EMMA
I blink a few times, allowing the light to wake me up, but actually it turns out I don’t need that. The moment I inhale a familiar scent beside me, my eyes snap open.
Owen.
That smell is unmistakably him. But I’m very much alone.
That does suggest that he slept here though, beside me, which gets my heart racing.
I run my hands over the pillow where his head must have lay, enjoying the warmth there. But it’s the moment I spot the shoelace track marks on my arms that brings a giant smile to my face.
Now that was hot.
Unexpected, but sexy as all hell.
Again though, it leaves me stewing in feelings I never expected to have, and emotions I shouldn’t have as well.
Feelings for Owen that are only going to get me hurt.
I can’t fall for him… I just can’t.
Even if he did stay with me the other day, which could only really mean one thing. Same with his confession yesterday, right? If I heard him right, that is.
If only I was being coerced into a marriage with Owen by my family.
That would be so much more fun.
A man like Rickie could never measure up to Owen. They are just on different planets. Owen is hot and sexy… he’s caring and fun to be around. Everything Rickie isn’t.
No. I shake my head to myself quickly. I must stop thinking like that, or I really will end up in a Stockholm Syndrome type of situation. Staying here because I get some sick pleasure out of being a kidnap victim.
Yeah, I can’t let that happen… I need to get back to real life eventually.
I’m going to have to find a way out of here somehow.
Actually…
If Owen isn’t here in bed with me, then maybe he’s left the cabin. He definitely has the tendency to do that without telling me, only this time…
I glance down at my ankle happily, wondering if he’d kept the monitor off after yesterday.
But that little glimmer of optimism soon dies the moment I see how Owen has betrayed me. I must have been really knocked out asleep because he’s managed to turn it on-it’s flashing a green light, letting me know that it’s definitely activated.
If I try to run again, I won’t make it to the traps on the outskirts of his land because I won’t even make it out the door. I’m sure that electrical shock has been turned right up, so there’s no chance of me getting anywhere.
What the hell am I going to do?
I suppose my routine won’t change. I need to get up and shower. To somehow make it through another day, still not knowing a damn thing about what’s happening in the outside world. Not knowing what’s going to happen to me.
Oh!
But this time, as I head out into the kitchen, diner room, I spot a folded piece of paper on the table.
A note.
For me.
Owen actually thought to write a note, wow.
Although it isn’t exactly the most descriptive thing in the world: Just popped out. I’ll be back soon.
With a deep sigh, a surge of irritation rockets through me.
What now?
I’m bored of being left on my own. With nothing to do. No entertainment, no fun. I can’t stand it anymore.
If I’m going to continually be left here on my own, then I’m going to find something to do.
This cabin belongs to Owen, right? So I don’t see why I shouldn’t just take a look around. Explore my surroundings a little. Make myself at home.
Mostly, I just want to see if I can find out more about Owen.
He’s an enigma. I’m sure there’s still a lot of layers to that onion. Maybe I can unpeel some of them now.
With my heart racing and anticipation surging through my veins, I start pulling open the drawers to see what I can find.
Nothing.
Paperwork.
Boring.
It’s all really dull.
Until I see a smaller door. One I haven’t spotted before, just inside Owen’s bedroom.
I was in too much of a panic to spot this before, but now I’m not holding back. If there’s anything to be found, then I’m sure it’s in there.
“Wow, what the fuck?”
Things spill out of the cupboard, cascading on the floor around me.
This is a mess.
If Owen catches me like this, he might kill me.
But curiosity gets the better of me, and I don’t care about that.
I sit down in the middle of the pile and start to run my eyes over everything, to figure out what I should look at first.
The photographs.
Obviously.
There are photos everywhere of Owen with an extremely beautiful woman. Possibly the most gorgeous woman that I have ever seen in my life. Damn, who is she? And why isn’t she here with him?
There better not be some wife out there, and I’m just a kidnap victim slash mistress. That will be really fucked up.
There’s no way that this thing with Owen can end well, but finding out I’m the other woman would be the worst!
My heart races as I dig in a little deeper. The photos all look pretty old, and they have been locked away, so maybe this is an old flame.
If so, why did things end?
Damn, they look so good together, it makes me jealous. Painfully so. “Ooh, a letter.”
Dear Justine,
It’s hard to be away from you, in Afghanistan. I miss you so much.
Whoa, Owen wrote a love letter? That I can hardly believe. But I have the proof right here in front of me.
I keep thinking about our future, our children, our lives… that’s the only thing that’s stopping me from going crazy here.
