Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
EMMA
W hat the hell had he found up there?
A dead body?
A store of weapons?
A psychotic artist who was squatting and intent on making my life hell?
The last one seemed pretty valid at this point.
Feeling a little nervous, I asked him, “What is it?” and he shook his head as he climbed off the chair and said to me, “You need to see it for yourself.”
He took my hand in his, eliciting sparks of electricity as he touched me, helping me onto the chair. I know he felt it too, from the heated stare he gave me. Then he stood against me as I lifted my head to peer up into the loft, his body flush against mine to keep me stable. With all the stress currently coursing through my veins, his close proximity helped to make me feel a little safer.
My loft was an expanse of dusty darkness. I didn’t keep anything up here. But as I peered down the length of it, I could see Ethel’s loft hatch, then another a little way down, and then a fourth at the end. Our lofts were all linked. Which wasn’t an unusual thing for Victorian houses to have, but I knew that most houses built like this had their loft spaces bricked up and secured years ago. But not ours, it would seem.
“I guess we know how he got in now,” Alex stated. “He could’ve entered any one of these houses and come into your home through the loft. You haven’t got a lock on the hatch. You were easy prey.”
“I didn’t even know it was like this,” I gasped, staring down the vast loft space like it was an abyss.
“It won’t be like that for much longer,” he snapped. “Pack your bags. We’re leaving. Oh, and I’ll need your landlord’s details so I can arrange for the building work to be done. You’re not coming back here until this place is one hundred percent safe.”
I climbed off the chair as he took my hand to help me. The electricity was still there when he touched me, but as I gazed up at his face, I could see he was pissed off. His jaw was flexing, his muscles taut. Only moments ago, he’d been whispering sweet things about intrigue and giving chances, and now, he looked like he wanted to smash my whole house down.
“I’m sorry I didn’t check it out before. I had no idea,” I said.
“You don’t need to be sorry about anything. Other people have put you in danger, and I’m not having it anymore. This bullshit stops today.”
He picked up the chair and took it back into my bedroom, telling me, “I’ll give you space to pack.” And then he left and headed downstairs.
I threw a few essentials together and then hauled my suitcase down the stairs, stopping halfway as he came bounding up to take the case from me.
“Always a gentleman,” I remarked.
“Someone needs to be,” he said, taking the suitcase downstairs and straight out the door.
I picked up my mail and took one last look at the red words on my wall.
YOU’RE NEXT.
I sighed, feeling the heavy weight of fear dragging me down.
I wouldn’t be next.
I’d do everything in my power to stop that happening.
Then I turned my back on those words, and I walked out of the door.
Alex put my case into the car and spent the next hour grilling every one of my neighbours about the loft space and whether they’d had any visitors that’d used it lately.
Ethel had no idea what he was on about and said she thought the landlord had closed the space off years ago. Like me, she never went up there.
Meg and Charlie hadn’t been in their house for very long and said they’d been told it was being secured in the next few weeks.
And our elusive neighbour on the end was nowhere to be found. That would have to be a conversation for another day.
We drove to Gracie’s apartment in silence. Alex held the steering wheel in a death-like grip, turning his knuckles white, while I tried to ignore my churning stomach, because I was sitting in a car with a man who was insanely attractive, who wanted to get to know me, and I couldn’t get lost in that... because another man wanted me dead.
“He won’t bother you again,” Alex reiterated.
“I hope you’re right,” I replied.
“I’m always right. Trust me.”
“You ask me to trust you a lot.”
“And this time, I’ll prove to you what kind of man I am.”
He turned to look at me before focusing on the road ahead, and the way his eyes burned made the churn in my stomach turn to a flutter.
I did want to trust him.
I wanted to give him a chance.
But until I knew who S.K.A.M. was, and that I was safe, I had to be guarded.
I couldn’t deny, though, it felt nice to have him by my side.
Once we arrived at Gracie’s building, we got out and walked through the doors into the small hallway leading to her front door. I felt relieved to be here as I knocked on her door, but no one answered. After knocking more times than was considered sane, ignoring Alex’s pleas for me to give up because she clearly wasn’t home, I heard the door behind me open. I turned to see Gracie’s neighbour who lived opposite had come out to see what all the noise was.
“I think she’s gone away for a few days,” she told me. “Something about a work team building thing.”
