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Author's Chapter Notes:
The suspense is building...can you feel it? LOL Enjoy this one guys...more to come soon!


Roslyn walked through the door of her dressing room moments after finishing her song, feeling both exhausted and ecstatic, physically and emotionally. It had taken so much of her to sing her most personal words like she had just done, but the toll it had taken on her was not gratis; she felt liberated, fear and anxiety losing their control on her. Serena had been right; all she needed was to sing it.

She slid out of the dress, hanging it carefully back on the hanger from which it came, running her hand down the soft fabric one last time before zipping up the plastic bag that protected the beautiful garment.

“If anyone walked in right now,” she mumbled out loud, realizing that she was standing in the middle of her dressing room, in nothing but a thong, caressing the dress she had just taken off, with a longing look in her eye, and anyone that saw her would think she was a little off her rocker. She quickly stepped into a pair of gray, knit athletic shorts, rolling the waist band twice so they sat below her navel, low on her hips. She didn’t feel like hanging out in the club tonight, and the thought of dressing up just to head home wasn’t something that appealed to her.

Not like there’s anybody I need to impress anyway, she thought dryly as she reached for her favorite lemon yellow ribbed knit tank. After catching herself in the mirror, and realizing she wasn’t wearing a bra and the light colored tank top would not leave much to the imagination, she pulled a second tank out of the dresser, this one hot pink. Thank God for layering, it just works, she mused as she started putting it on, just getting it over her head before hearing a noise behind her. She quickly pulled the tank top down and immediately turned around to see what it was; bringing her face to face with Rob.

She opened her mouth to scream, her first instinct, but he wrapped one of his large, strong, dark hands across her mouth, preventing anything from escaping it. A second later his other hand was around her back, pulling her into his body, holding her so tightly she couldn’t wriggle away.

“I saw you with him,” he hissed into her ear, pressing his mouth so close to her skin she thought his hot breath would burn a hole in her face. Roslyn was trembling so hard she lost her balance, her legs giving way under her, relying on Rob to hold her up. He relished in the fact that once again he had control over her, the choice to let her fall completely up to him.

“I see the way you look at him, the way he looks at you. I know about your little get togethers in LA, the emails between you two.” He pulled his mouth away from the side of her head and looked right into her mascara smudged eyes. “I guess I didn’t make it clear enough that you are to love no one but me.” His eyes flickered with hatred and anger as he pulled his hand away from her mouth, raising it in the air, cocking it for the strike. The next instant was a blur to Roslyn as the back of his hand collided with her cheek, following through until his hand was on the other side of his body. He chose that moment to release her from his hand, sending her body flying from the force of his hit.

She stumbled as she tried to catch herself, falling backwards against the edge of the dresser. She hit hard, knocking the wind out of her lungs, and she struggled to regain her breath as she slid down the dresser. Now that she was free of his hold, his hand no longer covering her mouth, she needed to scream, to yell as loud as she could for someone, anyone, to help her, but she couldn’t.

She began crawling towards the door, clawing the carpet in her attempt. She was going nowhere fast, the pain in her hand and back from her crash with the dresser overtaking her.

“Great idea Rossi, we should leave,” he patronized, watching her feeble attempt at escaping. In one swift movement he was over her, pulling her off the ground and dragging her unwilling body towards the door. He flung it open, pulling Roslyn into the dark hallway, his getaway plan rolling. He knew if he could get her out the back door at the end of the hallway and into his car without incident he would be free, unstoppable even. His plan, however, ran into a snag as he saw two men running down the hallway towards him.

“I didn’t want to have to do this, Ros,” he snarled in her ear as he left go of her with one arm and reached around his back. “It’s all your fault; all the horrible things you make me do because you don’t listen…” She felt something cold and hard against her head as Marcus and a very tall, very wide man that she had never seen before stopped several feet in front of her. She saw the looks on their faces and she knew that Rob had just put a gun to her head.

“Don’t come any closer,” he said evenly, pressing the barrel into her temple harder. She cried out a little and Marcus’s eyes flickered with frustration and helplessness as the horrified sound filtered into his ears.

“She goes with me alive or she stays here dead; you choose,” Rob said coldly, squeezing Roslyn tighter against him.

“It doesn’t have to be like this Rob,” the unknown man said, his voice surprisingly higher pitched than his large frame would imply. “Just let her go and things won’t be so bad for you.” A maniacal laugh came out of Rob’s mouth, sending a shudder through Roslyn’s body.

He’s insane; he’s going to kill me. Somebody help me! She screamed so loud in her mind, but the words were unable to come out of her mouth.

“Big Mike is right, man. Just let her go and we’ll make sure you don’t go down for something you didn’t do,” coaxed Marcus, hoping the negotiation tactics would work. They should have known better though….

“Now why would I let her go,” Rob responded, brushing his lips against Roslyn’s neck. “She wants to with me, don’t you baby?” He licked her neck, rubbing the gun free hand up her body and across her breasts, squeezing the left one territorially. “Don’t you?” he asked again, pressing the gun even harder against her head. She tried to nod her head up and down, but any signal her brain was trying to send to her body was not going through.

“Say it,” Rob ordered, shaking her.

“Y-yes,” she stammered, feeling like she was going to urinate all over herself.

“There you have it; now call off the thugs I’m sure you have waiting outside for me and we’ll be on our merry little way,” he instructed them, waving the gun at Marcus and Big Mike as he said it. Marcus flipped his phone open, telling whoever was on the other end to go back into the club through the front entrance and wait for him there.

He and Big Mike stood like statues, in shock that the scene in front of them was unfolding this way. They were supposed to protect her, but had no way of doing it. They knew a guy with a gun called all the shots; until they could outsmart him that is. They watched Rob back his way out the door leading to the employee parking lot, and as soon as he disappeared through it, Marcus and Big Mike took off running back into the club.

“What’s going on? Why did you call us off?” another large man asked as Marcus came towards him. He was just as tall as Big Mike, 6’ 2” or so, but weighed about 100lbs less. He appeared to be a very athletic man, with muscles giving definition to the tight fitting t-shirt he was wearing.

“He’s got her Trey,” Marcus shouted as he ran past the burly man in his middle twenties. “Car, NOW!” Trey, Big Mike, Marcus, Nick, AJ, Serena and Kaci ran out of the night club in time to see a car squeal around the corner and fade out of sight.

“Fuc k!” screamed Marcus as he punched through the pane of glass on the club door and then squatted down on his haunches, wrapping his hands around his head in frustration.

“What happened?” Kaci screamed hysterically, looking around for an answer.

“He had a gun, there was nothing we could have done without risking her life,” explained Big Mike. “Serena, do you have idea where he would take her?” Everyone turned from Big Mike to Serena, staring her down, waiting for her to spill some ground-breaking news that would lead them to Roslyn.

“I-I don’t know,” she squeaked, tears falling freely from her eyes. “I don’t know!” Kaci wrapped her arms around her, she too unable to control her tears.

“It’s okay, See. It’s okay.” She stroked Serena’s hair as she frantically looked in the eyes of each of the males standing before her. “You have to find her. No one else can do it, and we can’t trust the cops here. Find her.”

They all knew it was only a matter of time…before time ran out.