Chapter Sixteen #3
That was what she worried about, too. There had been a
vacant expression in Tatiana’s eyes. Something more than trauma. There hadn’t
been fear. There had been absolutely nothing in her eyes.
They were close to reaching the landing when it happened.
She heard a tiny ping and then Oliver huffed. She looked at him in horror as a
red circle appeared on Oliver’s shirt. She felt her heart threaten to stop.
They weren’t alone.
“Vivian get out of here,” he said. “It’s a trap.”
Another ping and Oliver fell back, his body tumbling down
the stairs. He managed to move so she couldn’t catch him. The thuds as his body
rolled horrified her. Vivian started to run down after him. Where was he hit?
He’d taken two bullets and then that hard fall. Was he alive? What the hell was
happening?
A hand reached out and stopped her, tightening around her
forearm to the point of pain.
“That is the way you start a war,” a heavily accented voice
said.
She looked up and it was the man Tatiana, Edward, and the
earl had been talking to, the one who left as soon as that song started
playing.
“Let me go. Let me help him,” Vivian begged. She wasn’t sure
exactly where Oliver was hit, but she knew the damn fall alone could have
killed him.
In the distance she heard an alarm going off.
Someone wanted chaos. Chaos could cost Oliver everything.
“I’m afraid I need you to help me instead,” the man
insisted, and now she could see he had backup—two men dressed like catering
staff, but they were supporting this guy and they had guns.
“Who the hell are you?” Vivian tried to pull free, but he
was too strong. Was Oliver dying right now? How long before her uncle figured
out something was wrong and came looking for her?
“I’m the man you’ve been looking for because you’re not
smart enough to know the real leader,” he said. “And that little bitch is about
to get her due. Allons-y. Je sais où elle ira
et qui nous attend.”
She knew some French. Something about knowing where she
would go. Who were they talking about? She had to stay calm, but Oliver was
dead or dying on the stairs below. “Please let me help him.”
The man who had her was tall and slender, but there was
muscle to his frame. The lean strength of a hungry predator. “He’s gone, and
I’ve now started a war with someone I didn’t want a war with, but I have to
deal with a problem, and you are going to save me a lot of trouble. You’ve been
staying with her. The fool has one weakness, and it’s people she cares about.
You better pray she cares about you.”
He started to haul her up the stairs. Vivian had to move
quickly to keep up or she would be the one falling down the stairs. For a brief
moment she thought about it. Thought about taking him with her, but someone
would be looking for her soon. She couldn’t risk taking that chance away from
Oliver by starting a shootout here in the narrow stairs.
Please let Oliver be alive.
They pulled her off at the next landing. Her uncle and aunt
and Damon were on the floor above them in the servant’s wing. She looked around
for the security cams. She could find them, but the light that let her know
they were working wasn’t on.
“Don’t think those cameras will save you,” the man said. “I
have an assistant who can take out anything. You haven’t come up against
anything like her. All of you think you are clever. I can’t wait until you know
who she is. She’s closer than you could imagine.”
“Are you talking about Sosa?” The idea that Sosa had done
all of this made her sick. She couldn’t have been this wrong. Sosa was
traumatized, but she’d come to care about them. How could it be Sosa?
They moved toward the end of the hall to the big doors that
led to Tatiana’s rooms. If she remembered correctly, there was a balcony that
overlooked a pool and some gardens. She had no idea how deep it was.
“Sosa? Bah,” the man said, though his voice had gone
quieter. “I’m going to finally get to kill that little bitch. She’s always been
a thorn in the side of my family. Thinks she’s some kind of princess. They
never quite managed to get the training to work on her. She’s a tough one, I’ll
give you that, but she’s gone too far.”
What was he talking about?
The door at the far end of the hall was closed. She hadn’t
been in Tatiana’s rooms, but she knew the layout. She’d studied the estate. But
instead of going toward those doors, they turned and moved toward the library.
At least she thought it was the library. There were windows, but she was fairly
certain she wouldn’t be able to open them. If she was getting away, she would
have to fight or pray for a rescue.
“Poor Tatiana,” a familiar voice was saying. “You forget all
that training with the exception of this. When you hear that sad song, you have
to find the book. Which one did they use on you?”
“What are you doing here? Who the hell are you?” Tatiana’s
voice sounded fragile and tremulous.
The man who held her arm kicked opened the door and dragged
Vivian in, followed by his guards, who had their weapons drawn.
Sosa stood at one end of the library. Vivian had been wrong
about the windows. One had been opened, and Sosa stood a few feet away. So that
was why she had wanted to sit with Vivian and Mal and study the layouts. She’d
said she found it interesting. A ruse Vivian should have seen through, but she
wouldn’t have even thought about it. Because she had trusted Sosa.
“Charles?” Tatiana’s eyes lit with something like hope. “Is
she one of yours?”
“She used to be, but the little bitch found a way out and
she took your double with her,” Charles said. “I think she wants to know if she
has one, too.” He turned to Sosa, dragging Vivian close. She could feel cold
metal against her skin. “You like this one.”
“I don’t like anyone.” Sosa’s whole body had gone tight. She
had a gun in her hand, pointed at Tatiana. “And I know I have a double, you son
of a bitch. You enjoy taking the money and turning spoiled princesses into your
weapons.”
“What?” Vivian was shocked. She couldn’t believe what she
was hearing. “Sosa, what are you talking about?”
Her eyes never left Tatiana, and her arm didn’t waver. “I
tell you only part of the truth. They like to kidnap the daughters of some of
the world’s most powerful families, but they’re very selective. They need to
find young girls who look similar enough that some basic plastic surgery can
fool the parents.”
“Well, you would be surprised how willing they are to
believe anything after their child has been taken,” Charles explained. “The
girls from The Chateau are taught how to behave when they get back. How to be
so traumatized they cannot speak. How to be scared of the staff so they get rid
of anyone who might have known the girl before the kidnapping. We should have
tried to get rid of the musical trigger, but it’s so helpful.”
“Sosa, do you remember your parents?” Vivian asked.
She shook her head. “Not their names. Only the feeling of
being loved and safe. It’s funny how it works. I remember my father would do
anything for me, but I don’t remember his face. We lived in large house, but I
can’t tell you where. I will never see them again so I will burn down the ones
who took them from me. Unless you would like to give me a name? I would love to
talk to the woman who stole my life.”
“I’m sure you would.” He glanced over at Tatiana. “Go back
to the party. You found your book. There was nothing in it for you to do.”
Tears ran down Tatiana’s cheeks. “But there was.”
“I did not order the song played,” Charles insisted. “I did
not leave you instructions. I am giving you your orders now.”
“That’s not how it works.” Tatiana let the book drop, but
there was still something in her hands. A folded note.
“I did not leave you the note.” Charles sounded slightly
desperate. “You need to go back downstairs and settle everyone down. We want
the merger between Kirkallan and Tottenham to go
through. It must go through. You have been waiting twenty years to do your job.
The Chateau did not leave a note for you.”
“But I did,” Sosa said.
The arm around Vivian tightened. “Stop this, Sosa. Stop this
right now. She will tell you nothing. Do you honestly believe they have a club?
That they sit around a table and have tea and gossip. They’re sleepers, and
they will do their jobs at the appropriate time.”
“This one won’t,” Sosa said, a little smile on her face. A
vicious, furious smirk.
“I can’t not do it.” Tatiana’s whole body trembled.
Suddenly music began to play through the room. The same song
the quartet had played before.
“Turn it off,” Charles growled. “Or I’ll put a bullet in
this one.”
Sosa’s jaw went tight. “I can’t. I’m not alone here, and she