Page 114 of Chained

"I thought you were dead. He said you were dead." Sobs tear through her so hard, she can barely speak.

"I'm here, Rosa. I'll always be here."

"Everything hurts, Amora. Every part of me hurts. I don't know how much more I can take. I just want to go home. Please, Amora. Please, can we go home?"

My eyes close as my cheeks drench with tears. "Yes, Ro, we can go home. I promise, we'll go home." It's a promise I intend to keep. I won't leave her behind, not again. Never again.

"Listen, I need you to do something, Rosa. I need you to help me out of here. Can you do that? I need you to try and pull the box from under the bed. I know it's gonna be hard, I know it's gonna feel like you can't, but you have to try," I say, pushing against the lid with everything I've got. I already know the weight of the box. I already know she'll never be strong enough. I've never felt more useless than in this moment. Never felt more trapped.

"I can't—he'll come back. He always comes back."

I bite my lips, eyes rolling. "Okay, then you need to do something. You need to be brave, okay? You need to listen to me carefully. Are you listening?" My voice trembles. "You need to leave the room. You need to go down the stairs and turn left. Okay? Turn left and go to the third room in the hall. There's a painting—a painting of a woman. You hear me?"

"No…Amora, I can't…" A sob tears through her, but I don't let it in. I can't.

"You can. You can do this. Okay? You're brave, Rosa. You're so strong. You're so brave, you can do this. The third door, okay? You go there. If there's no one there, you hide. Okay? You hide under the bed until he comes," I say through quickened breaths. "His name is Jax, okay? You tell him where I am. You tell him, and then you run. Okay? You don't turn back. You run like hell."

"I can't—" She cries out, and I have to bite my cheek from screaming at her that she's the only way we survive.

"You have to, Rosa. You do this, and we can go home. We can go back to before all this happened, and we can forget. We'll go get the fluffy white cat you saw in the pet store. We'll decorate the living room that God awful pink you liked." I laugh through the tears.

"You hate cats," she replies, and I hear it in her voice. I hear the strength she didn't know she had, but I always did.

"I'll learn to love it. But before we can do that, Rosa, you need to do this. You can do this."

"I can do this," she repeats, "I can do it."

"I love you, Rosa. I love you so much." I say the words like they might be my last. If she can get out, all this will be worth it. Every inch of pain and endurance will be worth it.

"I love you," she replies, her voice softer. The sound of her footsteps starts to walk away. "I'll always love you, Amora." The door slowly slides shut behind her.

The minute I know she's gone, I finally let myself fully break. Every breath ruined by the sobs that tear through my soul. She can do this. She can save us both.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ace

The parlour is booming with laughter and music as I walk inside. Jarrod and Adrian both sit at our usual table, my whiskey glass at my spot—waiting for me. I don't bother to look around; I couldn't give a fuck who's in here as long as Melina isn't.

"Jax." Jarrod's eyes light up as he sees me moving through the crowd and to our table. I slump into the seat beside him, giving Adrian a nod as he's already pouring my drink.

"It's busy here tonight," I say dryly, draining the whiskey before Adrian's has a chance to place the bottle down.

"Yeah, Vincent has some announcement and surprise for everyone," Jarrod says so easily, not realising how bad this could fucking be. My eyes scan the bar as I wait for him to come, sweat beginning to bead just above my brow. What if she's told him? No. I take a sip of my whiskey, letting it burn the back of my throat. If he knew, I'd be dead. Adrian and Jarrod would be dead.

I stare at Adrian, our eyes locking as the laughter gets louder around us until silence finally reaches the room. The double doors open, his footsteps loud amongst the sound of people clearing their throat.

Turning slowly, he walks through the crowd until he reaches our table. My hand flexes around the glass as he takes a seat beside Jarrod, who's not looked up from his drink since he entered.

"Gentlemen. You don't mind if I join you, do you?" Vincent's voice grates through every single one of my nerves.

Not a single one of us speaks. The music returns, the laughter from the crowd suddenly louder than before as they perform for him. The girls from the cells trail in next, Martha leading them like lambs to slaughter until they reach the stage.

"I didn't expect to be celebrating tonight after Adrian fucked everything up and showed how useless he was, but after the evening I've had, I couldn't help myself." He smirks, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I already told you I'd fix it." Adrian's voice is rough, his own hand gripping his glass. Mirroring my own.

"No need, you've already showed you're fucking useless. Besides, I've employed new staff. Bigger, better. More…teeth." He smirks, and I have to stop myself from smashing the glass into his arrogant fucking face.