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This is all me again so I apologize for any mistakes. Enjoy!

Chapter four

After dinner with Mr Gold, Belle felt better when she went to bed (alone). The next morning, she got dressed in her blue dress and red heels and made her way to work. She still felt nervous about Mr Smeede. If he had found her at the bookshop, it wouldn't be long (unless he already knew) where she lived and worked. The thought made her shiver and cautious as she walked to work.

She was also excited to see Mr Gold. Since her revelation about having a crush on her boss, she couldn't get him out of her head. He brought a smile to her face and she found herself at the front of work earlier that morning.

Before she could even step towards the glass doors, several hands grabbed her shoulder and she was being yanked back. Belle's breath caught for a moment before she was screaming.

"LET GO OF ME!"

She kicked out, struggling against those who were taking her. Fear was coursing through her entire body and her flight instinct was quickly kicking in. She let out another scream as she was roughly shoved in the back of a van and the door shut behind her, plunging her into darkness.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed again, but the tires of the van were already squealing and she was flung to her side with the motion.

Mr Gold's cane tapped as he walked into the lobby of his building. He was in a good mood and felt lighter than he had in years. However, the feeling dimmed as he limped through the lobby only to find David and Emma waiting. Both looked rather serious and his mouth tightened.

"Charming, Miss Swan," Mr Gold greeted them, coming to a stop in front of them. "To what do I owe you disturbing my morning before I even get to my office?"

David and Emma looked at one another and David cleared his throat. "Security picked up something unusual outside the building this morning."

Tightening his hold on his can, Mr Gold tried to supress a growl. "Let me guess, someone was trying to break in?"

"Not quite," Emma said, sharing a nervous glance with David. "Someone was kidnapped out the front of the building."

Mr Gold frowned. "Did you call the police?"

"We did but it was one of our employee's," David said, looking grim. "Mr Gold….it was Belle French."

All the blood drained from Mr Gold's body. Nearly stumbling, he limped as fast as he could to Tink's desk and leaned over her shoulder. "Show me the tapes," he growled.

Tink jumped but quickly nodded and brought up the footage. David and Emma came and joined him, standing behind him. His hand was so tight on his cane that his knuckles were a ghostly white as he watched Belle snatched from the side walk and shoved roughly into a van. He feared he might actually snap his cane.

"Police are on their way to collect the footage and look for any leads," David hastily explained. "Of course, we are looking into it as well."

"You tell me," Mr Gold snarled at them. "When the police get here and if you have any leads."

He stormed away, jaw clenched and a dark cloud simmering about his head.

Emma and David watched him with a wary eye. "I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that he's that concerned for Belle," Emma said.

"Either," David agreed.

Belle's whole body trembled as she was harshly yanked out of the van and led into an old building. She was roughly led into the first office space and she felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"Father?"

"Belle," Her father smiled tightly. "So good to see you."

"Father, what are you doing here?" Belle asked stumbling towards him.

"I came to see you," her father said. "It was quite a surprise to come back from Australia to find that my daughter had thrown away her engagement to Gaston that you had moved away from home and gotten yourself a job."

Belle shivered. "Father, I…" she tried to explain.

Maurice French held up his hand, making her silent. "I don't want to hear it. What I want you to do is to pack your bags and come home and fix what you have broken with Gaston."

"I can't," Belle said, jutting her chin out. It was the stubbornness she had inherited from her mother. Despite that fact she was still scared, she couldn't help it. Her mother had always taught her to stand up for herself. "Father, I don't love him. I don't want to marry Gaston, no matter how beneficial our union would be for your company. I want to find true love and I want to find myself."

"Belle, there isn't anything such a true love," Maurice told her daughter firmly.

"What about with mum?" Belle asked. His silence made Belle's heart break.

"You're coming home, Belle. End of discussion," he said firmly.

"No," Belle defied.

Maurice reached out and clamped his meaty paw around her slim wrist, squeezing it tightly. "I said we are going home."

"Owe, you're hurting me," Belle whimpered. She struggled to shake his grip but it was too tight around her.

