Chapter 7

Ijerk awake to the sound of Devlin's whiny voice. "I'm gonna piss all over this fucking mattress if you don't let me go," she loudly threatens to no one.

I also need the loo, but I have a bladder of steel. It's nice to see it's finally coming in handy.

I can't remember drifting off, but Eden sure has magic hands. He's rather skilled in the hair-playing department.

Whatever they put in that druggy cocktail has made me extremely weak, my limbs feel double their weight, and my eyes are itchy.

I sluggishly lift my head off Eden's lap, and he looks at me with equally heavy eyes and a sad smile. I wipe my damp cheek, horrified to realise I've slobbered all over his dark jeans.

"Oh god, I dribbled on you." My cheeks heat at the admission.

"What's a bit of spit between friends?" He shrugs with a slight quirk to his lips.

I chuckle at his response, it's good to know he still has a sense of humour now the initial shock of our abduction has worn off.

"Not afraid of getting a bit messy, interesting…" I wink at him, and he heatedly scans my body.

I feel like trash, actual garbage, in the back alley behind Domino's Pizza, yet he still looks at me like I'm the best thing since sliced bread. It only just occurs to me that my bum is almost hanging out, and my top has ridden up, exposing a pierced nipple. I guess that explains the heated stare. I have zero problems with him checking me out. In fact, I encourage it, but I'm not sure dickhead Devlin wants to see my arse hole, even if it is a pretty one. I straighten myself up and wrap his ugly shirt tightly around my middle.

"Do you think anyone's realised we're missing yet?" I ask.

Eden's eyebrows furrow and his teeth pinch his bottom lip. Fuck, I wish it were my teeth sinking into that lip, but now doesn't seem like the time to bring that up.

"Me, probably not. It's the weekend, so my clients won't expect to hear from me, and I had no plans to see Olivia, Tom and my niece this weekend. What about you?"

"Well, I should be at my temp shift now, but they've probably assumed I'm a no-show. Nola's the only person I message daily, and I told her I'd be busy working all weekend."

Eden's shoulders slump at the revelation that no one's coming for us.

"What about your family and friends from home?"

I scoff at his question.

"They won't be looking for me, trust me."

His eyebrows pinch together, and I avert my gaze, hoping he won't ask more leading questions about my ‘family.'

After a few moments of stilted silence, I find the courage to look up, and he gives me another one of those sad smiles.

"So, we're screwed until Monday then," he mumbles, brushing dirt off his jeans and sinking further against the wall.

"Looks like it. How about you, Devlin? Will anyone be looking for you?" I ask.

She glares at me, her top lip lifting into a small snarl. Fucking hell, is she always this hostile?

"Doubt it, I live alone, and my parents are pieces of shit and live up North."

"Great," I sigh, letting my body fall to the mattress and curling up onto my side. My nose twitches in displeasure at the musky smell.

It suddenly makes sense why we're all here. None of us have family nearby, and Emiliya's from another country and doesn't speak the language. We're ideal targets.

"How did Pete trick you?" I ask Devlin.

She fidgets and pulls her short dress down an inch.

"It's fucked up," she murmurs.

Eden sits up and clutches his hands tightly in his lap like he's bracing himself to hear something harrowing. I drag my body up, leaning against the wall, and flick my messy fringe out of my eyes so Devlin knows she has our full attention.

"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but you can speak to us. We're all in the same boat," I say softly.

"Yep, we're in this together. If you need to talk, we'll listen. I'm Eden, by the way. Sorry, I probably should've introduced myself, but you know…it's been a lot." He awkwardly chuckles.

She releases a blaring groan and rolls her eyes.

"I don't trust you two any more than I trust those bastards out there, so cut the kumbaya, my lord, bullshit."

I can't help but puff out a laugh. Devlin's a dick but a mildly amusing one at that.

"Fine, suit yourself," I reply.

Eden looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

Excruciating silence hovers in the room, making my skin feel prickly. I start humming the Dancing Queen melody, hoping it's annoying enough to make her talk.