It wasn’t unusual for Gracie to go on one of those. I know her company did that kind of thing all the time. What was unusual was for her not to tell me. She always told me where she was.
It explained why she hadn’t replied to any calls or messages, though. She always had poor or non-existent reception on her phone when she was away at a work event like that.
My initial relief at being here turned to disappointment and then irritation.
What the hell was I going to do now?
“When you see her, could you let her know Emma stopped by?” I asked.
“Of course.” She smiled then closed her door.
“Come back to mine,” Alex said, and when he saw my horror at the thought of going back to that room, where I’d hallucinated in the worst way and spent the grimmest hours recovering from whatever the fuck had happened to me, he added, “You don’t have to stay in the same room. I have lots of bedrooms you can choose from.”
I couldn’t afford a hotel.
I had no one else to turn to.
Except him.
“Fine,” I said with little enthusiasm, and then I felt guilty because he was doing everything in his power to help me. “Thank you,” I added.
“I just want to help you, Emma,” he replied as we walked away.
We arrived back at Alex’s estate later that day, and he carried my case in for me, telling his footman, who was waiting at the door for us, “I’ll take the case up to Emma’s room later. And we’ll get our own drinks. Thank you, Clive.”
He was making it clear that no one else would touch my things or tamper with anything. He was letting me know I was safe.
But I had my guard up.
I had to stay alert.
Nowhere felt safe to me anymore.
S.K.A.M. had told me I was next, but I had no intention of being hung on a wall as his next piece of fucked-up art.
We entered the foyer, and Alex directed me to a drawing room to the right. I followed him, clutching my bag tightly as I scanned the hallway for any signs of danger, before walking in behind him. The room was wood-panelled, like a gentleman’s smoking room from days gone by. It had a warm and cosy feel, which was in stark contrast to my current erratically fearful state of mind. On the far wall was a huge fireplace, with a roaring fire that billowed heat out into the room. Directly above the fireplace was a stunning landscape painting.
“It’s a Constable,” Alex remarked when he saw me looking at it, giving me the name of the artist as he walked over to a side table full of glasses and drinks bottles.
“Wow,” I replied. I knew who Constable was. I also knew how much his works sold for. “Is it a reprint?”
“No. It’s an original.”
“Holy shit,” I couldn’t help but blurt out. “I bet that cost a bit.”
Alex hummed in thought.
“About twenty million, I think.”
“And you’ve hung it over an open fire?”
“It gets cold in here.” He shrugged. “And it’s well insured.”
I had no words.
So, he was a risk taker.
My terrified heart couldn’t handle any more risks.
I sat on a sofa by the window as Alex picked up a crystal decanter and poured out two glasses of amber liquid, whisky, I guessed. Then he picked them both up, walked over to me, and handed me a glass before he sat down beside me and took a sip of his own. I placed mine on the coffee table without drinking it and he frowned.
“You are safe to eat and drink here, Emma.”
Am I?
I’d thought I was safe the last time. Look how that turned out.
I kept my thoughts to myself and smiled, saying, “I know. I’m sorry. I’m not much of a whisky drinker.”
And I’d prefer to drink something that came from a bottle with a secure cap, that I could twist off myself.
Why was I feeling so neurotic?
I was acting jumpier than I had been at my house, with the threats painted on my wall.
Because he can get to you anywhere. Give yourself a break.
“I can get you something else if you like,” he went on. “Or some food, if you’re hungry. I can fix you something to eat, order something in, or if you prefer, you can make it yourself.”
I nodded in response, even though the thought of eating made me feel sick.
“Maybe later.”
I couldn’t shake my nerves, I felt on edge, so I took the mail I’d picked up at my house out of my bag to give me something to focus on. I could see the blue box with the pink bow nestled in there and a shiver ran down my spine. I’d have to get rid of that later. I didn’t want Alex to see it. I couldn’t even bear to think about it myself. Knowing what he wanted to do to me, filled me with terror.
As I started to sift through the envelopes, trying to hide the fact that my hands were shaking, I noticed a familiar one that I’d used myself on numerous occasions. An envelope with the Merivale Echo name across the top, along with their business address, and my heart leapt into my throat. I tore the envelope open, took the letter out and scanned the contents, and then my heart dropped, shattering on the floor as I gasped.
