Chapter 26
PRIDEFUL, STUBBORN PRINCESS
Lachlan
I explain my plan to Rory over the phone, the whole time pacing the floor in front of the dark windows in my study. The sun set a while ago. It’s the only reason I considered taking Emery off the castle grounds.
It’s harder to track a person at night. Shadows and darkness make it easier to get around.
Everyone in the village knows who I am. They still consider my family as noble, even though Mum disclaimed the title.
With Rory already there, I told him to make sure the pub is secure.
No one in or out unless it’s through a door guarded by my men.
Once I get the clear from him, I’ll have Connal take us over in the bulletproof Range Rover.
Not that I fear an attack, but I’ve grown to be overly cautious, even more so after Emery was nearly kidnapped under my watch.
She didn’t mean half as much to me back then. She was always important, but what I feel for her now is more than I should have allowed. I’m great at compartmentalizing my emotions—well, I used to be. She’s hacking away at the hard shell surrounding my heart, causing cracks.
I knew fucking her would be good. I didn’t expect her to take everything I gave and like it.
She gets turned on when I dominate her. Having this prideful, stubborn princess bend for me is beyond what I imagined.
The other night I fucked her over a chair after binding her hands and she came on my dick harder than she ever has.
Before I slept with her, I considered letting her go back to America to a property I bought for us already and had secured with top-of-the-line technology.
It has a guardhouse with a gate, like the castle grounds, and is on its own island with its own private causeway.
I was going to send her there for a week with me shadowing her, unbeknownst to her.
I even had the guest house set up for me.
There are two. One near the pool, and one nestled in the trees on one side of the secluded island.
That one is farther from the main estate.
She’d be too distracted by the coastline to venture there.
I’d chosen it because I prefer the ocean.
I had no idea she would too. It’s in Connecticut, but in the far south, closest to Manhattan and Spencer Securities main office.
My phone rings with Wes’s name on the screen.
I answer on speaker. “I was about to call you.”
“Rory said you needed my help.”
“I do. I’m taking Emery to the pub.”
Wes sighs in disappointment. “This isn’t like you, and the timing is the worst—unless you want to get rid of her and are hoping Angus will take her off your hands.”
My jaw tightens. “I’ll kill Angus before I ever let him or his spies touch her.”
“Now, he’s worth killing? Because she sat on your dick finally? Must be some pussy.”
Red clouds my vision. “Talk about her like that again, and I’ll have your tongue.”
“This is what I mean. You’ve never acted this way over a woman.”
Meaning Tessa. “Not a woman,” I snarl. “My wife.”
“You don’t love her. If you did, you wouldn’t be destroying her father’s company to appease your own needs.”
“Not just my own. It was my mum’s dying wish,” I remind him. “It’s for Rory too.” Wes needs to accept this is the future and stop trying to fight it.
“Tell it to her. Explain how she’s the sacrificial lamb in a much bigger arrangement?
Tell her that Angus tried to take her because you flaunted her in his face—the daughter of the man who holds the key to his future empire.
You knew he’d want her for himself. That’s why you invited him to the wedding.
You even said he could fuck her once you’ve had your fill.
I bet you haven’t told your wife about any of that? ”
“Shut your mouth before you push me too far.” I grind my molars to keep from losing my shit on him. It’s what he wants. He thinks if he argues his point, I’ll change my mind. It’s too late for that.
I only said Angus could fuck Emery out of spite, after she humiliated me by bolting on our wedding day. He knows that, just like he knows how I feel about her now. She’s under my skin so deep, I’ve scrapped the plan to hand over Spencer Securities once it’s mine.
I’m the reason we’ve got this new clusterfuck with Angus.
Emery
Panic grips me by the throat and squeezes, leaving me fighting for air. I back out of Lachlan’s office, making my steps as light as possible. Once I’m in the hallway and around the corner, I lean against the wall for support.
The door was open. I even knocked before entering, but he didn’t reply. I heard him talking and went in. He was on the far side of the large office on the phone. I was going to wait for him to finish like I did the last time. A month ago, when I told him I wanted to leave.
I recognized Wes’s voice at once, although nothing could have prepared me for what he said.
My entire body shakes as I try to calm my frantic heart. Lachlan is using me. He doesn’t care about me or Spencer Securities. He intends to give it to Angus along with me after he gets his fill.
My stomach pitches. Fear and heartache fill my eyes with tears.
I’ve given myself to this man repeatedly.
I trusted him with my body and even allowed him into a crevice in my heart, despite my better judgment.
And here, he was using me to fulfill his needs and protect his family legacy at the expense of my heart and my family’s business, with every intention of discarding me when he was done.
How could I have been so blind?
I thought he was falling in love with me, even though he believes it’s not possible for him.
I believed he could. I wouldn’t have given myself over freely had I not.
And this is what I get for trusting a man to love me for me.
To want me for me and not my money or my dad’s company.
I’m a fool. A pathetic dreamer who thinks romance is real when it’s nothing more than a story in a book.
I force myself from the wall and run to the stairs, climbing them faster than I ever have. I can’t stay here, but I can’t escape without help. I’m hoping one person will be willing to assist me, and that she’s still in the castle.
