Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Zara
S pending over twenty-four hours wrapped up in Colin and Lincoln had been a dream I hadn’t wanted to end. I’d tried to tempt them to extend that time by serving them breakfast in bed, but the real world had spoiled the fun. I’d even tried teasing them about what type of trouble I could get into in their absence but no luck. They’d threatened to chain me to the bed, which had a certain appeal, but not if they were going to leave me there alone so they could go to work.
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand they had jobs or that they were trying to figure out how to get Mihal out of my life. It was that I was lonely and starting to get bored with this isolated life. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do going forward, but I had to figure something out. When I didn’t have to hide anymore, what did I want to do?
Going back to the corporate world had lost its appeal. Maybe I could take some cooking classes. I laughed at the memory of the guys trying to look like they’d enjoyed the breakfast I made. I loved the idea of cooking, but it never had seemed worth it for just myself and that meant I had very little practice. There were too many possibilities when so much was uncertain.
The only thing that was certain was I wanted to stay with them. A future without Lincoln’s dark serious eyes or Colin’s sexy slight Scottish burr was unacceptable. They brought color to my life that had become so dull I wasn’t sure how it had happened. Okay, not completely dull since I had an Albanian mobster after me, but the rest of it was boring and no longer held appeal.
We hadn’t really talked about the future except in the sense that we would be together. What would they want from me? They’d said obedience and, from my evening with the girls, I’d learned that was important to all of them. We hadn’t spoken about where we’d live or any other real detail.
It seemed obvious that neither of them needed money, so maybe they wanted me to be a housewife. I knew myself well enough to know that I would not thrive with nothing to do. Was I jealous they had a career? A bit, but they were a little older than me.
That thought made me laugh as I pictured teasing them about that. It was easier than thinking about the fact I might be annoyed they had things that took them away from me. I wouldn’t become a needy mess who couldn’t exist on my own. They owned a whole company and there must be a job there I could do. My business degree had to be good for something.
The pond was a good place to think, so I headed out there to try and decide what I wanted. It was time to start thinking about what I wanted. I needed to start acting instead of reacting. Questions and ideas rolled around in my head as hours slipped by, my daydreams finally interrupted by the beep of my phone. I looked down to see I had a message from Colin.
Colin: Got a lead we have to track down. Won’t be back till late.
Remembering I didn’t want to be a needy wreck I sent back.
Zara: Okay stay safe. Love you.
Colin: Love you too, princess
I headed inside and made myself a sandwich for dinner. Nothing on the TV interested me, so I tried scrolling through the internet but the connection cut out after the first funny dog video. Guess living in the mountains had some down sides. Maybe I could text the guys and see when they would be back.
It was dark outside and my imagination was starting to go to dark places. To my annoyance, the cell showed I had no reception. Ugh, had a tree fallen and taken out the phone line? No, that would only affect landlines. How did cells even work? Were the satellites in the wrong position. I’d have to look that up when the internet came back.
I’d paced the length of the house five times trying to relax, but it wasn’t working. The front door banged open. Colin and Lincoln were home! I raced downstairs to greet my men. Three loud pops echoed from outside and the beeping of the security panel had changed to an alarm. Were there fireworks? My heart skipped a beat and I skidded to a stop. It wasn’t Lincoln or Colin standing in the hallway.
Bile rose in my throat and I almost screamed before I recognized Brody. He was the man Colin and Lincoln had said would be their backup. What was he doing here? The look on his face said things weren’t good.
“Where are they? What’s happening?”
Brody stalked forward and grabbed my arm, practically dragging me up the stairs. “Communication with the outside is cut off. We’ve got to get you into the panic room.”
Panic room? What panic room? I stopped fighting him and let him lead me down the hall. “What’s going on? Who cut off communication?”
Was that why my phone didn’t work? It had been almost an hour since I noticed the internet was down. What did that mean? Brody pulled me into one of the bedrooms that we hadn’t been using and moved a painting on the wall to reveal a keypad. After entering a number, the paneling on the wall split and popped open like a door.
“We think the Albanians have found us. Donovan’s been hit. I have to get back out there.”
I saw there was a small room behind the door that had just opened. “How many secret rooms does this place have?”
“We can talk about that later. Get in. You’ll be safe here, Zara.”
More gunfire echoed from outside over the wailing of the alarm. I wanted to argue to get answers, but knew that every minute I delayed this man, was time he wasn’t helping his friends. I stepped in and the door swooshed shut, closing me in and cutting off all sound.
Panic trembled through me as I sunk to the ground. How many men did Brody have? How many Albanians were there? Was Mihal with them? Could they find me? How safe was this safe room?
I didn’t want people dying for me. Did Colin and Lincoln even know what was going on? How was I going to know if it was safe to come out? I reached for my phone in my shorts pocket and found it empty. I’d taken it out of my pocket and must have left it on the table when I couldn’t reach the internet. Shit! I looked around the room, but there was nothing resembling a phone.
A couch that could be a bed, a small refrigerator, a security panel and a light switch. I didn’t even know how I could get out of the room. Would the security alarm have reached anyone or would it be blocked by whatever cut off the internet and phone?
It wasn’t fair. For the first time in my life, I had people I loved who loved me. It didn’t matter that plans were vague or that our love didn’t look like what most people believed was normal. I wanted what they had offered, and I wasn’t going to give up. If anyone but my men opened that door, I would fight to get back to them. I wasn’t going to end up a trophy wife for a pathetic excuse for a man. I was going to be Colin and Lincoln’s princess.
There wasn’t anything left I could do but wait. I wasn’t a religious woman, but I sent out a prayer to karma or any god who was listening to keep the men protecting me safe and let me have a future with the men I loved.