his way to the shop, and I ran into the back room to fix my hair and adjust my clothes so that I looked as presentable as possible in my work shirt. "He's not seemed to have any issue with how l looked the past few ni-ow!"
"Oh sorry." Kimberly apologized as she ripped the brush through my hair, not seeming sorry in the least.
Taking the brush from her I began gliding it though my long hair, carefully getting the knots out. It took some time since it hadn't been properly brushed since I was taken and my hair was known to knot at the slightest of movements.
"You know." Kimberly began, watching me in the mirror. "I don't think you have any idea just how lucky you are."
"Lucky?" I scoffed, putting the brush down and turning to look at her. "There is no way you could possibly think anything about this situation is lucky."
