Please Let Me Be Ch. 18

That smile dropped away upon seeing her still on the floor. He quickly knelt by her side and started to look over the scrapes she'd gotten on her palms from falling.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded and tried a smile for him. Just saw you kill someone but yeah I'm fucking dandy. The smartass in her must've shown in her expression because Darrien just quirked a brow at her before pulling her up from the floor. A knock on the door startled her. She looked to Darrien in question and not without a little panic. He seemed to be waiting for the next set of knocks on the door because his shoulders visibly dropped their tension.

"Come on, time to go home."

On the other side of the door that had seemed so secure before were Darrien's associates; the assholes that had been there when she'd first been purchased. They gave her varying degrees of unpleasant looks that she ignored in favor of following Darrien's ground eating walk. She felt less safe with them behind her but trusted Darrien to keep her safe.

They make it down the stairs to the main hall without incident. Each of the guards she spotted earlier are slumped on the floor. Tessa ignores the puddles of red in favor of staying in whatever shocked state she's in. Her sanity and worry is starting to peak out with each new bit of evidence. She knows better than to say anything. Women in the Business, the Products, had known better than to have hysterics if they ever saw anything. They'd been given desensitizing training. Even Tessa had seen what they'd shown so she was able to face all this down. Coping in the long term though would be a whole other game.

Darrien pulled her off to the side with him to let his associates pass into the main hall ahead of them. He checked her over again with his eyes and nodded at whatever he saw.

"You are mine."

"Of course," She said baffled that he was bringing this up now but happy to hear it anyways.

He smirked at her, "I mean, if anyone in there tries to order you or pull you away just say you're mine and keep close to me."

Her lips formed a little 'o' of understanding that drew his attention to her mouth. A heated look passed over his face before he pressed a quick kiss to her then pulled her in behind him.

The main hall was pure, undiluted chaos. Tessa knew better than to look at any one thing for too long. She'd thought things had been crazy when she'd first arrived but the depravity she saw now tripled that. Orgies were the least shocking thing, the auctions and black market had a whole new set of stock that she definitely did not look at. And a small area was set up for target practice; the targets being other servers and the practice being any form of long distance torture the guests could imagine.

The Business did not prepare me for this. Darrien did not prepare me for this.

Shock was now fully set, she'd thought murder had been her be all end all of sins but she was being proven wrong with each step. Video cameras were filming a bed that was covered in red sheets that were dripping on the floor. Darrien pulled her past that one faster than he had anything else. Everywhere she looked the 'celebration' was in full sway. Some things were so illegal she didn't think about them as her eyes glanced across them glassily.

"Almost there," she thought she heard him say.

She knew they were nearing the entrance because the smoke and smog of the room was thinning. So close to relief they stopped abruptly and Tessa made the mistake of looking up. Jack and Caleb stood before them. She thought they looked a little shaky and a lot pissed off.

"Tessa, can you get free and back away?" Caleb asked,

Her head tilted questioningly at them. Jack and Caleb had matching expressions of concerned rage. It was very strange to see their brows scrunched up while their eyes held worry for her. She hadn't thought it had been long enough for either man to care enough about her to confront someone twice.

"It's fine," she said as Darrien stepped in front of her, blocking her view of them. He released her from his grip and looked to be readying for another confrontation.

"You don't have to go with him just because you work here," Caleb said.

"We can keep you safe here. You're just cleaning staff, not a servicer so he can't technically take you." Jack piped in.

"I have ownership approval." Darrien said in his voice he used to end discussions.

The owner that you just killed, you mean.

When Tessa peeked from around Darrien both men were looking shell shocked to hear that it had already been approved for her to be taken away.

"Guys," she said in a placating way that made Darrien tense, "I want to go with him."

That didn't work out quite the way she thought it would because both of them now looked 100% disbelieving that she would ever want to leave with someone that had beaten them both up. She sighed heavily and looked to Darrien for help. At the sight of the humor hiding in his eyes she rolled hers and squared up to convince Caleb and Jack that this was what she wanted. Before she could get a word out, though an alarm rang out through the entire building. Darrien tensed up beside her and grabbed her arm before dragging her past the two men who'd cornered them. Caleb and Jack tried to speak over the alarm and stop them but didn't do much. They were easily brushed off and she couldn't hear them clearly.

The quiet of outside was jarring once they made it through the main doors. Darrien led her to a black SUV parked at the curb on the city street and she couldn't see a thing through the tinting but suspected that all of his coworkers waited inside.

"Stop!" Jack yanked on her arm, pulling her from Darrien's grip.

"Let her go."

"No, you can't take her. She doesn't belong to you!"

"I can and she does."

"No, you don't own her! She's her own person!"

"I paid for her."

Hearing that tore at something in Tessa's chest. She'd been proud to be chosen by Darrien before that moment. To be owned by him, wanted, cherished, desired by him. It had made her so happy and she'd thought that she was something more than just a thing; a product. She helped him, trained with him and spoke with him. Maybe they didn't all the things that were part of a normal relationship but she thought she knew him or at least who he was presently. I paid for her. Those words, though, made her seem like only a transaction, easily exchanged or refunded.

Something must've shown in her face because Darrien spoke up again but while looking at her.

"I need her."

I paid for her.

"I want her.

I paid for her.

"I love Tessa."

Her brain blanked but her body worked on autopilot to shake off Jack's hold and go to Darrien. She nodded at him with a small smile and took his hand. The siren in the background forgotten just as much as Jack and Caleb on the steps of the building as they climbed into the back of the SUV and drove off.

To be continued. . .