Unfettered Vampire (Found & Freed: The Unfettered #5)

10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten

Morgan

I ’ve made it out of the house and to my office at work. It shouldn’t feel like such a huge accomplishment. But it does. The fact that it does is proof that I truly am losing my mind.

Ned stayed the night. He slept under the same roof as me. A mere few steps down the hall. That has got to be enough of Ned to see me through the day. It is going to have to be.

As I settle into my desk, trying to suppress the unease that still lingers, I glance at my calendar. Meetings, deadlines, emails. Business as usual. My staff looked relieved when I walked in earlier, like they’d been holding their collective breath, waiting for my reappearance. An absent boss is bad for morale. I know this. I need to start acting like the responsible adult I’m supposed to be.

Ned said the crazy person harassing him was nothing to worry about. And strangely, I trust him. I can feel it in my very bones that Ned would never, ever put the kids at risk. If there was a problem, a real problem, he would tell me. Right ?

I close my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. All in all, everything is fine, I remind myself. Time to put my head down and get some work done. Pining for Ned is ridiculous, and worrying about him and the kids is unnecessary. I force myself to focus on the task at hand. Emails. Phone calls. Budgets. Just the normal, everyday stuff that somehow feels monumental today.

Deep breath. Let everything else go. Focus. I have a business to run.

The familiar hum of the office buzzes in the background, the steady rhythm of clicking keyboards and muffled voices grounding me in a semblance of normalcy. My mind is just beginning to calm when suddenly, the door to my office bursts open. The sound is so abrupt that I jump in my chair, my heart pounding as if I’ve been jolted out of some deep sleep.

I blink, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing.

Ned is standing there, drenched from the rain, striding into my office like he owns the place. Lottie is balanced on his hip, her tiny hands gripping his jacket, and Oscar is holding his other hand, his little face as calm as ever. They’re all soaked, raindrops still clinging to their clothes and hair, they’ve been caught in a downpour.

“I have to go,” Ned says, his voice curt, his expression unreadable. He places Lottie on the table without even waiting for me to respond. “Something’s come up.” His tone is matter-of-fact, as if this is a perfectly normal scenario, dropping the kids off at my office in the middle of a workday, without warning, and turning around to disappear just as fast.

I open my mouth to say something, but he’s already halfway out the door. “Noah has sports club after school, so he doesn’t need picking up until four,” Ned adds, not even turning back to look at me. And then, just like that, he’s gone.

The door clicks shut behind him, leaving me standing there, staring at the spot where he was only moments ago. My mind is racing, trying to piece together what just happened. What the hell is going on?

I look down at Lottie and Oscar. They seem completely unbothered, as if this is just another day for them. Lottie is playing with a paperweight on my desk, her chubby fingers wrapping around it, lifting it with more effort than she should need. Oscar’s eyes are fixed on the window, watching the rain streak down the glass.

But then I notice Lottie’s shoes. One pink, the other yellow, clearly mismatched. The sight of it twists my stomach into knots. I walk around the desk, kneeling down to hug them both, the urge to protect them overwhelming me. Lottie giggles as I squeeze her a little too tightly, and Oscar pats my shoulder as if to reassure me.

My heart is hammering, and my thoughts are spiraling. Is Ned going to be okay? Where did he go? Why did he just drop them off like that without explaining? My mind races with questions, all of them unanswered, feeding into a creeping anxiety that is growing and growing.

And the worst part is, I know I’m useless. Completely useless in this situation. Whatever’s going on, whatever pulled Ned away so suddenly, there’s nothing I can do to help. I’m stuck here, in my office, with no choice but to wait.

I sit back in my chair, my hand lingering on Oscar’s arm as if that simple touch could anchor me. But it doesn’t. I feel the horrible, sinking weight of helplessness. All I can do is hope. And wait.

W hy do kids look so sweet and innocent when they are sleeping? It is like they turn into angels as soon as they close their eyes. Cute little people who are utterly incapable of causing chaos and generally being hard work.

I kiss them on their foreheads and bask in the illusion. Noah mentioned wanting his own room the other day, but he seems to have forgotten all about it. For now. He’ll remember soon enough and then this precious phase will be over.

Then they will all grow up and fly the nest and I’ll be all alone.

