One Night With Mr Braxton

For the first time ever, Emma was outside her room. Led through a dark staircase, she tried and failed to get a feel or look on anything but the floors. They got to the dining room and a long king sized table stood in front of her.

” Finally! Come sit.” Kaden said from the head of the table, ” We can’t have you missing breakfast.”

Emma jittered towards him. The doctor attended to the bruises that formed through her body earlier this morning but she still felt pain at every turn. Her biggest concern remained on the health of the child that grew within her- a topic that posed a taboo when she brought it up to the doctor.

” Oh don’t be afraid, I’m in a good mood this morning! Sit, we have a whole day ahead of us.” Kaden spoke like he didn’t abuse her the day before, one would think his memories from the day before were washed and a demon possessed him to do the evils he did.

Emma sat down with her head bowed, the maids immediately got to serving breakfast. In no time, their plates were filled with all sorts of delicacies, creating an aromatic atmosphere that caused her stomach to growl.

” Don’t stare, eat up.” He urged and took a large gulp of tea. ” The earlier we finish up, the faster we leave.”

” What?” His statement caught her by surprise, ” where are we going?” She asked.

” For a moment there, I thought I broke my toy.” He sliced through his meal. ” Since your husband decided to play smart, I’ve decided to make him work a little bit more before taking over the company.”

” I don’t understand.”

” This city isn’t anymore comfortable, we’ll be leaving tonight.” He announced and her ghost nearly left her body.

” L-leaving? Where to?”

” That’s for me to know.” His eyes picked her apart. ” Why aren’t you eating?”

Emma gulped and picked her spoon. Her hands shook and her mind chanted the fact they were leaving. They couldn’t leave. What would be made of her if she crossed the border? What were her chances of survival?

Suddenly, a troop of men disrupted their meal. She could sense the urgency as one of them whispered something to Kaden whose gaze immediately turned murderous.

Blinded by rage, he got to his feet. ” How did this happen?!”

” Your phone left a signal. We found out a moment ago from our inside men. They’ll be here soon.”

Emma felt hope spring from within her. Hearing their frantic conversation, she knew that help was coming.

” Get the helicopter ready, now!” He ordered and they marched out of sight. Kaden turned his focus on her, not bothering to hide his distaste. ” I was thinking we had time, but your husband decided to be a fool till the very end.”

His voice was drowned by the ear splitting sounds of sirens. Kaden looked out the windows and to his utmost surprise, found out they were surrounded.

” Shit! We need to leave now.” He declared, pulled out a gun and pointed towards her, ” move.”

Emma raised her hands on sighting the gun. ” Please! Please! Just let me go!” Her arms ached and her body paralyzed with fear.

” I asked you to move!” At that moment, his men returned, panting heavily.

” Boss! We need to leave now! We’re surrounded!”

Just then, Asher’s voice found its way to their ears. ” Surrender the lady and you shall live.”

Emma couldn’t hide her relief upon hearing Asher’s voice. He came for her! He actually came!Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Asher stood in front of the gates, accompanied by every military equipment and enforcement known to man.

” You can come out now, Kaden. There’s no escape, you are surrounded!” Jason spoke, further solidifying their presence.

Kaden felt conflicted, his eyes flicked between her waist and the window. ” Happy, are we? That child wasn’t supposed to exist.” A loud bang from the door impacted the building. ” I’d prefer to kill it slowly but they seem impatient. Our journey officially ends here.”

Emma didn’t have enough time to make out the meaning of his words before two bullets were fired into her stomach.

” No!” She dropped down in pain, covering the wound that poured buckets of blood.

Downstairs, Asher couldn’t wait anymore. ” We need to enter, we need to go now.” He said to Jason who brought his wish to command.

The gates blew open and they went in with the soldiers who shot everyone on sight. The place crawled with thugs, ready to give their lives in exchange for their master’s successful escape. From the outside, the building seemed like a big deserted mansion but its insides spoke of class and strength.

They entered multiple rooms, in search of Emma while Kaden alighted his helicopter, ready to take off. Life left Asher upon sighting his wife in a pool of her own blood.

” Emma! Wake up, wake up! Don’t close your eyes.” She managed a smile upon seeing him,

” You finally came..”

” Yes, yes, how did this happen? Just stay awake, help’s on the way.” He assured, holding her to his chest. ” Someone get me an ambulance! Emma! Wake up!”

His voice fizzled as consciousness seeped into her eyes. At that moment, Emma felt content, even if she died, she got to see him again. Despite the world of pain she was thrusted into, he remained the silver lining.

Her silver lining.

*****

A bloodied Asher stood outside the emergency ward, hours after Emma’s surgery. Fortunately, they made it over to the hospital in time for her life preservation. Unfortunately, she lost a child.

A child that made the situation much more painful. Jason approached him with a change of clothes and he silently had his bath, deep in thought.

Afterwards, Jason filled him in on the situation of things.

” Kaden got apprehended by the borders. As we speak, he’s remanded in prison and his real identity has been revealed to be your father’s illegitimate son.”

Asher wasn’t surprised, ” Yet another entitled psychopath.” He gritted, ” How about Talia?”

” Safely shipped out of the continent.” Jason stood by the windows, ” how is she?”

A tough silence filled the air,

” I don’t know.” For the first time ever, Asher didn’t know how to feel. With his wife on bed rest and his child in the world beyond, there was only so much he could take.

” You’ll get through this. She will.” His words were like a plaster to a bullet wound. The damage was done, for the first time, he doubted his ability to repair the remains.

Emma eventually woke up, and the first thing she asked after was the last he wanted to share. For the next few weeks, she cried, mourned and with each passing day, withdrew from each other. Asher relegated to making sure she had everything from a distance, holding onto their fickle yet diminishing relationship.

Meanwhile, Kaden was put behind bars, charged with all sorts of crimes from his now revealed identity as one of the Mafia syndicate heads in the city. That night, Asher resolved to speak to his wife as regards their future and for the first time in a month, looked her straight in the eye while she watched news of Kaden’s fall.

” We need to speak.” His words brought her out of a reverie, as well as shocked her.

” Okay?” At that instant, she realized she may have lost the ability to properly communicate with her husband. ” What’s this about?”

” Us.”

Asher couldn’t help but notice the tremor in her fingers, her discomfort at his closeness, or perhaps words.

” Okay?”

” You’ll be discharged tomorrow.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she nodded.

Asher couldn’t speak, he couldn’t bring himself to propose what he thought but there wasn’t an option.

” I understand you might not want to continue with this…with our marriage. This is an out.” He brought out an envelope and her eyes widened.

” What are you trying to do?”

” I’m letting you pick your future. The last few weeks and probably years have been …not what it should be. I’ve been thinking about how best to make things perfect again but as the days go by, I doubt my ability to make you happy.” He breathed, ” And If I’m not making you happy, I can’t keep you.”

The thought of living without Asher brought a fresh wave of panic in Emma’s heart, ” I don’t want an out,” she whispered, and for the first time in weeks, drew closer to the man she was wholeheartedly in love with, ” I don’t know when this pain will be soothed either but I want to figure it out with you. I just want you.”

Their lips connected and that very night, they consummated their marriage afresh, renewing their vows and commitment to each other for life. Unknown to them, that marked the beginning of a life.