Page 33 of Desire Him

Val looks over at her, eyes wide. She’s trying so hard to keep her panic from her face, but by Eme’s expression, she isn’t fooling anyone. “If we tell them something, they may let us go.”

Sympathetically, Eme says, “They won’t let us go, Val. There’s a good chance that we aren’t walking out of here.”

“Oh god.” Bile rises to Val’s throat, and she chokes it back. This can’t be how it ends.

“Just . . . maintain your calm. Don’t let them get to you. Stay strong, Val.”

“If they threaten to kill you, Eme, I will tell them what they want to know.” Over her dead body will she allow her alpha’s death. Not if she can do something about it.

Eme’s gaze hardens. “No, you won’t.”

Val leans a little toward Eme, the chair creaking at the shift of weight. “Yes, I will. I won’t have my alpha’s death on my conscience. Logan will never forgive me, and I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Telling them anything could put the rest of the pack at risk.” She shakes her head, and hair falls into her face. “I won’t let you do it.”

“‘Could’ being the operative word, Eme. You’re my best friend. I know we just met, but you’re the only true friend I have. I will tell them what they want to know if they put a knife to your throat, whether you like it or not. And there’s nothing you can do about it because we are both tied to a damn chair!”

Eme closes her eyes. “This is so fucked up.”

“I know.” Val releases a breath, but it does nothing to ease the tension in her chest. This is fucked up. They’re talking about secrets and death here, two things that often go hand in hand with rogues.

Eme opens her eyes and looks at Val again. “You’re the closest thing I have to family. I mean besides my dad and Logan. I won’t let them hurt you.”

Val jiggles against the chair to emphasize her next words. “That’s sweet of you, but there’s not a thing you can do if they try.”

“Someone will come for us,” Eme says half-heartedly. Almost as if she doesn’t believe it herself.

Val snorts as a tear gathers in her eye. “I seriously doubt that.”

“You can’t lose hope.”

The tear spills from her eye and travels ticklishly down her cheek. “Logan probably just learned that we weren’t in the store anymore. He’s probably tried your cell phone a million times. He has no idea where you are, how to get to you, or how to save you.”

Eme grows quiet. The silence says everything that needs to be said because Val is right. He won’t be here to save his mate. He won’t be here to rescue either of them. They’re well and truly alone. And Wayne . . . Oh god, Wayne. They were just together, and now it may end. Well, they may not have been ‘together,’ but he knows now that she loves him. She told him everything, and he had yet to say anything. She’ll never hear him utter those words to her.

“You know, I was just starting to make some headway with Wayne.” Val sniffs. “If I die here, I’ll have a shit-ton of regrets.”

“Stop talking about dying,” Eme grits out.

“Can’t help it.” Val starts to chuckle under her breath, even though nothing about this is funny. It’s just absurd. The whole thing. And because of its absurdity, she can’t help but have an inappropriate reaction.

“Shh, someone is coming.”

Val silences herself, hearing the footsteps that she missed in her hysteria. They both look at the door when it opens. Two guys enter, but it’s too dark by the door, so she can’t see their faces, but she can smell their stench. Then a third guy enters, and she recognizes the scent immediately.

She stiffens. This can’t be right. Can it? “Jim?”

She can see a grin spread across his face, and it’s then that she knows for sure. She’d recognize that grin anywhere. She grew up with that grin. “Hello, Val. Eme.”

This can’t be good. Jim doesn’t seem to have any intention of freeing them, considering the way he casually leans against a wall off to Val’s left. And neither do the other guys, who guard the door. If she didn’t know any better . . . What the hell happened in the last 24 hours?

“What the fuck are you doing?” Eme demands.

“I have questions.” He crosses his arms over his chest and relaxes his stance.

“You’re the boss that the other guy talked about?” Val asks, reading his body language. This is horrible. Not only does he hold a grudge against Logan for being Head Alpha, but Logan was the one to kick him to the curb. He’ll take it out on Eme. He’ll use Eme to get back at Logan.

“Sure am.”