Wow. Where did that self pity come from? Sighing heavily, I pull out my phone. The blank screen stares back at me. Almost as if it is mocking me. No calls. No texts. Nothing.

No word from Ned and it has been hours. Maybe I should phone him? It seems awfully intrusive if he is dealing with an emergency. But I’ve been assuming he will call me as soon as he can, since he dropped the kids off at my office. That was before lunchtime. It is nine p.m. now.

Fuck. I really hope he is alright.

The sound of the door chime startles me. Who the hell can that be? It is far too late for a delivery.

I open my Ring app. It’s Ned, shoulders hunched against the pouring rain. My heart thumps right up into my throat. It is so good to see him. But I’m so confused, has he lost his key?

I all but fly down the stairs and fling the front door open. Ned looks up at me. There are raindrops caught in his long lashes.

“Can I explain?” he says meekly.

Wordlessly, I nod and step aside so he can come in. We end up in the kitchen. I fetch him a towel and make him a cup of tea.

We sit at the table. Ned toweled his hair while I was making tea and now the cloth is slung around his neck. He picks up his drink and sips it. The clock in the hallway ticks loudly and the rain beats against the windows.

“There was an emergency with my housemate, Jade. I needed to help him.”

A strange, uncomfortable emotion clenches at my guts. “Is Jade your boyfriend?”

Ned nearly chokes on his tea. “Hell no! He is like a brother to me. They all are.”

A warm tingling glow pushes away the dark emotion I was feeling.

“All?” I ask, and my innocence sounds believable. Ned will never know about the spike of envy I just felt.

Ned carefully puts down his drink. “Lello, Red, Blue, Gray, Pink and Jade.”

I blink. “That’s a lot.”

Hazel eyes look at me for a moment before darting away. “Can I tell you everything? It is heavy, but it will help you to understand.”

I nod.

Ned takes a deep breath. “We were imprisoned together.” He stops and fixes me with an intense look. “That’s im-prisoned, not in prison. It is an important distinction. ”

My nod is automatic. I’m acting as if I’m following. I do want him to continue, but right now I am completely lost.

“There was this crazy billionaire, and he wanted his own harem of pretty boys. So he collected us, one by one. And kept us locked up.”

Ned’s eyes are wide and dark. My mouth is dry, but I nod for him to continue.

“He called us his rainbow and assigned us each a color. It became our name, and we were forced to wear stupid clothes in our color. I was Indigo. The other boys have reclaimed their harem name in some sort of power move that I don’t quite understand, but fully respect.”

Ned huffs out a breath. “Sorry, got sidetracked there. So…um…anyway, we went through hell together. So when one of them needs me, I’m there.”

He drops my gaze and fiddles with his cup of tea. I am utterly lost for words.

“It is the only time I would ever be flaky with the kids,” he says it so softly, I only just hear him.

My mind is reeling. My stomach is churning. I am devastated for Ned, what an unimaginably horrific thing to have happened to him and his friends. Sex slaves? It is the most barbaric thing I have ever heard of.

“Is Jade alright?” I burble, as some frazzled part of my mind limps into a semi-form of functioning.

“He is now. He was at work. Think it was a full on panic attack.”

I run my shaking hand through my hair. My heart is bleeding for Ned. I’m not sure I have ever felt pain quite like this. The only thing that tops it was when Jennifer’s death finally sunk in .

I’m not a violent man, but I think if I ever got my hands on this billionaire, that would probably change.

“I love the kids. I love my job. I know I don’t deserve it, but please don’t fire me.”

The look in Ned’s eyes is frantic. Desperate, imploring. I reach out and take his hand. He is freezing.

“I’m not going to fire you, Ned.”

He stares into my soul. Seeking the truth of my words. Finally he nods. Then his Adam’s apple bobs and he drops his gaze.

Jesus Christ, I can feel my heart breaking. It is shattering into a thousand pieces.

“I completely understand if the answer is no, but I would like to give you a hug,” I say.

Ned doesn’t look up. But he nods. And for some reason, instead of going to him, I pull him to me. I place him on my lap and enfold him in my arms. Then I simply hold him while he trembles softly.

I will hold him all night if it helps.

I would do anything for him. Absolutely anything at all.

Because he is Ned. My Ned. And nothing can change that.