A/N

Thanks to anyone still with me on this ride. I am planning on finishing this story by the end of the summer if at all possible.

Thanks to Twilightmomoftwo for betaing this for me.

Chapter 8

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since I'd left Rose to deal with Royce alone and the last time I'd seen Tanya getting into the nondescript black limousine.

As much as Tanya's disappearance had rattled me, seeing Rose come in and work robotically every shift since then was unsettling. I didn't really know Tanya at all and figured it wasn't really my place to put the call in to missing persons. I assumed she had family or someone who would wonder where she'd vanished, if she had at all. Perhaps she just found a new club instead. Either way, it wasn't my concern. As callous as it made me sound, it wasn't what I needed to spend my time worrying about.

Rose, on the other hand, was.

I tried to engage her in light conversation, but she only mumbled brief responses before finding something else to do rather than talk with me. She had started wearing low cut shirts with long sleeves instead of the skimpy tank top that was her usual uniform behind the bar. I tried to ask her if she was okay, insinuating that I could help her if she needed it, but her standard eye roll and 'I'm fine' was the only response I received.

Meanwhile, Royce stayed out of my way for the most part, but the tension between us when we were in the same room was almost lightning strike strength. When I'd brought up to Edward what had happened in the cooler, he told me he'd speak with Aro about it, hoping Royce's uncle would have some influence on him. Unfortunately, other than a stern talking to, Aro made it blatantly clear that Royce was not to be taken down, despite any actions the sleazy man might make. Aro ran a tight ship, but unless Rose herself came to him, he couldn't side against his late sister's child. Blood being thicker than water, I guessed.

The evening had been on the slow side, giving me more time to observe Rose at her bar. She'd been even more apathetic than usual, and because I knew Royce wasn't working tonight, perhaps I might have a chance to speak with her. Maybe even get her to open up a little bit. I was usually the guy girls immediately let down their guard with. My mother was always telling me I had a good soul, a kind demeanor and eyes that could keep a secret. I wasn't sure I believed all of that, but whatever it was, it enabled Izzy to open up to me. If only I could get Rose to see what they did.

"Felix? Emmett? Caius would like to see you."

Hearing our names called out together over the crackling earpiece caused me to immediately think back to the last time Felix and I had both been in the same room.

Tanya.

Renewed guilt washed over me like a freezing cold shower. I'd asked Felix a few days after our little ménage session if he'd seen or heard from her, but he only shrugged indifferently towards me. After reporting to Aro about Tanya being dragged into a mysterious limousine, he dismissed it as well, telling me to keep my nose to the ground and to come back when I had something more concrete. At the moment, the only person who seemed remotely worried about the poor girl was me.

I made my way back to the secret room behind the VIP section, telling Alec to cover my post for a few minutes as I walked.

I ran in to Felix on the way up and asked him if he knew what was going on. I'd never been called to the secret room with another member of Caius' kinky brotherhood club, and it had me worried a little bit. Not so much about the sex factor, because to be honest, I'd shared a few women with Felix, making it no big deal, but for some reason my spidey senses were tingling. My intuition was hardly ever wrong, and I was growing uneasy about what was behind door number one.

Following behind Felix, I heard Caius welcome us both as he sat on the low couch surrounded by three very attractive women. A fiery redhead stood behind him, naked, massaging his neck while two bottle blondes knelt on either side of him, taking turns sucking his cock.

"Please, don't be shy. Have a seat." he called, pointing at the two leather club chairs that were directly across from him. His face was blank, showing no emotion, which seemed odd for a guy on the receiving end of what appeared to be some pretty good head.

"Thank you both for coming. As you can see, I'm a bit outnumbered this evening and was wondering if one or both of you would be interested in helping me out."

I sat in the chair, unsure of how I felt about all of this after Rose's biting commentary two weeks ago. I'd been a good boy since then and had taken my nocturnal activities off-site the one time I needed a little relief. Granted, I picked up a statuesque blond and imagined it was Rose the entire time. Thankfully, the girl was only in it for the night, making my brush-off a little easier on me.

While I sat there contemplating the situation, Felix stood and was literally rising to the occasion. Caius had ordered his auburn beauty down on her knees to service my friend standing two feet away from me with his pants still a tangle around his shoes.

My gaze wandered back over to Caius, and I could see him thoughtfully appraising me. For some reason his steely stare bothered me. It felt important that I keep my discomfort under wraps, so I blandly commented I was more in a watching mood tonight. Caius shrugged, appearing like he couldn't believe I'd given up the chance to be with one of his stable of gorgeous women. I just couldn't shake Rose's dispirited face; it never left the forefront of my mind.

Pretending to watch the carnal activities around me, I allowed my mind to drift, mulling through the various ways I might be able to get Rose the help she needed, yet refused to ask for.

"Were we that boring?" Caius sneered quietly.

I must have really been lost in thought, because it took me a moment before I realized Caius was standing behind me, his hands firmly resting on my shoulders, his lips only a fraction of an inch away from my ear. His creepy tone sent a shiver down my spine, and I quickly apologized for being tired and a little preoccupied tonight.

Squeezing my shoulders in a steely grip, Caius reminded me what I was being paid for when I attended these tete-a-tetes and if I wanted out, it could easily be arranged. He dismissed me with a flick of his wrist, letting me know my friend could more than handle the rest of what he had planned. Felix gave me a questioning look when I stood up and left the room without a word. I could already hear his gossipy voice in my head and silently vowed to try to escape before he could pepper me with a thousand questions I didn't have answers for.

Rounding the corner, I saw Rose slinging drinks as usual, but instead of impassivity gracing her delicate features, she was visibly upset about something.

I stood at the edge of the bar, waiting for her to make her way down, knowing her usual pattern of serving customers from one end to the other. The entire time I waited, I tried to figure out what I could say to make her open up to me. I worded and reworded what felt like a hundred different sentences, but when she suddenly appeared before me, I was tongue tied.

"Emmett?" She tried to sound annoyed, but her lip quivered before she pulled it between her teeth in a lame attempt at silencing her distress.

"Please let me help," I whispered, trying to emote every ounce of sincerity in my voice and expression. I didn't want her to think I pitied her, knowing she would fall back on her haunches like a cobra ready to strike if she felt belittled.

For the first time since I'd met her, she looked downright petrified.

"You're in danger, Emmett. Please, leave me be," she warned, spinning on her heel to go and serve another drunk idiot.

She might have run off after the incident with Royce, but I was damned if she was going to run away again. Stalking down to where she was making some fruity cocktail, I growled, "You can't do that Rose. You don't get to say something like that and walk away."

She wouldn't look up at me, but between the strobe light's effects, I could see a lone tear streaking down her cheek. "Damn it," she cursed. "Fine. Meet me at Max's on seventh after shift and we'll talk."

I went back to my post and could only wonder what I was in danger of. Whatever it was, Rose seemed to think it was extremely urgent. Of course, my dick had to have his say, twitching twice at the thought of having Rose alone, even if it was just in a dingy diner at the crack of dawn. At this point, I'd take what I could get.

A/N

Okay – there you have it… the plot thickens.

FYI – This will likely be my last Twilight full length story. I will probably do an outtake or a one shot for the Fandom4Colorado fundraiser and then that will be it. I love these characters, but it's time to move on. I won't be pulling any of my stories. They are yours to enjoy.

I've begun working on some original fiction things and if you want to follow my journey, my penname is Michela Walters or michelawalters on twitter and my blog is michelawalters . wordpress . com

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