“Yeah,” he grunted. “I agree.”
We got dressed then, even though I didn’t want to be apart from him, not for a single second. When we were done, I pressed myself against his chest and he held me.
After a few minutes passed, he spoke softly. “We should get going,” he said.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I guess.”
“They’re probably looking for us. No need to freak them out too much.”
“Okay.”
He pulled me back and smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m with you.”
“Yeah. I know. Come on.” I walked off, back toward the house. He caught up with me, grinning to himself.
I was glowing from the orgasm, practically floating on air. I couldn’t believe how he made me feel, every single second I was around him.
He was right. Things were going to be okay, because he was here and he was staying.
19
Brooks
We weren’t exactly confined to our room after that, but Kasia strongly suggested that we didn’t leave the room or run off again.
Apparently, when I lost my guard, the whole compound went into lockdown mode. When we showed back up an hour later, they were pretty fucking pissed. Emma was apologetic, but if we weren’t really prisoners, why the fuck did I care?
But she wanted this to work out. She believed in these women. I had to admit that I was starting to see that they might not be so fucking bad. Maybe they even had our best interests at heart. But I didn’t like not having any power, didn’t like being confined to the room.
Before I lost my guard, I did see the things Emma had mentioned. Except where she saw nice women waiting alone in their rooms, I saw strung-out junkies in detox, suffering through the shakes. This place was more about getting these women clean than anything else, and I suspected we had more freedom than any one of them did.
I couldn’t believe this place even existed. It must have been a logistical nightmare to keep it a secret, and I had to admit that I understood why they wanted to keep us from running off. If we spilled the secret, then all this hard work was for nothing.
Emma and I ate in bed together and stared at the television until we both eventually fell asleep early, so beyond exhausted.
I had a dream. In that dream, we were back in the Voodoo room. Emma was wearing a long, flowing dress, and she kept smiling at me. Every time I tried to reach for her, she kept running away. The room got longer and longer, and she got farther away. I looked back and saw Louisa Barone following me, wearing a black mask and laughing. She began to fire a gun, loud cracks and pops.
I jolted awake. I sat in bed, breathing deeply and listening. I heard the cracks and pops again and realized that I wasn’t dreaming.
Those were fucking gunshots coming from outside. I heard yelling, and Emma began to stir beside me. I slipped out of bed, getting my clothes on.
Emma sat up. “What’s happening?” she asked.
“Stay here,” I said.
“Wait, Brooks.” She started to get up.
I quickly walked over to her. “Listen. Hear that? Those are gunshots. I think this place is under attack.”
“Who would attack this place?”
“The mafia. I’m guessing they finally found it.”
“There’s no way. Why now?”
“I don’t know. But I have to check it out, and you need to stay here.”
“I can’t. I’m coming.”
“No, Emma,” I said. “You might die out there. I’ll be back as soon as I know what’s going on.”
She stared at me and wanted to argue, but finally she nodded her head. “Okay. I trust you.”
“Good.” I kissed her once, quickly, and then turned and went to the door.
The handle was locked. I sighed and knocked. “Hey!” I called out, but nobody answered.
I stepped back and then kicked the door, hard, just above the handle. It buckled. I kicked it again, and it snapped open, a small spray of wood flying out into the hallway.
I glanced back at Emma and then stepped out into the hall.
It was empty. Our guard was gone, and every other door in the hall was shut tight. I guessed they were all locked, and most of these thin junkie girls couldn’t break a door down. I moved silently down the hall, heading toward the window that overlooked the front of the house.
Dark cars were parked out front, and I saw the flashes of guns firing off. I guessed that downstairs the guards were holding these men at bay, but I couldn’t imagine they’d hold them for long.
I needed to get a better look at the situation. If there was any way we could escape from here, it needed to happen now while the fighting was still going on. Otherwise we were going to get slaughtered with everyone else in here.