Tessa joined us for breakfast this morning to help Wes with a work project.
He asked Lachlan if she could stay the night.
My guess is he did it at the table so Lachlan wouldn’t refuse with an audience.
When he agreed, she shot me a smirk that said she still has ties to him.
I wanted to throw my fork at her. She seemed clueless that Lachlan and I had grown closer.
For all I know she is, they do still have a connection, and they’re screwing, because clearly, I don’t know shit.
I make it to the floor where I met her and race to the bedroom. Please let her be in there. Frantically, I knock on the door until she rips it open.
Her features take on a confused edge when she sees me. “Is Lachlan all right?”
“He’s fine.” I wipe my runny nose and try hard to compose myself. “I’m not. Obviously.”
She eyes my jeans, silk blouse that hangs off one shoulder, ankle boots, and cross body Louis Vuitton bag. My pub outfit.
“I know you and your brother don’t like me. I came out of nowhere and messed up your threesome. No pun intended. I don’t want to be here either. But I can’t leave without help. I’m hoping you hate me just enough to help me do that.”
She thinks for a few seconds before she yanks me by the arm into her bedroom and closes the door. “Where’s Lachlan?”
“His study. He was supposed to take me to the pub tonight.”
She lets me go. “What pub?”
“Whichever one Rory is at.” Is there more than one?
She runs her hand through her shoulder length brown hair and removes her phone from her navy fitted pants. She’s wearing a shirt that almost matches my hair color.
“Who are you texting?” I ask when she begins typing on her phone. Not Lachlan, I hope.
Instead of answering, she says, “When are you leaving?”
“I don’t know. He’s supposed to come to my room to get me.”
“Text him and tell him you’ll meet him out front.”
Her phone dings. She reads the text and replies.
“Who are you texting?” I ask again. Maybe this is a bad idea. For all I know, she has ties to Angus. But that seems like too much of a betrayal for her. Lachlan would hate her if she were.
“Text him,” she orders.
My fingers shake from the adrenaline surging through me.
Me: I’ll meet you out front.
Lachlan: That eager?
I scratch my head and show Tessa the message. “What do I say?”
“Nothing. You say nothing and do what I tell you to do.”
“I just need help to the airport. I can handle the rest.”
She thinks then texts something on her phone.
I notice the room. It’s decorated with pink and red roses.
The dresser has pictures of her, Wes, and Lachlan as teenagers, in college, and some more recent ones, including one of her and Lachlan dressed formally together.
This is too personal to be a guest room.
It’s hers, probably has been for the last three years or longer.
A fresh wave of tears fueled by hurt and anger fill my eyes. I hate him more than I’ve ever hated anyone.
“What’s the plan?” I ask because she’s still texting. “Tessa?” I try again.
Finally, she looks at me. “As much as I’d love you gone, I am loyal to Lachlan to an extent. I won’t help you escape beyond what I’m about to tell you. You will truly be on your own other than the information I’m about to give you.”
Fear worms through me that she’ll tell on me to Lachlan the minute it benefits her and make herself look like the savior. But since I don’t have any other options, I have to trust she’s selfish enough to keep quiet.
“You have to go to the pub with Lachlan,” she says, “and pretend like nothing is wrong. At some point you need to go to the loo downstairs. Go to the kitchen and find a young woman with piercings in her nose and a small heart tattoo on her cheek. Her name is Maisie. She hates Lachlan enough to help you out the back door. If she can.”
“That’s it?” I shriek with panic. How is this helping me? “What if Lachlan follows me to the bathroom? What if this girl won’t help me?”
Tessa shrugs. “I didn’t say I could work a miracle. I shouldn’t be helping you at all.” Her features twist with worry.
“Why does she hate him? Maisie?”
Tessa rubs a finger across her eyebrow. “She blames him for her uncle’s death.”
“Who’s her uncle?”
“Ewan Caldwell. Rory’s dad.”
Oh god. I sigh. This plan seems worse by the second. I turn to leave but spin back. “Is she who you were texting?”
“No.” She wrinkles her nose. “We have a mutual friend at the pub, if you must know.”
“No offense, but how is this young woman going to get me out of a crowded bar that Lachlan will have well guarded?”
“Men constantly underestimate woman. Take you, for example, and how you came to me for help. He wouldn’t imagine you’d try to leave him and certainly not through me. And he’d never assume I’d help you.”
Fair point.
“But know this: the moment you leave this room, I will deny any involvement. If you get caught, you’re on your own. If you throw me into this, I will have Wes verify that I’ve been with him the whole time. You will look like the liar.”
“I won’t say anything.” If Lachlan catches me, I’m done for anyway. Who knows how he’ll react.
She runs her hand through her hair again as if she’s considering backing out. I almost ask if she knows about his plan to use me and corrupt my family’s business, but I figure if she did, she wouldn’t be helping me escape.
“If you screw me on this—”
“You’ll what?” She glowers. “You have no power here.”
I don’t have a comeback for that. She’s right. Regardless of what I allowed myself to believe, I came here as a prisoner and I’m escaping as one.
“You should go.” Her hard expression has me worried about trusting her.