Aubrey leaned her head against the cold wall. After spending a day tied in a chair, she was let out. She was now allowed to roam the room freely but couldn't find a way out besides through the door that was always locked. She had tried sneaking past a guard when he opened the door to give her food, but that had resulted in having a terrible bruise on her cheek and a possible broken rib.

Two days had passed since then and she hadn't tried to escape since. She was starting to lose her hope that Ezra – or her father would come. They fed her well here, but she was still a prisoner. This is what she was originally expecting from Ezra when he took her. She expected him to keep her locked up and only give her food. She had expected him to be cruel to her, but he was always gentle. He took care of her while she was under his watch.

She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. No tears came to her eyes. She had cried all the available tears out of her body. There was no way that she was going to cry today. Aubrey stood up quickly as the door opened and Jearon walked into the room. 

Aubrey hated to admit that he looked rather attractive. Any other girl would find him attractive, but Aubrey hated him too much to even think that. His buzzed hair was always kept at the same length and his dress shirts were always pressed neatly. He smirked as he caught her eyes. "Like what you see?" he asked as he spread his arms out. 

Aubrey glared at him. "You wish."

Jearon smirked as he messed with the cuff of his sleeve. "I know I don't look even remotely close to Ezra, but I do dress nicer than him. I also think of myself as a better host than him." 

Aubrey rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Ezra made sure that I had a bed to sleep on. I don't have that here."

"Listen," Jearon held up his hands in mock defense. "I offered you a bed, but you refused to take it."

"I'm not sleeping in your bed with you!"

Jearon laughed as he shook his head. "Sooner or later, you will, Aubrey. They always do. You can't always be able to sleep comfortably on this cold, hard ground for long. You'll want to come and sleep in a better – more comfortable – bed."

Aubrey shook her head. "I'm never taking that offer. Besides, Ezra will be here before I even get tired of sleeping on the floor."

"He will be dead if he steps even one foot in this warehouse!" Jearon yelled as he came at her.

Aubrey stepped back in surprise and hit the back of her knees on the bench causing her to fall down on it.

Jearon ran his hand over his head and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "For now on, there will be no talk of that fucking traitor in this building. Do you understand?" Aubrey didn't answer him. She just cowered as he stood over him. "I'll ask one more time. Do you understand?"

Aubrey nodded as she shook with fear.

"I can't hear you," his voice was icy.

"Yes," she squeaked.

"Good." He straightened up and fixed the cuff of sleeves. "I'll come back for you later tonight." He turned on his heel and walked out of the room leaving Aubrey shaking.

---- 

Later that night, two men came into Aubrey's room and threw a pair of clothes down at her feet. One of them kicked the clothes closer to her. "Get dressed in these clothes right now. The boss wants you to have dinner with him tonight."

Aubrey, still shaken from earlier that day, shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm not going to have dinner with him."

The men started to laugh and stalked toward her. Aubrey's eyes widened and she stepped back until she hit her back against the wall. "Please, don't hurt me," she begged them. 

One of the men continued to laugh as he shook his head. "We won't hurt you right now. If you don't obey our boss, we will. So, I suggest that you get dressed and come with us." He paused. "Understand?" Aubrey nodded quickly. "Good. We'll be back for you in twenty minutes." Both men then turned on their heels and walked out of the room still laughing with each other. 

Aubrey took a deep breath and looked at the clothes in front of her. She bent down to pick up a piece and sighed. It was a beautiful, royal blue dress. It wasn't extremely fancy, but it still meant business. She slipped her clothes off and pulled the dress over her head. She shimmied into the tight dress and looked down at herself. The dress fit her perfectly – even if it was almost skintight – as it hugged all the right curves. The dress had thick straps and a deep neckline. It reached down to her feet with a long slit cutting up to the top of her thigh. 

She knew that Ezra would kill Jearon if he knew that he was making her go to dinner. She smiled at the thought. She missed him. She never got to tell him how she felt about him. It made her wonder what would have happened between them if she did. 

A knock sounded on the door making Aubrey straighten up. The same two men walked through the door and smiled at her. "Are you ready yet?" one of them asked. 

"It hasn't been twenty minutes yet," she reminded them.

The other man shrugged. "Whatever." He handed her a pair of white high heels. "Do you know how to walk in these?"

Aubrey nodded as she took the heels from his hand. 

"Good. Put them on quickly." He paused and smirked. "The boss doesn't like to wait long."

Aubrey grimaced as she put the heels on her feet and followed the men out of the room. They led her down many different corridors until they came to a large door. The men pushed her through and closed the door behind her leaving her alone in the room. 