"You're not a princess, Belle," Maurice snapped. "You are a naïve young girl who doesn't know anything. You will marry Gaston and you will, eventually, love him."

"No, I won't," Belle argued. She yanked herself free of his grip, his nails scraping along her skin. "I may be young but I know it is wrong for a father to kidnap his own daughter and force her to marry someone so it profits him! You can't even see that you were suffocating me there! I'm happy I left!" She backed away, glaring at her father. "Maybe if you listened to me, you would know that."

She was prepared for the blow against her cheek. She tripped backwards, nearly falling onto her back but managed to keep her feet.

"I will tell you what makes you happy. It's time you grew up and learned that sometimes life isn't easy and the sooner you realise this the easier it will be," Maurice snapped.

"I will never listen to you," Belle snapped. "Or Gaston. I don't ever want to see either of you again."

Before her father could grab her again, she was running. When she deemed herself a safe enough distance she caught a taxi and gave the address to The Enchanted Forest.

"Hey, miss? You alright?" the taxi driver asked as he merged with the traffic.

"Fine," Belle squeaked out, wringing her hands together. Her wrist throbbed under her sudden touch and she hissed. Already her skin was red raw, scratches from his nails and a bruise was forming. She could see where his fingers had gripped him.

Her whole body felt numb and her own skin felt tainted. She wasn't even aware when the taxi came to a stop.

"Miss, we're here," the driver said, giving her a concerned look.

Belle gave her all the money she had in her wallet (giving him a generous tip without realising) and stumbled out of the taxi. She trembled, tears welling and spilling down her cheeks as she pushed open the glass doors to the building.

She spotted Mr Gold straight away, standing with a bunch of policeman. His face was creased with worry and his head snapped to her when she let out a sob.

"Belle!" he breathed, limping towards her.

Belle ran to him, throwing her arms around her neck and burying her head into his neck. She couldn't stop the tears because she felt completely safe in his arms as they came to circle around her waist.

"I've got you," he murmured in her ear, hand rubbing her back.

This only served to make her sob harder. Blindly she felt herself being moved, but she kept her head buried in Gold's neck. Suddenly she was sitting down and calloused hands were wiping her tears away. She hissed slightly as his thumb brushed her cheek, stinging from her father's hit.

"Belle," Mr Gold asked quietly but Belle could hear the fury in his voice. He titled her head gently and examined her cheek. "What happened?"

Belle shook her head, tears silently rolling freely down her cheeks.

"You need to tell me who did this," Gold urged. "Whoever did this won't get away with it. I'll make sure of that."

Glancing to her left, Bell could see the officers and both Emma and David waiting to talk to her. She didn't want to talk. She wanted to go home and forget that this ever happened. Gold followed her gaze and understanding shined in his eyes. From his top pocket, he pulled out a clean handkerchief and handed it to her.

"I'll be a moment," he said, gently stoking her uninjured cheek. He stood, leaning heavily on his cane and limped over to the officers and his employee's.

While he did this, Belle wiped her eyes, her sobs slowing to hiccups and unattractive sniffs. It didn't take much longer for Gold to come back over, Emma by his side.

"Belle," Emma said in a gentle voice. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Biting her lip, Belle looked at Emma and then at Mr Gold. He gave her a pleading nod and Belle swallowed thickly.

"A man, Mr Smeede took me," Belle said.

"Have you met this man before?" Gold asked.

"He's a private investigator," she whispered.

"Is someone looking for you?" Emma asked. The blonde watched as Belle curled up in on herself and gave a single nod. "Do you know who?" Again, Belle nodded.

"I think that's enough for now," Gold said, his tone indicating that there was no room for any argument.

"Right," Emma said, sensing she would not get Gold to budge on this. "I'll take you home."

"No need," Gold interrupted. "I will take care of Belle."

Belle was relieved at this. As much as she enjoyed the blonde's company, she really wanted to be with Gold. He made her feel safer than anyone had ever before.

Emma looked as if she wanted to protest this but Belle sent her a pleading look and she relented. Standing up, she felt Gold's hand on the small of her back as he led her out towards the exit and automatically she felt safer than she had in a long time.

What did you think? Happy reading :)