Chapter 4
ELIZA
Iwoke up alone in the suite. The instant I came to and registered the lack of sound filtering through the door, I knew they weren’t here. Neither Father nor Winnie were prone to silence.
It probably should’ve bothered me more, but for a few minutes, I just lay there, enjoying the luxury of not having to race out of bed for a change. Without them here, I didn’t even have to worry about breakfast.
Stretching my arms up above my head, I rolled over and smiled at the sun streaming in through the enormous windows, washing the room in warm, golden light. The city stretched out beyond the glass. The water of the lake below sparkled under the early morning sun.
I still can’t quite believe that’s only a lake. Surely, it’s large enough to classify as something else?
When I finally pushed myself upright, I spotted the note on the bedside table and reached for it, not surprised by what it said.
Gone golfing with Douglas. Back later.
—JR
JR. James Roderick.
Naturally, nothing said important family trip like abandoning your daughter in a foreign city while you went golfing with a near stranger you were sort of friends with decades ago.
I sat there for another second, trying to fully appreciate the fact that I had nothing to do today.
Then I swung my legs out of bed and padded to the sitting area.
It was empty. As was Winnie’s room, which meant I’d been right and she definitely wasn’t here either. She wasn’t golfing with Dad. That much, I knew with absolute certainty.
Doubling back to my room, I pulled my phone off the charger on the nightstand and tried calling her, but it rang through to voicemail. Accustomed to this, I hung up and tried again, but when I heard myself listen to a recording of her voice once more, a slow knot began forming in my stomach.
Alright, first things first. Do not panic. Winnie is an adult. Technically. She travels constantly. She knows how to take care of herself.
Still, she was also my little sister and she was as foreign in this city as I was. I opened the social media account I ran for the Roderick estate out of habit more than anything else, but I knew that if there was one way to track her down, it was on here.
Usually, I only used this account for messages about tours, questions about opening hours, or requests from production companies wanting to film in the east wing. Today, I clicked over to Winnie’s profile without even checking our own.
Several new videos flooded my screen and my stomach bottomed out as soon as I pressed play on the first. Footage of a wild night somewhere in this very city, featuring loud music, flashing lights, and crowded rooms full of strangers around her.
Winnie danced on something elevated and unstable looking while people cheered. Drinks were handed around while onlookers shouted. Someone fell over in the background.
I stared at the screen, realizing then that she had ended up going out and that I had no idea if she’d come home or where to even start looking for her. Suddenly desperate to know she was okay, I tried calling again, but she still didn’t answer.
Oh, God. Win, where are you?
In an attempt to quell the panic rising from deep within, I pressed a hand to my forehead and drew in a deep breath. This was exactly the opposite of the break I was supposed to be having. Instead, I was halfway across the world trying to track down my missing sister while our father played golf.
A knock at the door made me jump, but for a brief, irrational moment, I wondered if it might be Winnie, having somehow lost her key and returned in dramatic fashion.
I raced over to open it, but instead of finding my sister on the other side, room service stood in the hallway with a cart full of covered dishes.
“I didn’t order anything,” I said softly, trying not to let my disappointment that he wasn’t my sister bleed through. “I suspect you may have the wrong room.”
“It’s the right room, miss.” The man smiled politely. “The check has already been taken care of.”
I frowned but stepped aside to let him in, watching in mild disbelief as he arranged plates and poured coffee like this was a perfectly ordinary morning.
For him, it probably was but not for me.
After he was gone, I checked Winnie’s room, but the bed was untouched, certainly not slept in.
Her suitcase still sat at the foot of it with clothes strewn all around.
Trying to decide on an appropriate outfit for last night.
The counter in her en-suite bathroom told a similar story.
Makeup and assorted paraphernalia covered the marble, but her makeup remover and facial wipes were still tucked into her vanity bag.
Finally satisfied that she definitely hadn’t returned last night, I headed back to my own bedroom, showered, changed, and five minutes later, I was pacing in the living room.
Room service sat untouched on the table while my thoughts spiraled steadily downward. What if Winnie left that club with strangers? What if she got lost on her way back to the hotel? What if she—
Another knock sounded and I hurried to the door, pulling it open with my heart pounding in my throat. Once again, however, it wasn’t my wayward sister. Instead, Jesse Westwood stood in the hallway.
“Good morning.” He smiled easily, like this was perfectly normal. “I’m here to take you around the city today. Well, mostly Winnie, but you’re welcome to join us.”
I blinked hard. Under ordinary circumstances, I might’ve felt a bit miffed that he’d come to spend the day with my sister but was willing to allow me to tag along. As if I’d come all the way across the ocean simply to chaperone a date.
I might’ve even marveled about how good he looked in a fitted black T-shirt, a leather jacket, and dark-wash jeans. I definitely would’ve been mortified about the fact that my hair was still wet, my face bare of makeup, and my feet stuffed into my favorite fluffy slippers.
But nothing about these circumstances was ordinary. So I just looked into those big blue eyes and pleaded my case. “That’s wonderful of you. Very hospitable. I’m sure she would’ve enjoyed that, but I don’t know where she is and I’d truly appreciate your help.”
His expression shifted immediately from friendly to concern. “What do you mean?”
“I mean she went out last night and I’m petrified something may have happened to her. She lives in a flat in London, so I know she’s more accustomed to cities and nightlife than I am, but—”
I broke off my sentence when he stepped inside without hesitation, his posture suddenly rigid and his full attention on me. “Okay, look. Just breathe. We’re going to figure this out, okay?”
