I woke up feeling really sore. I couldn't even open my eyes because of the massive headache I had and my arms felt like they would fall off any moment. I tried to bring my arms down, but cold metal pressed against my wrist and an annoying scraping sound came from above my bed.

I squirmed around a bit, trying to free my hands free from whatever was holding them up. As I moved over to my side, I felt a hard corner press into my abdomen. My phone.

Suddenly, the events of last night came rushing back to me, and I shot up, or at least tried to since whatever was restraining my wrists pulled me back down. I peeled my eyes open, slowly adjusting to the light to see shiny mental handcuffs attaching my wrists to one of the metal poles of the headboard.

I observed the room I was in to see a nicely decorated place rather than a stone cold prison cell. The walls were painted lilac with white accents to match. Most of the furniture was black and white in more of a girly style. Did a woman live here before?

I shook my head to clear my mind of the useless thoughts. I needed to focus on getting out of here. Luckily, I doubt they knew I had my phone with me since I still have it, so Nick probably knows where I am. I felt a wave of relief knowing that he's probably going to be here soon.

I shimmied up the bed to sit up and remembered I have Bobby pins in my hair from work. My headache was getting worse and my muscles were so sore, but I managed to angle my head near my hands. I plucked two pins and bent them into the right shapes for picking the lock. I sent a thank you to Ryan for teaching me this.

It took a bit of fumbling with the pins to finally be able to turn the lock open, but once I unlocked the handcuffs, I let out a much anticipated sigh of relief. I carefully rubbed my wrists and checked over them to find only a few bruises which were all pretty small.

I carefully made my way off the bed, feeling slightly dizzy as I stood up. I groaned as my head started to pound. This was not the time for this. I learned my lesson from last time, so the first thing I was going to do was find a weapon. A real weapon.

I assumed they wouldn't just keep weapons around in this room, so I had to get out of this room. I carefully turned the doorknob to find the door was locked. I scanned over the knob and then the whole door for a keyhole, but there wasn't one. I looked around the room for any other ways of escaping and noticed a window.

I quietly rushed over to it to find a ledge I could walk easily on if I climbed out. I noticed a few men patrolling the area, so jumping down wasn't an option. Luckily, they never would look up, so if I was quiet, I could probably get to another room.

So, I slowly opened the window making as little noise possible and stepped out onto the ledge. I arbitrarily chose to go right and started searching for a room that could have a weapon. The first window was a library and so was the second. The third was a bedroom, but there was a man in there, so I ducked under and continued on. The fourth, however, was an empty bedroom and by the looks of it a man's bedroom.

I carefully slid the window open, scanning the room the entire time for anyone, praying no one would be in there. I silently stepped inside and shut the window behind me. I rushed over to the nightstands. I opened one and it was empty apart from a a few charging cables. The other one though was exactly what I was looking for. I picked up the cold metal gun and took in a breath. I hope I don't have to use it, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Suddenly, I heard the click of the bathroom door, and a man walked out in a towel. Fuck, I forgot about the bathroom. I instinctively raised the gun up and pointed it at him. "Don't come any closer," I warned, my heart beat quickening as I really didn't want to use it.

He chuckled. The man actually chuckled. "Please, I bet you don't even know how to use that," he then took a step forward, and I took one back.

"I said don't come any closer," I repeated.

He just laughed and took another big step forward. I let out a scream, and I shut my eyes tightly as I flinched. I heard the sound of a gun shot go off and then a groan followed after. I blinked open my eyes to see him clutching his leg, lots of blood seeping through this fingers and staining the white towel.

"You bitch!" He yelled. "You actually shot me,"

I actually shot him.

Why do I always feel bad for doing stuff like this? He would've probably killed me if I didn't, and I still feel bad about it. What if I actually killed him? My blood ran cold just at the thought. Where the fuck is Nick?

I snapped out of my shocked state and started running out of the room. I slammed the door open and ran through the hallway as he chased me down. It's a good thing I'm good at running and he's slowed down by the bullet wound. I didn't get very far since when I saw a bunch of men at the end of the hallway I turned a corner to go in the opposite direction and slammed into a hard chest.