"For fuck's sake, if you must know, I sucked him off outside a club. One minute his dick was in my mouth, the next thing I knew, I woke up here. Happy now?"

Acid tumbles around my stomach. Pete really is the scum of the earth.

"That's awful. I'm so sorry, Devlin," Eden says gently.

"Yeah, that's fucked up, it's not your fault, though. You know that, right?" I try to reassure her.

Her aggressive behaviour is starting to make sense now. She's been completely violated and must be terrified, and her only way of coping is to lash out.

"Whatever, it's not the first time someone's used sex against me and it won't be the last."

Eden audibly swallows. The air is thick with discomfort. I just want to fall back to sleep because this has all become a bit too real. I don't want to crack. I've only allowed that to happen once in my life, and I refuse to fall back into that dark pit, but it's becoming increasingly hard with every hour that passes in this hell hole.

* * *

Soft footsteps and jingling keys sound from outside. Simultaneously, we snap out of our relaxed positions and attempt to look alert. I'm guessing it's mid-afternoon, and I'm close to pissing myself too. Eden reaches for my hand, giving it two tiny squeezes before reluctantly releasing it. The door slowly creaks open, and Jeremy cautiously enters, giving each of us a friendly nod.

"Who needs a piss?"

"Me, I'm going first." Devlin tries to stand up, but can't reach her full height.

"Sure, we'll go after," I say with a small smile while playing with the buttons on Eden's shirt.

Jeremy goes to release her but pauses. "Listen, I don't want any trouble. Security is right outside, so you won't make it out alive." His tremulous tone is hardly convincing.

"Fine, whatever, just let me fucking piss," she whines, tugging the padlock at his face.

Jeremy huffs, then releases Devlin. Gripping her arm as he silently leads her to the grotty bathroom. He stands at the open doorway and watches her like a hawk.

"Really, you want to watch me piss, you fucking pervert."

Jeremy's cheeks darken and he shifts so he's leaning against the door frame, looking in the opposite direction. He puts his hand on the gun tucked into the front of his grubby jeans and sighs.

His nervous gaze drifts around the room until it lingers on me. I can't help but notice his eyes scanning the length of my exposed legs, so I smile sweetly. I've always been good at reading people, and it's evident by his appearance and his subtle gestures that Jeremy doesn't want to be here. He's as trapped as the rest of us and is being forced to do Dr Evil's dirty work. If I'm going to get him on our side, I have to do what I do best, and that's flirt.

"Hey, handsome, how's your day going?" I purr across the depressing room.

Jeremy's eyes dart up and his cheeks twitch. Eden's head pops up, and I can feel him scowling in my periphery, but I ignore him. I have bigger fish to fry than worrying about a bit of jealousy.

Jeremy grunts in response and crosses his arms, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Come on, Jezza. Talk to me. I can call you Jezza, right?" I playfully ask.

Eden huffs and puffs beside me. I have to suppress my laugh at how irked he's getting.

"No, it's Jeremy," he replies with a grumpy little frown but a hint of a smile.

He'd be good-looking if he shaved the bum fluff and wore clothes that weren't two sizes too big, what I'd do to go all Gok Wan on his arse.

"Nah, you're definitely a Jezza. I can see you're smiling. You like that nickname, don't ya?"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Eden mumbles.

"Whatever, call me Jezza, I don't care."

"Great, it suits you." I smile widely at him, hoping my charm is paying off. "I have a favour to ask."

The sound of the tap coming on steals his attention. Fucking Devlin.

"Calm down, creep, I'm washing my bits. Look the other way," she snaps.

Jeremy's eyes shoot away from her, and his body tenses like a teenager that's been caught watching porn.

"So this favour, Jezza," I continue.

His attention pings back to me. He continues to shuffle awkwardly and runs a hand through his unwashed hair. Just watching his awkward movements makes me feel uncomfortable.

Eden is fidgeting beside me like he's about to blow. I feel slightly guilty for not explaining my genius plan before Jeremy arrived.

"I can't let you go, so don't even ask."