Managing to jerk my head in a nod, I shut the door behind him, but I still couldn’t quite fill my lungs with oxygen. Jesse didn’t even look around the suite, his gaze focused intently on mine. “When did you last see her?”
“Yesterday,” I said. “After dinner with your family, we came back here. I went to bed, but it looks like she went clubbing.”
“It looks like?” He frowned. “I, uh—”
Suddenly realizing that he had no idea what I was talking about, I held up my phone, showing him the videos. He watched one, then scrolled to another. The corners of his mouth tightened slightly before I let out a deep sigh from his nostrils.
“Unfortunately, I know this place,” he said.
Relief flooded through me so intensely, it left me a touch lightheaded. “You do? Hang on, why is that unfortunate?”
He was already moving back to the door. “It’s unfortunate because you’re about to see it in the daytime and that’s going to make you wonder why I recognized it so fast, but let’s just say it’s a lot less gross at night. Come on.”
“I’ll just grab my shoes.” I spun around and hurried back to my room, shoving my feet into a pair of trainers, barely even tying the laces before I was back on my feet.
Jesse had already opened the door and he was waiting beside it, one hand on the frame and the other slid into his pocket to the first knuckle. He was obviously ready to jump into action, and yet, he seemed so calm and confident that I felt my own heartbeat slow in response.
We were in his car a few minutes later, the city sliding past in bright flashes of sunlight on glass while I called Winnie over and over again. She still wasn’t picking up, though.
It wasn’t long before Jesse pulled up outside the club he’d apparently recognized from the videos, neon signs dim in the daylight. The place certainly looked far less glamorous than it had in Winnie’s footage, but Jesse, having already warned me about this, didn’t even seem to notice.
“Do you mind waiting here while I go talk to the owner?” he asked as he reached for his door. “You’re welcome to walk with me, of course, but I figure you might want to keep trying her?”
“I do. Thank you.” I gripped my phone like that might somehow help her sense the urgency behind the ringing.
He nodded and disappeared inside. As soon as the heavy door swung shut behind him, I tried calling again. And again. And again.
Finally, just as I was becoming certain she’d been kidnapped—or worse—she finally answered. “What?”
I almost cried at the sound of her voice, annoyed but certainly not in pain or muffled by some kind of chloroform-drenched gag. “Winnie! Where are you?”
“I was sleeping,” she said furiously. “Why are you calling me?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for hours!”
“I just told you, I was sleeping,” she snapped. “What is wrong with you?”
“You disappeared. In a foreign city. With no word of your whereabouts. Where are you, Winnifred?”
I didn’t scold her often, and the fact that I was doing it now seemed to make her realize how genuinely worried I’d been. “Fine. I’m at the Regent Hotel. Room two-oh-four.”
“We’ll be there soon. Get ready.”
“We? Who—”
Suddenly livid myself, I hung up on her and inhaled a deep breath through my nose, waiting impatiently for Jesse to come jogging back out of the club a few minutes later.
He winced as he dropped back into the driver’s seat.
“Bad news. They have her on the cameras from last night, but not who she lef—”
“She’s at the Regent Hotel,” I said curtly. “Would you mind taking me there?”
“Not at all,” he replied without skipping a beat. “It’s just down the block.”
Firing up the engine again, he drove us only a few hundred yards, as promised, before we parked outside of an upscale hotel. Winnie was waiting for us when we got to her room, but she wasn’t alone.
A shirtless man stood behind her, eyeing Jesse suspiciously when we stormed in. My sister looked like she’d had a crazy night, eye makeup smudged across her cheeks and her hair an absolute disaster, but at least she was alive—and clothed.
“Come on,” I said after giving her a quick but tight hug. “Say goodbye to your friend. We’re leaving.”
She let out a dramatic sigh but turned to the guy and wiggled her fingers at him in a wave. “Cheers, mate. See you.”
After God only knew what they’d done together last night, that was all the guy got from her. She followed us out into the hallway and didn’t say another word until we’d reached Jesse’s car. I climbed into the backseat with her, immediately turning to admonish her again as he started the engine.
“What were you thinking?” I asked. “We’re here on business with Daddy and—”
“No. I’m here because I’m being married off,” she retorted, arching an eyebrow as she folded her arms over her chest. “You didn’t know that, did you? Well, it’s true, so what does it matter if I have a little fun before I become the wealthiest woman in our family?”
A sense of dread spread through me as I looked into her eyes. Watery and red-rimmed, absolutely hungover but also entirely serious. “I’m sorry. You’re what?”
“Being married off,” she said, snippy. “Like in the colonial times? You know what I’m talking about.”
She turned her back on me then, silently steaming all the way back to the hotel while I tried to process what she’d said. When Jesse finally pulled up outside, Winnie didn’t even thank him for the ride before she darted out of the car, slamming the door behind her.
I just sat there, aware that I should stop wasting this poor man’s time and go after her, but I just couldn’t seem to move. A moment later, he twisted to face me, those blue eyes surprisingly soft. “You really didn’t know?”
I shook my head. “Did you? Do you… do you know who, exactly, my idiot little sister is marrying, per chance?”
He bit his lip, suddenly looking supremely uncomfortable, but he answered my question anyway. “It’s me. I’m supposed to be marrying her.”
A harsh, extremely unladylike laugh of incredulity erupted from me, but then I realized he wasn’t kidding.
Someone honked behind us before I could ask how on earth this had happened and I climbed out of the car after muttering a quick goodbye and thank you. Honestly, it suddenly felt like I was living in a nightmare.
This can’t be real, can it?