6. Chapter 6
Chapter six
Erik
When I rejoin the party, I make sure to keep an eye on the staff, watching their patterns and noting which parts of the house they seem to pass through the most. I was able to find the floor plans for this place in a historical homes database, but that doesn’t solve the problem of getting caught by staff.
As I observe, I plan my best path to get Rose out of here. All we’ll need to do is avoid the kitchen and the halls in between, and we shouldn’t run into any problems.
It only takes an hour before I see a couple men from the auction leave for the night. I stay next to Adeline for another fifteen minutes, keeping a discreet eye on Ivan. Impatience now will only lead to disaster later. So will giving into my impulse to wring the motherfucker’s neck.
“You’ll be good from here on out?” I ask Adeline the moment I notice Ivan glancing at his watch.
“More than good. I’ve got multiple guys who’ll happily take me home. And…” She smirks. “I think I’ll actually enjoy myself.”
“Good. Thank you again.”
“Thank you. You have no idea what this money means to me. Now go.” She waves me off. “You’ve got… things to do. Whatever they are.”
After wishing her a good night, I weave through the party. My first stop is the mostly empty foyer. I give the butler a frazzled smile and rake my hand through my hair. “Sorry, may I have mine and my friend’s coat? She’s not feeling well. I think it’s probably best that I get her home.”
“Of course, Mr. Hawthorne.” He disappears into a small room, coming back with our things. “I hope she feels better soon.”
“Thank you.”
Once I’ve turned away, I breathe a sigh of relief. If he was suspicious of Adeline’s absence, he kept it to himself. Hopefully he thinks she’s in the bathroom or something.
Steering clear of the ballroom, I head for the back staircase and creep up the steps. Upstairs, I hear sniffles coming from Rose’s room. I turn the knob, but the door doesn’t budge, and I realize there’s a deadbolt on it. Not on the inside, but on the outside.
Horror fills me. He locks her inside?
“H-hello?” she calls.
Quickly, I undo the lock and shut myself in her room. It looks like she’s thrown herself onto her bed and has been crying into her pillow, but the second she sees me, she scrambles to her feet. A silk robe covers her, one much more modest than what she presumably still has on underneath.
“W-what are you doing in here?” she asks frantically.
It stings that she doesn’t recognize me, but I can’t blame her. It’s been thirteen years, and when people first look at me, usually all they can see is the scar.
“It’s all right,” I tell her soothingly. “I’m here to help you.”
“Help me?” She’s staring at me with terror in her eyes, backing up until she hits the wall next to her window seat. “Who are you?”
“It’s me, Rose.”
“Rose,” she whispers, her brows furrowing.
She was so young when we met—six or seven, I think. I remember her clearly, but that’s because I’m four years older. Is it… is it possible she doesn’t remember me?
“Your secret friend,” I say, unable to hide the way my voice shakes with desperation. “We would meet under the bush by the fence, remember? You’d tell me stories, and I’d teach you how to make paper airplanes. I brought my marbles once to show you, and we lost one in the mulch. You told me the gardener found it and—”
“Erik!” She rushes toward me and jumps into my arms, wrapping her own around me in a tight embrace.
She remembers.
I know I could’ve told her my name. It’s the only reasonable thing to do. But I wanted her to say it, and my name on her lips is just as satisfying to hear as I remember.
“You remember,” I breathe. “You—”
“Wait.” As quickly as Rose leapt into my arms, she wrenches herself away from me. She stumbles back, shaking her head. Hurt and betrayal bleed into her expression, wiping away her relief. “No. No. You were downstairs. You were at the auction. I saw you. What… how could you—”
“It was the only way I could get inside.” Rushing toward her, I grab her shoulders, needing her to understand. I can’t stand her thinking that I’m like one of those men, not even for a second. “The only way I can get you out.”
Well, I suppose that’s not entirely sure. I could’ve bought her. I would’ve happily done it, but it wouldn’t have been right. There’s no way Charles Montgomery is getting his hands on any of my family’s money, and Rose deserves better than to be purchased. Knowing she feels indebted to me would be as bad as the torture of not knowing if she was real or not.
Hesitantly, she reaches for me. Her fingertips trace my face, her eyes searching mine. “It’s you? Really you?”
“Yes.” My forehead touches hers. “I can’t believe I’ve finally found you.” It doesn’t matter if I’ve seen her every night for the past two weeks. This is the first time she’s seen me . “Rose,” I whisper, not hiding the reverence in my voice. “I’m never letting your father hurt you again.”
“But how?” she whispers. “Ivan is going to take me away.”
“No. I promised myself all those years ago that I’d save you. That I’d do everything I could to get you away from your father. I’m sorry it took me so long, Rose, but I’m here now.”
“My real name is Raina.” Her voice is soft, almost amused.
I heard Charles say it during the auction, but I barely noticed. I was too focused on her and wishing I’d gotten her out of here sooner.
“Raina,” I say, testing it out on my tongue, liking the way it feels.
“I don’t understand how you’re here. After all this time…”
“I’ll explain everything, but right now, I need you to come with me.”
“Come with you?” she asks, bewildered. “But what about Ivan?”
“Do you want to leave with him? With any of the men who bid on you tonight?” I say it more harshly than I mean to, my need to get her out of here too strong.
Tears fill her eyes. “No.”
Shit. I don’t want to force her to dwell on what happened this evening, but I need her to understand how serious I am. I’ll get her out of here safely, or I’ll die trying.
Pulling away, I take her hands in mine. As I kiss her knuckles tenderly, my eyes lock on hers. “I know you’re scared, but I’m not leaving you here. I can’t lie to you, Raina. The future holds a lot of unknowns. But I promise you this. I’ll always keep you safe, and I’ll never let any man hurt you ever again.”