"Oh no, I'm fine right here. You have a lovely little establishment, but I would love a hot shower, a toothbrush, and maybe some warmer clothes. Reckon you can do that for me?"

I pull out my best puppy dog eyes and play with my bottom lip between my teeth. Jeremy's eyes catch it, and I can tell he's not immune to my charm. He drawls out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, I'll see what I can do, but I'm making no promises," he says with a slight pout and bunched-up eyebrows.

"You're the best, Jezza."

He stares at me curiously, then snaps his attention back to Devlin when the tap turns off. Jeremy moves out of her way and follows her back to the bed to tie her up.

"Ok, you're next," he tells me.

When Jeremy removes my chain, I edge closer to him so our bodies brush. Eden growls, making me chuckle at how vexed he is. Jealous Eden might be my favourite.

I blow a kiss over my shoulder to Eden when Jeremy isn't looking, and he glowers at me in return.

I start to pee and the sound of urine hitting the pan fills the silence of our hovel. I look over my shoulder and catch Jeremy taking a peek at my arse.

"It's alright, Jezza, you can look. I'm not shy."

He quickly averts his eyes and straightens up his stance. I hear Devlin giggle and Eden blow out a hard breath.

He chains me back up when I'm done and lets Eden use the bathroom. Jeremy smooths down his silly moustache and then announces to the group, "Right, I'll be back in a few hours."

Eden and Devlin ignore him, but I bid him farewell. He won't help us if we don't sweeten him up.

"Fab, see you later, darling." I beam at him while secretly wishing he'd trip over and hit his stupid head, so I could steal his keys and get the hell out of here.

He grunts goodbye, locks up and leaves.

"What the fuck was that, Kai?" Eden barks as soon as Jeremy is out of earshot.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're fucking flirting with our abductor."

His face is devil red, and there's an angry vein on his forehead that I never noticed before, fuck that's hot.

"That wasn't flirting. I was merely being friendly."

"Yeah, right," he scoffs.

"I don't see what the problem is."

"Seriously, if you keep flirting with him, he'll think he has a chance. What if he tries to fuck you?"

"Hmmm," I grab my jaw, tapping my chin with my index finger like I'm deep in thought. "Well, hey, may as well get one last shag in before I die."

Eden gasps. "Fuck you."

Ok, maybe I took it too far, but my god, I'll go crazy if I don't find some kind of entertainment.

He sharply twists away from me, swinging the heavy chain over his shoulder and curling in on himself. Guilt instantly strikes me, making my heartbeat stutter. I don't want to play games or hurt his feelings after the mess I've got us into.

Inching closer to his side of the bed and placing a hand on his strong shoulder, he shrugs me off.

"Just stop, ok? I need some space," he snaps.

"Pfft, good luck with that. I don't know if you've noticed, but we're chained to the same fucking bed."

He huffs and tucks in further. I've gone and done it now. Why do I have to behave like such an unhinged arsehole?

I let a few minutes pass, but my chest tightens, and anxiety swirls in my stomach. I can't stand that I've upset him.

Pushing my luck, I inch closer and gently touch his shoulder again. He doesn't pull away this time.

"Have you had enough space now?"

Eden lets out a long sigh. I lightly stroke his shoulder and feel the tension leave with each brush of my fingertips, so I take the opportunity to explain myself, "Look, I'm sorry, honey. I was only trying to befriend him, so he'll help us escape."

Eden leans his head up and side-eyes me like he doesn't believe a word I'm saying.

"I promise, he's a weasel. Why would I want to entertain that loser when I have this hot slab of meat?" I playfully slap his thigh, and he lets out an adorable chuckle.

"I hate you," he murmurs.

"Yeah, that's what Nola says, too."

"No, really, I hate you," he repeats with an unconvincing smile.

"Yes, and I hate you, too. Now come here."

I drag him towards me and wrap my arms around him way too tightly, tucking my face into the crook of his neck, inhaling his delicious scent.

"Stop sniffing me, I've not showered."

"Even better."

I take in another obnoxiously loud inhale, and he pushes me away with a massive grin on his handsome face, causing those silly butterflies to return.