“They’re suing me.”
Alex sat forward, snapping to attention. “What? Who the fuck is suing you? What does that letter say?”
I held the letter out for him to take and read, feeling disbelief at what was in it.
“They’re suing me for breach of contract.” I could barely speak; my throat was dry, and my nerves were completely shredded now. “They’re saying I left without fulfilling my terms of employment because I didn’t give them one month’s notice.”
I had tears in my eyes as I looked at Alex’s furious face.
I had no money.
I had very little will left to fight every knockback I kept getting.
How was I going to get out of this?
What the fuck could I do?
“I can’t go back there and work for another month, not after everything. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
Alex stood up, paced the floor for a few seconds, then turned to face me. “I’ll deal with this.”
“You can’t fight all my battles.” I sighed, feeling totally and utterly helpless and furious at the same time. How fucking dare they do this to me after everything they’d put me through.
“I can and I will,” he stated. “I’ll get my lawyer onto this right away. But it’s bullshit, Emma. They can’t make this stick. After the shit they’ve pulled, using your name illegally for stories you didn’t write, they don’t have a leg to stand on. I’ll sort this. Please don’t give it another thought.”
I had no doubt he’d do exactly as he said, and yet, my stomach still ached with stress, and my body shook with fear.
Alex stood still for a moment, reading the letter again, then he crumpled it in his hand, making me lurch forward to try and save it, but he was too angry to focus on anything other than how he was feeling.
“I swear to fucking God,” he seethed with his fists clenched. “That man will pay for this. They all will. I’ve had enough of people thinking they can do whatever the fuck they want. Of thinking they can fuck you over.”
He threw his head back and growled, then peered down at me and said, “I hate to do this, but I have to go. I need to do something to stop it all now, otherwise I’m going to go insane. I’m so sorry to leave you like this, Emma. But I can’t stand by for another minute...”
“I’ll come with you,” I said, standing up, because I didn’t want to be left alone in his house.
But he put his hand up and told me, “No. Wait here. This is something I have to do on my own.”
I tried to argue. I didn’t want this. But he turned and strode out of the room, leaving me to sit back on the sofa, staring at the door in shock.
And then he stalked back in again, and a spark of relief burned inside me.
He came to stand in front of me, then knelt down so he could look right into my eyes.
“I’m so sorry. I feel like shit for leaving you. Please, treat this house as your own. While you’re here, I want you to see this as a second home. Choose a bedroom, explore anywhere you want. My house is yours. I mean that. Nowhere is off limits.”
He reached forward, taking my chin between his thumb and forefinger, and he lifted my face to stop me looking down.
I didn’t want to choose a room.
I didn’t want to explore.
I wanted to run as far away as I could and never look back.
But when he said, “I mean it, Emma. You’re not alone in this. You have me. And I’ll always be in your corner. Let me take the stress. I want to be the kind of man you can rely on for anything. Please.” I knew I owed it to myself to stay. For now.
I put my hand over his as he traced a gentle circle on my cheek.
“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without your help right now.”
His face softened, warmth glowing in his eyes, telling me he liked that. He liked that I was relying on him. That I needed him.
I hated that I had no other choice.
Or at least, that’s how it felt.
But it wasn’t his fault.
“I won’t be long,” he assured me. “I’ll call my lawyer and put him in contact with the newspaper’s legal team. And as for the other problem, he’ll be sorted too.”
Hearing him say that made me want to cry. My emotions were all over the place.
Was he the dark angel I never knew I needed?
A tattooed gentleman sent by some divine power to watch over me?
“You’re a good man, Alex,” I said, and I could see the pride rippling through him in response.
He stood up, walking slowly away from me this time, like he didn’t want to leave.
“If you need me for anything, you have my number. I’ll always answer. No matter what.”
Who was this guy?
A man that was there when you needed him, helped whenever he could, looming larger than life in my tiny world.
“Where did you come from?” I whispered into the room, thinking no one was here to hear me, now that he’d left.
But he hadn’t left.
He was still outside.
And when he took a step back into the doorway to reply, “I was here all along, waiting for you to show up.” I felt a tiny crack appear in the walls I’d always kept around me.
Was Alex Kingston about to change my whole world and turn it upside?