Chapter 18
SAGE
My heart hasn’t stopped pounding since I left Fleet my stomach keeps doing little somersaults, and suddenly the air feels too thin.
I force out a breath. “I’m done shopping here.”
Troy stares at me for a long moment and then glances at his watch again. When he catches my eye after that, he cocks his head. “Then let’s go. I’ll take you.”
“Take me where?”
“Shopping. You said you needed to buy new clothes. Let’s go. Unless you need something from here?”
“I need underwear.” The words tumble out.
“I see,” he says smoothly.
Another blush steals over my cheeks. “Not this underwear though.”
“So you said. I have a call I need to take now, so you have fifteen minutes. Buy whatever you need.”
“Wait, how did you…”
“How did I what?”
“How did you find me?” I need to know so I can make sure he can’t next time.
He gives me a deadpan look. “The bank card I gave you has a tracker. I’ll be outside, waiting.” Then he strides out of the ladies’ changing room. And I sag against the door when he’s gone.
When I finally exit the store, he’s waiting beside the fountain, on a bench. He hangs up his phone when he sees me walking tentatively towards him.
Did he get a new phone?
Of course he did. He already noticed his had gone missing, but he doesn’t seem to have remotely wiped it yet. The stolen phone feels like a brand against my skin.
“Did you get what you needed?”
I glance down at my one lone shopping bag, clutching it in front of me like a barrier.
“Yes, thank you. I’m ready to go back now.
” I grabbed a pair of pyjamas, some underwear, and a few toiletries.
Basic items, but they will do. I need to get back.
His phone and the vial of poison are going to slip and fall out any minute.
Severin frowns at me. “Didn’t you say your suitcase got lost in the lake?”
I gnaw my lower lip, and nod.
“So you’ll need more than a pair of pants?”
“This will do. Honestly.”
He shakes his head, his mouth a grim line to match the annoyance flashing in his eyes. “You’re a nightmare. You’re not even wearing a coat.”
I don’t bother to reply to that.
He frowns and then sighs, removing his jacket and handing it to me, taking my lone shopping bag in one smooth motion.
Reluctantly, I let him.
Troy walks toward the parking lot, and I follow behind, shrouded in his jacket.
It’s warm and smells of his cologne. I try not to breathe too deeply.
When we get to his car—a matte-black sports car with only two seats—he puts my bag under the hood (which is actually where I thought the engine was), and then opens the door for me.
Soft lighting and ink-black leather that smells amazing entice me in.
“What about Mundel?” I ask when Troy slips behind the wheel,
“What about him?”
“Isn’t he coming with us?”
“No. He’s got things here to be getting on with. Unless you’d rather go shopping with him.”
I shake my head, feeling like I’m cocooned in a spaceship as we glide out of the mall parking lot and head towards London.
I’m staring out the window, wondering why we are driving all this way, when Troy pulls into a deserted street and parks outside an elegant-looking building with glass doors. A doorman approaches the car and goes to open my door, but Troy is already out and beats him to it, holding it for me.
I stare at him, but don’t move. We’re in Knightsbridge.
“Come on, I don’t have all day.”
“Why are we here?”
“We’re going into Harrods.”
I almost choke. I could never afford to buy my clothes here. “I was fine at the mall,” I hiss.
Troy rolls his eyes. “Do I look like I shop at the mall?”
I dare to look at his clothes again, particularly how his suit fits his body as if it were tattooed on. No, he doesn’t.
He raises a brow. “Shall I turn so you can get a good look behind, too?”
Cheeks burning red, I get out quickly and duck under his arm, scurrying into the store.
I falter inside, unsure where to go. But then Troy comes up next to me, his arm wrapping around my waist as he sweeps me forward. My face is hot, and my legs are stiff as he guides me to the elevator and we go all the way up to the penthouse on the sixth floor.
Two personal stylists are waiting to greet Troy as we step out. One is a brunette with brown skin with a name tag, Lauren, and the other is blonde with a pixie cut, pale skin, and a tag that says Carlotta.