Hope flickers over her features, not replacing her wariness but softening it. “You’d do that for me?”
If only she knew.
“Yes.”
“What if we get caught? Father caught us yesterday.”
I wonder who the other part of that us is, but only for a moment. This isn’t the time. “As long as you do exactly as I say, we won’t get caught.”
Her gaze drops to my chest as she weighs the options in her mind. “All right. I’ll come with you.”
With that, I help her into Adeline’s coat, tucking her hair inside. I wrap her up in her scarf, covering the lower half of Raina’s face. It’s windy enough outside that no one should second guess it, and it disguises her the best I can.
“Boots?” I ask.
She grabs them from her closet, and I help her get them on. I’m tugging her toward the door when she stops.
“Oh! Wait.” She turns back to her bed, kneeling and lifting the blankets. There, stuffed under the mattress, is a book. She pulls it out, the black leather cover shining in the light before she slips it into her coat. “Now I’m ready.”
“Keep your head down, and let me do the talking, all right?”
“All right,” she whispers.
Sneaking downstairs isn’t too difficult. Most of the staff is busy with the party, so we’re able to slip back into the main part of the house undetected. When we near the front door, I have Raina loop her arm through mine, double-checking that the scarf is still covering her face.
I nod to the butler, who opens the door for us. The air is frigid, and Raina leans into me, searching for warmth. I put my arm around her and keep her tucked into my side. No one will ever take her from me now.
“I’ve never been in a car before,” Raina whispers as I open the passenger door for her, and I swear I hear a hint of delight in her voice.
“You’ll need to wear your seatbelt.”
I pull it across her body, catching a whiff of cinnamon and cloves. My heart aches as I buckle her in, remembering the mulled cider my mom made every Christmas. Even though I met Raina in the late summer, I had plans to sneak some to her in the winter so she could try it. But Charles ripped her away from me before I had the chance.
Once I close Raina in, I quickly get into the driver’s seat. I don’t want to stay here for a second longer than I have to.
“Where are we going to go?” she asks as I gently press on the accelerator, not wanting the tires to slip in the slush.
“My childhood home. It’s safe for now, until you adjust.”
The driveway is a large circle, taking us right past the front door. As we do, I notice the butler running down the steps, waving and shouting. I almost gun it on instinct, but that would alert security, so I slow to a stop.
“No,” Raina whispers. “No, Erik, please don’t stop. What if—”
“It’s all right,” I say, my voice even despite the tightness expanding in my chest. “If they knew you were in here, they wouldn’t send the butler after us.” They’d send security. Men who wouldn’t hesitate to gun me down and take Raina away from me again.
As the butler nears, I roll down my window, realizing there’s something flopping in his hand. Gloves.
“I forgot these earlier, sir. My apologies.”
“Thank you.” I take them, giving him a thin smile. “Have a good night.”
He nods, not even glancing at Raina before turning back toward the house. We don’t run into any issues at the gate, and then we’re free. She’s free, for the first time in her life.
With one hand on the wheel, I reach over and squeeze Raina’s leg. Her fingers trace the rose tattoo on the inside of my right wrist. I got it years ago when I realized I’d never be able to escape her. That I didn’t want to anymore.
“A couple of the guards have these,” she murmurs.
“What, tattoos?”
“Is that what they’re called? How did it get there?”
“Ink,” I say simply. “An artist put it there with a machine.”
“A machine?” she asks, horrified. “Did it hurt?”
I chuckle. “Yes. But it was worth it.”
This moment has made all my pain worth it.
My fingers wrap around Raina’s, and she doesn’t move her hand away. This, the lock on her door, the way no one knew about her until two weeks ago—it has me wondering. Worrying. How often has she received physical affection, if at all?
It’s a short drive, not even five minutes, to circle the Montgomery estate and travel up the hill to my parents’ home. Raina gasps when I pull into the driveway, the dark Victorian house towering above us.
“It was you. You’re the one turning on the light.”
“You noticed?”
“I couldn’t stop wondering who moved in. I made up so many stories in my head.” Realization crosses her features. “Wait, this was your home? As a child?”
“It was.”
“Until your family moved?”
My eyes close as a sharp pain dances through my chest. I can’t answer her, stuck between a lie and a truth too harsh for tonight. I pull into the garage and put the car in park. “Let’s go inside.”
She watches me open my door, copying me to open hers as well. But when she tries to slide out, her seatbelt stops her. “Oh! How…”
“Just press this button.” I show her, and the belt clicks free.
“Thank you.”
When I push my door shut, she does the same to hers, and I realize she’s watching me on purpose. God, of course she is. She’s never been outside the walls of her father’s home. Everything from here on out is a mystery to her.
“This way.”
Raina follows me into a small mudroom, nervous energy radiating off her. “Erik?”
I pause, my coat halfway off.
“Your family moved, right?” she asks, and something in her voice tells me she suspects that’s not the case.
“It’s late. I can answer your questions tomorrow.”
Raina nods, looking a little uneasy, but she doesn’t protest. She sheds her outerwear and shoes, and I kick myself for not having her change first. That pathetic excuse for a dress that her father paraded her around in is the only thing she’s wearing, aside from her robe.
“I have some clothes for you. They’re upstairs in your room.”
“Is that where you’d like me to go?”
I want her by my side. To sleep in my bed. But after what she’s been through tonight, I’d never force that on her.
My mind recalls the lock on her door—on the outside, so she couldn’t reach it. I don’t want her scared that I’ll banish her to her room. “No. Not until you want to. For now, how about I show you around so you can get familiar with the place?”
She narrows her eyes at me, like she can tell that I’m hiding something, but then nods slowly. “All right.”