Chapter 19
19
CELIA
B ecause I found myself in the back seat of Royal’s car, with his thug beside me, I couldn’t help but think that Luca would be annoyed that I wasn’t traveling in an armored car.
“What’s your name?” I asked the man with the gun.
He smirked but didn’t answer me.
“I wouldn’t want to tell anyone under these circumstances either.” I wouldn’t want to be associated with Royal, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of Gabriel’s vengeance.
“You can start thinking now,” Royal said. “About any information you’ve overheard that could help us. Gabriel’s trying to destroy us.”
Now we were an us .
“I can think about it, but Gabriel doesn’t share that part of his life with me. Just like you and Father didn’t share that part of life with me,” I pointed out. “That was never what you wanted from me.”
Gabriel pulled a face. “We’ll see. Maybe you’ll remember more than you realize. But if not…let’s see what Gabriel will do to get you back.”
He didn’t have a plan at all. This stupid asshole barely had a concept of a plan. “Royal, please tell me that our father knows what you’re up to.”
“You weren’t supposed to be here tonight,” he said. “I had to take advantage of the opportunity.”
“You should call him now.” I pointed out. How would he have known that stuff about Moriah? “You still have time to un-kidnap me.”
“If nothing else, Gabriel will come for you,” Royal said, with a completely unearned degree of confidence that was typical of him.
Yes , he will . And you won’t like it .
We didn’t go far. Just to an underground parking garage, then to a hotel down the street.
“Out,” Royal commanded, killing the engine. When I didn’t move fast enough, he yanked open my door and grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my skin brutally. I bit back a cry of pain. His smirking friend kept smirking.
As Royal dragged me through the garage, I didn’t try to hide my fear…but I also catalogued the dangers. He’d hidden his gun, but it was me unarmed against two men; I didn’t stand a chance unless Gabriel came to get me.
Behind us, I heard car doors slam as the two men who’d been following us in another vehicle got out to join us. I didn’t know their names—Royal never introduced them, and they never spoke directly to me. They just watched with cold eyes and did whatever my brother commanded.
The hotel suite felt wrong. Just an hour ago, I’d been dancing at the charity gala, champagne bubbling through my veins, Gabriel’s hand warm on my back. Now the room’s bland luxury felt like a mockery.
The city lights twinkled beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, where two of Royal’s men stood watch.
“Call him,” Royal commanded, pressing the hotel phone into my hand. When I didn’t move fast enough, he stepped toward me with a snarl.
My heart hammered against my ribs. “Royal, please?—”
“Shut up.” He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were the same shade as mine, but where mine must have held fear, his held nothing. No warmth, no mercy, just empty cruelty. “You’re going to tell him exactly what I say. Or what happened to our mother will seem merciful compared to what I’ll do to you.”
His words curdled in my stomach. He wasn’t lying any more about what had happened to our mother. Had our father had him watch, or even help, as they staged her suicide?
Royal’s fingers squeezed my chin painfully, and my eyes watered. “Royal, please. I’ll do it.”
He nodded and stepped back, still standing so close to me it was hard to breathe. “Tell him that you need him to come here. Tell him suite 2312, the Meridian. Tell him that you ran away and that you regret it.”
My fingers trembled as I punched in Gabriel’s cell number.
Gabriel answered on the second ring. His voice, always sexy, was low and urgent. “Hello?”
“Gabriel…” My voice came out a whisper. My fear was real.
“Celia? What are you doing?” He sounded genuinely worried.
Royal’s hand tightened on my shoulder. I winced as his fingers dug into my skin.
“I ran away.” That was the only lie. The words tasted like ash in my mouth, and my voice faltered as I reached the truth: “I’m scared. I’m sorry. I need you.”
“You ran away?” His voice held a familiar skeptical note. “Where are you?”
As if he needed to ask.
“I left the party,” I said.
Royal nodded, prompting me to continue with the script.
“I’m in suite 2312 at the hotel down the road, the Meridian. I just…I needed somewhere quiet to think. Away from the party, from everything.”
“Stay there. I’m coming to get you.”
I couldn’t read his cold tone. Did he know it was a trap?
“Gabriel, I—” Royal yanked the phone from my hand and slammed it back into the cradle, cutting off the call.
His eyes dropped to where my sleeve had ridden up, exposing the purple-black bruises circling my wrist. His lip curled. “Look at that. You aren’t precious to him at all, are you? He has you chained up like an animal.”
“That’s not—” I started to protest, but he grabbed my wrist, squeezing until I gasped.
“You’re useless to us, aren’t you?” he questioned, twisting my arm to examine the marks. “Is he really even going to come for you? Or are you nothing to him?” He released me with a disgusted sound. “Put her somewhere out of the way until he arrives.”
He looked at me, malevolence glinting in his eyes. “You better hope he comes for you.”
Would Gabriel’s natural suspiciousness mean he expected a trap?
Or did the moments of warmth between us…as strange as they were…mean he might walk in vulnerably? For once, I hoped for the cold, cunning side of Gabriel to dominate.
Unless…unless he was so suspicious that he never came to get me at all.
Unless he thought I was working with Royal, and Gabriel left me to rot with my family.
Fear clutched my chest at the thought.
The two men grabbed my arms. I didn’t bother fighting as they dragged me toward the walk-in closet. I knew from experience that struggling only made things worse. When they shoved me inside, I crashed into the back, the empty hangers rattling like bones.
“Don’t make a sound,” one of them warned before slamming the door. A chair was dragged over to block it, and their footsteps retreated.
I pressed my forehead against the door, trying to steady my breathing. My evening gown rustled against the walls, the beading catching on the wooden panels.
Time stretched so long in the dark.
The sound of approaching footsteps made me freeze. The door opened. Light flooded in, momentarily blinding me. When my vision cleared, I saw one of Royal’s men, the younger one, with the shark’s smile. He filled the doorway, blocking any chance of escape.
“It’s taken long enough that it seems like maybe your husband isn’t ever going to show.” His grin widened as he reached for me. “So, while we wait for time to pass…might as well make it interesting.”
I pressed myself against the back wall of the closet, though there was nowhere to go. “Please…”
“Hey!” A sharp voice from the suite made him pull back. The older man appeared behind him. “Movement in the service corridor. He’s here.”
The younger man swore but stepped back. “Lucky you,” he sneered at me. “For now.”
His words itched at my skin. I desperately wanted to escape.
At the same time, I had to warn Gabriel. I couldn’t let him enter this hotel room to be gunned down.
They yanked me out of the closet. My legs had gone numb from standing so long, and I stumbled on my heels. The older man caught my arm, steadying me with surprising gentleness. When I looked up at him, I caught something like sympathy in his eyes before his expression hardened again.
“Fix yourself up,” he muttered, steering me toward a gilt-framed mirror. “Can’t look like you’ve been locked in a closet.”
I smoothed my hair with trembling fingers and adjusted my gown. In the mirror, I barely recognized myself. My face was too pale, my eyes too wide. I looked exactly like someone who’d been kidnapped by their psychotic brother.
“Smile,” Royal commanded. “Make him believe you ran away. Make him think you’re sorry. Most of all… distract him . Get him inside and believing that this is a family matter. A private matter.”
I nodded. I’d spent so much of my life pretending to be sorry when I had no reason to be. I should be convincing.
Gabriel would be safer if I kept him from coming inside with me. My mind whirled, trying to figure out how I could survive when I would be caught between their guns and Gabriel’s. Where could I find cover when the shooting started?
“Showtime.” Royal pushed me toward the entrance.