My instinct was to pull back, but when I felt the familiar warm arms pull me closer, I relaxed and slowly looked up to confirm who I thought he was. A wave of relief washed over me as I saw the face of the man I was praying would come for me.

Nick.

He quickly pulled me behind him, never taking one arm off the small of my back as if he was making sure I was still there. Nick started walking forward, and I matched my movements with his, too afraid of being too far from him. Even though we were still in quite a bit of danger, I felt safe just because Nick was here, and he was protecting me.

For the next five minutes, I tuned out everything. My mind was solely focused on staying behind Nick and following him. I knew that he could get us out of here with minimal effort if I just let him do his thing, and for some strange reason I trusted him to keep me safe much more than I trusted myself.

Many gunshots were fired, none of them wounding Nick and me. He timed his movements perfectly. He waited until the coast was clear every time before we turned a corner and moved down a hallway. The number one priority right now wasn't to punish whoever took me but to get out of this house unscathed.

Once I was pushed through a door and into the sunlight, my thoughts came back to me. I could finally breathe because just a little farther until we got into the car and would drive away. Nick held my hand tightly as he rushed both of us to his car. Once we were there, he speedily opened the door and pushed me inside before climbing in himself and slamming the door.

The driver floored it, and we were speeding off out of this place. I leaned back against the seat and let out a sigh. I closed my eyes for a second and the next I threw my arms around Nick.

"You came," I mumbled into his chest. He pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist.

"Of course I did," he kissed the top of my head. "I told you I would protect you,"

"I know. I was just so scared—"

"I know, baby. I know," he ran his fingers through my hair. "You're safe now. You're okay."

I felt a few silent tears escape, so I snuggled farther into him. I held onto him for dear life as I took a few minutes to just calm down and enjoy the safe feeling being in his arms provides. I think he was doing the same since we both didn't say anything, but just held onto each other tightly.

"Nick," I croakily mumbled after a few minutes of silence. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" He asked.

"Kill people," I whispered.

His eyes widened in shock as those words tumbled out of my mouth. Suddenly, he looked very, very worried. "You didn't have to kill anyone, right?"

I shook my head, and slight relief was evident in his expression. "I just can't do it," I took a breath. "I had to hurt people to get away. I shot someone," I whispered before a tear streamed down my cheek. He quickly wiped it away and guilt flashed in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Nick. I can't hurt people like you can,"

"Hey, hey," he whispered. "It's okay," he kissed my forehead. "You don't have to hurt anyone,"

"I just..." I trailed off.

"You just what?" He asked softly.

"I'm just scared one day you'll leave me because I can't take care of myself when it comes to this stuff," I admitted, looking down, too afraid to look him in the eye.

He used a finger to lift my chin up and look him in the eyes. I could never get tired of looking as his gorgeous silver eyes. He cupped my cheek and kissed me. When he pulled away, I looked up to his eyes, fear of what he would say still clearly in mine. "Amelia, I brought you into this world, so I have to protect you, especially if you can't protect yourself,"

I smiled as he said those words because I didn't want him to ever leave me. I love him so much that at this point my life would be completely dull and lifeless if I couldn't share it with him. His lips turned into a smirk as he said, "plus, you are the most clever person I have ever met,"

"Really?"

"You knew to call me and leave the call on while they took you because you knew I could track you. You escaped wherever the hell they were keeping you on your own. And, I don't know where you got this gun, but you managed to find a weapon in a house full of enemies. I'd say that was pretty damn clever,"

"Thank you, Nick," I smiled.

He was about to say something, but a ringing interrupted us. Nick pulled his phone out and checked the screen. "Fuck," he mumbled.

"What is it?"

"Your brother invited you to his birthday party, and the flight to Paris is in two days,"

"Oh,"

"If you don't want to go, I could call and cancel," he offered.

"No," I mumbled. "I think getting away from here for a few days would be nice. Plus, I can find out more about what my family has been hiding from me,"

I honestly didn't want to go back to the restaurant so soon because this still isn't over. Nick hasn't caught whoever took me yet, and I was afraid something worse would happen to me. It should be safe in Paris, right?