She looked around the room. Unlike her cold cell, this room was warm and spacious. A long table sat in the middle of the room with a chair on each end. A large meal was placed on the table making Aubrey's mouth water. Her stomach rumbled as she look at the food and her hands automatically were placed over her stomach. 

"About time that you showed up," Jearon's voice came from the other side of the room. He walked over to her, and Aubrey couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked. She wished that he was ugly, so it was easier for her to look at him. He was wearing a satin purple shirt with sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows. His shirt was tucked into a pair of dark dress pants with black dress shoes on his feet. 

Aubrey looked him in the eyes and raised her chin. "I took my time."

"I'm sure you did." Jearon stopped an arm's length away from her and looked her up and down, his eyes turning dark. "What Ezra would do to be able to see you right now."

Aubrey kept her mouth closed. She wasn't about to let him get the upper hand.

Jearon stepped closer to her. "You look really beautiful." He reached out his hand and brushed a stray hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She had to control herself to not reel back from his touch. "I'm a lucky man to be eating dinner with such a lovely lady." He looked down at her again, letting his eyes linger on her chest before taking her hand. "Come, sit." Aubrey allowed him to take her hand and lead her over to a chair, holding it out so she could sit down. 

Aubrey kept her back straight as she watched him carefully. He walked over to the other end of the table and sat down. He motioned for her to take some food and she happily obliged. She reached out in front of her and grabbed a roll, a piece of chicken breast, and mashed potatoes. She cut the chicken up into a bite and put it in her mouth. 

She was surprised by how good the chicken tasted. Aubrey looked up at Jearon and complimented, "The chicken is delicious."

Jearon looked up at her and smiled proudly. "Yes, it is. I had to hire a new chef since my last one turned out to be a fucking traitor." The smile on his face faltered as he stabbed his chicken with his fork. "Although, this new chef has proven himself."

Aubrey cocked her head to one side, feigning innocence. "Who was your chef?"

"Ezra." His face was fighting between emotionsthat Aubrey couldn't catch.

"Ezra? I didn't know that he could cook," she smiled down at the food. How many different roles did he have here?

Jearon nodded. "Yes, he can. He can cook really well. It was something that he learned here while we were growing up." He looked up at Aubrey. There was a form of sadness resting in his eyes. "Did you know that he used to be my best friend?"

Aubrey nodded. "He told me."

Jearon looked at her interested. "What else did he say about me?"

Aubrey decided not to answer. She felt if she told Jearon what Ezra had told her, she would be giving away things that he might not want to talk about out loud. 

"If you don't tell me, I'll have no choice but to do certain things to you that I'm sure Ezra wouldn't appreciate," he threatened with a hint of danger in his eyes. He was excited, but she wasn't about to answer everything. 

She sat up straight and placed her fork down. "He told me about you guys being best friends. About how you met. About how both of you grew up." She took a deep breath. "That's all." He had told her more about him. Ezra had told her about Jearon's other relationships. Those relationships were filled with evil. Ezra had expressed clearly to her how dangerous of a man Jearon was. She wasn't able to tell Jearon that Ezra had told her any of that. She knew she had to continue. She didn't want him to touch her. Aubrey took a deep breath before speaking up again, "He really loved you like a brother. Ezra never wanted to betray you, Jearon –"

"But he did!" Jearon interrupted as he slammed his fist down on the table making Aubrey jump and sit back in her chair. She forced herself not to cower. She needed to be strong. She wouldn't survive if she was weak. "He knew what he was doing Aubrey! He knew that I wanted you, but he chose to be selfish and take you for himself!" Jearon leaned back and gave her a dangerous look. "I'm sure he's already made claim to your body, but that doesn't matter." He stood up and stalked towards her quickly. Once he was in front of her, he leaned down mere inches from her face. "He's in jail and no one can get to you while you're here."

Aubrey shuddered as he reached out and ran his hand down her throat and her exposed chest, resting against the fabric. "He has claimed you, hasn't he?" Jearon chuckled deeply. "That doesn't matter." He leaned closer to her. "It's my turn to have fun with you now. I'm going to make sure that Ezra knows the amount of fun we're going to have."

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door making Jearon stand up straight. She silently thanked the man who practically ran into the room. He stopped at Jearon's side and whispered something in his ear. Aubrey tried to hear what he was saying but failed. 

Whatever the man had said made Jearon curse under his breath. He growled as he looked down at Aubrey. "Your hero is out of jail. Someone paid his bail." He looked back to the man beside him and smiled evilly. "Looks like we'll be having a fight after all. Take her to my room and make sure she doesn't leave." He looked back down at her. "I'll be having my dessert after Ezra is killed."