I have to admit, it’s bad, worse than last time.
My heart hurts as I feel Owen’s pain in these words.
Who knew that Owen had so much depth?
But we will have that future, won’t we?
That’s what I keep thinking about even in the darkest hour.
You.
Just you.
What the hell happened to this woman and this relationship?
Looking at these words, it seems to be true love. The sort of love that only comes once in a lifetime.
Guilt floods through me. I feel like I’ve stepped in the middle of something I definitely shouldn’t have.
Owen and Justine are clearly meant to be together, so what the hell is he doing fooling around with me?
I don’t want to lose Owen-the idea kills me-but I also don’t want to be the person to stand in the way of true love.
There are a few more letters, all of them breaking my heart into a million pieces. The love isn’t just one way. There are notes from Justine that suggest she’s just as in love with Owen as he is with her.
And who can blame her?
The idea of being so adored by someone is intoxicating. I would love it.
I’d love it more if it was Owen, but obviously he’s taken.
But then my fingers find something else.
Something that causes it all to make so much sense.
A death certificate for Justine.
Shit.
She died?
My heart breaks for Owen.
The love of his life passed away. No wonder he’s so grumpy.
Now I feel bad for prying and finding out things about Owen.
This shit is private and I have just unfolded a tragedy that I never should have done.
Thank God Owen didn’t catch me this time.
I try to put everything back exactly as I found it, but that isn’t the easiest thing to do when I wasn’t really paying much attention. Who knows how well Owen knows this cupboard? He might have everything exactly as he wants it, and I’ve just screwed it all up. I feel a little sick as I stuff it all back in the cupboard, my heart thundering in my throat.
I don’t want Owen to hate me.
“Fuck.”
Everything comes cascading out. The papers all slide down to the floor, clattering and making a massive mess. I could fucking cry.
My heart is racing, I think I’m going to vomit, but time is ticking. Owen could come back at any moment, so I need to get this stuff all away.
I’ve done a shitty job of packing everything up. Now it’s so much worse.
Only this time, when I try to gather everything up, my fingers find something new.
Something hard and cold.
Something metallic.
I was panicking before, but now I’m having a fucking heart attack.
Why the hell does Owen have a gun here?
There are bullets as well, which really sends a chill down my spine.
Is this how my life is going to end?
It shouldn’t shock me that he had a gun considering how he abducted me. But feeling the metal in my shaking hands reminds me of my reality…
Just because it feels like things have been blooming between Owen and me doesn’t change things.
I’m still his kidnap victim, and one way or another, this is going to end.
I kinda assumed that eventually I would get out of here.
But now I’m thinking that there might be a grave for me on this property somewhere, and that these bullets will decorate my corpse.
I’ve already been a missing person for a while now, although my family won’t have a report with the police out for me. They will be dealing with it themselves.
But now I might be a missing person forever.
As I turn the gun around in my hand, I recall all the shooting lessons that my father took me to when I was younger.
I hated them at the time, I didn’t ever want to use a gun, but now I might have to.
All of that might be coming to fruition here.
I slide my eyes closed and try to imagine firing the gun.
Not just shooting, but at Owen.
It’s hard for me to think about, but if he’s planning to kill me, then I
won’t have a choice in the matter.
If it comes to me verses him, then I need to get out of here alive. I don’t want to be a missing person, buried in the forest, never to be seen again.
My family will never rest, and I don’t want to leave that mess behind for them.
“It might not come to that,” I whisper to myself. “Maybe the threat will be enough.”
I could threaten Owen, show him that I’m the one in control.
Force him to let me out of here.
I swallow hard, wondering if this is the right move for me.
I don’t know what to do here, but if I have no choice.
I stuff the gun in the waistband of my underwear and start to shove the papers away because I definitely don’t want to be caught in this cupboard now.
If Owen finds out that I have even seen the gun, then everything might escalate.
I don’t want anything to get out of control until I know what I’m going to do.
Oh shit.
What was that?
I just heard a noise.
That was a car. Owen is back… I need to hurry the hell up and get out of his room.
My heart is absolutely racing as I finally slam the cupboard door closed, knowing full well that with the mess I’ve left in there, he will know I’ve been snooping through his things. But there’s nothing I can do about that now, so I race out into the living room.
The gun is pressing hard into my side, I definitely need to be careful that Owen doesn’t get too close to me.
I’m going to have to distract him somehow, in any way I can. I have to make sure Owen doesn’t find out about the gun.