Chapter 26
Astor
“Where is she?”I bellow to the empty dining room.
It is seven o’clock on the dot, and aside from Sabine’s seat being unoccupied, everything is as I instructed.
The room is lit by a dozen candles. The shades are drawn. There are two place settings, one on each end of the dining table. In the center is a display of roses, next to it, a decanter of red wine and two crystal stemmed glasses. The salads are set, which will be followed by a five-course meal, hand-picked by me. This afternoon, I drove for over an hour to find the brand of caviar I wanted, and an extra twenty minutes for roses that didn’t look like they’d been run through a shredder.
Prishna steps into the dining room, wiping her hands on her apron. Her braids are up in a bun, her eyes tired. Normally, setting dinner would be Leo’s job. But for this, I needed a woman’s touch.
“Your guest,” she uses air quotes, “is trying to escape.”
“She’s what?” I gape.
“Trying to escape.”
“How do you know that?”
“I heard her break the window in her room.”
“Why the hell didn’t you stop her?”
“Because I don’t like her. Plus, it’s dark outside.”
“What difference does that make?”
“I don’t like the dark. Also, it’s your fault for not locking her door anymore.” She cocks a brow.
It’s true. I told Prishna and Cillian to leave Sabine’s door unlocked. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being confined to a small room day and night.
Actually, that’s not true. I’d prefer that because it would mean that she is safe. But I also understand, from experience, that this is not optimal for either party involved.
“I want her out of this house, Mr. Stone,” Prishna says firmly. “You can’t bring someone into your life. You know that. I will not tolerate this.”
“What, exactly?”
“Her. Here.”
I shake my head. I can’t deal with this right now. “Cillian!”
Cillian steps into the dining room a millisecond later.
I frown. “Where were you? Standing outside eavesdropping?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” He blinks. “What’s with the romantic dinner? And why are you still in your suit?” His eyes round. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
“It’s none of your damn business—shut up,” I snap. “Where’s Sabine?”
“Astor, are you trying to impress?—”
“Cillian, I swear to God I’m going to?—”
“Okay, okay, okay.” He chuckles. “I was just coming to find you.”
He holds up a handheld video security monitor, which shows a live feed of Sabine climbing down the lattice below her bedroom. Above her, the window is shattered. She’s visibly struggling to get through the cover of thick green vines that cover the lattice. Her baggy sweatshirt and jeans keep snagging every few inches. I notice she’s barefoot, on top of it all.
“Fucking Christ.” I jab my fingers through my hair.
Cillian grins. “It’s been fun to watch. She busted the window hours ago, but then decided it was raining too hard to safely climb down. So, she waited, pacing the room like a wild animal. She’s something else, boss.”
From the kitchen, Prishna slams a cabinet door.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell me? What have you been doing?”
“Watching her—and also bingeing Netflix. Hard to say which has been more entertaining.”
“I’m going to fire you, Cillian.”
“I’m half joking. I’ve been in my room working. I’ve got a bead on Leone.”
“You do? You know his exact location?”
“Not yet. But our mercs got a valid cell phone number from his guard.”
“Did you make contact?”
Cillian nods. “He has forty-eight hours to deliver Valerie’s body in trade for Sabine’s. I made that very clear.”
“Good. I want you to add something to the mix. Contact him again and tell him that if we don’t meet within forty-eight hours, I’ll have Sabine empty his bank accounts and send him into bankruptcy, and then I’ll use every single one of those bills to wipe my ass.”
Cillian grins. “You got it.” He pulls his phone from his pocket, and while leaving the room, mutters, “This just got much more interesting ...”
Thinking the same thing, I hurry down the hallway and out the front door.
The storm has moved on, leaving a cool, clear night in its wake. My wingtips sink into the fresh mud as I pass through the garden and round the side of the house. Moonlight washes over Sabine’s curvy body as she clumsily climbs down the lattice, ripping through the mess of vines.
Anger, and something else I can’t quite pin, rush through me.
The woman is so desperate to get away from me, she’s climbing down the side of my house. To where? Where the hell does she think she’s going to go? Especially barefoot? Doesn’t she know we’re out in the middle of nowhere? And most disturbing—is it possible that Sabine is not as attracted to me as I thought she was? Of course she’s not. She saw me sobbing like a child.
My hands ball into fists. Stupid.
Once on the ground, Sabine frantically smooths the hair from her face and looks around, not seeing me in the shadows. Then she spins around and sprints into the woods.
Damn woman.
My pulse thrumming, I stalk after her, my fists aching to hit something. Long shadows sway against the ground, the moon barely illuminating the dense forest that surrounds the lake house. She’s lucky. Otherwise, she’d run headfirst into a tree.
I watch her weave through the dense forest, darting in and out of shadows. The woman is either going to break an ankle or cut open the bottom of her foot.
With each step, I grow angrier and angrier. At her for trying to leave, at her for wanting to leave, at me for assuming our connection would be enough to keep her here.
What a crazy thought. I kidnapped the woman, for Christ’s sake. What did I expect? That she’d forgive me, fall head over heels in love, and stay with me forever?
Stupid.
For a moment, I lose her in the shadows but then hear, “Shit,” followed by a dramatic moan.
Sabine then comes into view, her hands wrapped around the iron rods of the fifteen-foot fence that encases the entire property. Eight thousand volts of electricity hum through the top tier of the fence, though she doesn’t know that.
I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the trunk of a tree, waiting for her to sense me.
It doesn’t take long.
She spins around. In her teary eyes is a mixture of fear and white-hot anger. I understand this confusing combination. It is exactly what she does to me.
“Get back in the house, Sabine.”
Pushing away from the fence, she hobbles angrily to me. If not for the anger and annoyance, I’d laugh.
“Don’t ever put your hands on me like that again?—”
“Like how?”
Chest heaving, she stops inches from me. Her long black hair falls in messy waves over her shoulders, a green leaf tangled in the ends. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose are flushed pink. Her blue eyes twinkle in the moonlight. I want to kiss her.
“Say you’re sorry.”
“What?”
“Say. You’re. Sorry.”
“Listen, sweetheart, you’re in my house?—”
“I will not go back inside your house until you say you’re sorry.”
Her defiance makes me want to tackle her and have sex with her right here on the damp forest floor.
“Say it, dammit!”
I spin around and begin pacing, my nails digging into my palms.
“Say—”
I spin back around. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m fucking sorry!”
I’m fucking sorryechoes through the mountains.
Sabine blinks, as shocked as I am by my submission.
Before she—or I—can speak again, I scoop her into my arms, thankful I don’t get a fight. My entire body is trembling as I begin to retrace our path back to the house.
“Which foot?” I growl, looking down at her moonlight-stricken face.
She licks her lips, staring up at me. God, she is so beautiful in the moonlight.
“My right,” she whispers. “I might have twisted my ankle.”
Her arms tighten around my neck. She lays her head on my shoulder, and we walk the rest of the way in silence, in quiet understanding of the weight of my surrender. Still in shock at it.
“Astor?” she whispers as we near the house.
“What?”
“I tried to escape . . .”
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember what you told me you’d do if I ever tried to escape?”
If you ever try to sneak out of here again, I will find you and I will kill you.
When I don’t respond, she says, “Well, I did ... and you didn’t kill me.”
“The night is still young.”
“Do you know why you didn’t kill me?”
“Why?”
“Because you are as attracted to me as I am to you.”