Chapter 25 #2
“Yeah, whatever.” He was too lost in his own anger to look at me.
Besides, willingly subjecting myself to slavery wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for me either—especially with so much at stake.
“Do you know why Ronan isn’t already dead?
Ask yourself why we missed his last auction and lost over a dozen people into the slave trade.
Three guesses, and the first two don’t count. ”
“God damn it, Natasha!” He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “Do you think I don’t know that? You’re asking me to do the two things I swore I would never do.”
“Lachlan—”
He slumped and rested his forehead against mine. “You’re asking me to leash you, baby. You want me to let other men touch you. I can’t do it.”
“Not even if leashing me saves my life?” I stepped out of reach and lifted my head to meet his tortured gaze. “Think about it, but don’t speak to me until you have a good answer.”
Without another word, I walked away, grabbing my silk bathrobe before I entered the house. He’d either figure it out, or I’d find another way into Ronan’s compound.
It hurt, but I was done caring. Ronan was going to die—with or without Lachlan on the dumb end of my leash.
* * *
LACHLAN
“You have three choices, my friend.” Cristian clipped his cigar, passing me the cutter before he lit up. Strangely, he turned to glance at the expansive garage to the left of the house and several dozen yards away, then checked the time on a slim cellphone.
“Forget Ronan and take my wife home,” I muttered.
“That would make four choices, but Natasha will never agree.” He took a drag from his cigar and exhaled.
“You can leash her as she’s asked you on multiple occasions, thus alleviating your aversion to physical contact from strangers.
You could forgo the leash and allow the touch you so vehemently oppose. ”
“None of the above. What’s your third?”
“Allow her to select a different Master, which would set us back at least a year while the new candidate ingratiates himself with her target.” He grimaced and swirled his scotch before taking a sip. “Not that we actually have another candidate.”
“Also unacceptable.” I lit my cigar and gazed over the edge of the infinity pool. “She’s mine.”
Except… Natasha gave me the one argument I couldn’t dispute. What if leashing her saved her life?
“The Spider belongs to no one,” Cristian murmured before sipping calmly from his glass of scotch.
“She is much like my Ella. Such a woman might consent to submit, but one must bend before one is broken under her stilettos.” Laughing softly, he added, “Although with my wife, I can safely assume stiletto refers to her shoes, and not to the knives Natasha carries.”
“Not helpful.”
“No, I suppose not, considering one of Natasha’s confirmed kills was performed with such a shoe. She drove the heel into her victim’s eye. Ella just had to buy the same ones.”
“Really not helpful,” I muttered, making Cristian laugh. “Sexy as fuck, but not helpful.”
“Indeed. Natasha will kneel for you, but never forget she has her own agenda, independent of yours.”
“Agenda…” I stilled as my mind latched onto the worst thing Natasha could do. “Do you think she’ll try to infiltrate his compound by herself?”
“I do.” He glanced at the time and his jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “She left for the airport about an hour ago. She has chosen to refuse both an escort and a backup team.”
“And you let her go?” I grabbed Cristian’s collar and hauled him to his feet. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I was asked to withhold that information by someone who wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep over making me a widower.” He gazed at me steadily, without trying to get away. “I won’t make the mistake of doubting her. Neither should you.”
I relaxed my hand on his collar and let him go, knowing I’d do the same if someone like Natasha threatened my family. “Fine. What do you suggest?”
“You seek to prevent her from achieving her goal, Mr. O’Donnell. She knows this and has made the only choice she could. Without you, she might have a slim, very improbable chance. Unless…”
Cristian’s lips quirked into a faint smile, and I resisted the urge to strangle him. “Unless what?”
“Her chances increase to possible if you can remember she is a slave.” He touched his chest. “And as I told both of you weeks ago, you must believe it inside.”
“I…”
That was the big problem. I didn’t see her as a slave anymore.
She was a powerful, brilliant young woman.
Even when I had her locked in a dog kennel, she never lost the quiet dignity and pride that kept her spine straight—no matter what I did to her.
Her bearing had incensed me at the time, but looking back, my anger was a disguise for reluctant admiration.
“What would you do to save her life?” Cristian asked before I could formulate a reply. “Would you do the thing you most detest if it means she comes home to you?”
“I already gave up my vengeance.”
It wasn’t even a lie. Ronan was going to die because he needed to be put down—exactly as I should have done with Steve—and without involving innocent people.
“Sometimes that’s the easiest thing to let go of.” His eyes went distant, and he smiled as he gazed at something in the distance. “Natasha and Ella are very much alike, but so too are you and I.”
“What does that mean?” As much as I wanted to punch him until he told me where my wife was, I forced myself to listen instead.
“I coerced Ella into marriage for revenge. I thought giving it up would make her stay.” He refilled his glass from the bottle on the table and took a sip.
“But what I had to give up was the idea that she would change herself to conform to what I thought she should be, when I should have accepted her as she was.”
Cristian met my eyes, then added, “A close friend once told me to ask myself if I loved the woman I wanted her to be, or the woman she actually is.”
“Damn you.” I scraped my hands through my hair. “I have to try.”
“That’s all any of us can do.” “He returned to his chair and picked up the cigar he’d dropped. “Natasha took my wife’s Veyron, which happens to be a thirsty bitch with a nearly empty petrol tank. Perhaps you should hurry, as she’s probably stranded by the side of the road.”
“Thanks.” I caught the fob he tossed at me, then gave him an unwilling smirk. “You gave her that vehicle on purpose.”
“Of course. You’ll be driving the fully fueled black BMW sedan parked in the garage to the left of the Porsche.
I’ve also instructed the pilot to wait for you if she managed to make it to the airport.
I’ll send someone for the Veyron later.” He reached into his pocket for a hand-printed card, and after passing it to me, he added, “That’s the name and address of the hotel we’ve reserved for you and Natasha.
You’ll find a car and driver waiting at the Cork airport.
You’ll be receiving some packages at the hotel as well. ”
I nodded and accepted the card, but before I could reply, he added, “Oh, and Lachlan?”
“What?”
“Ronan’s next auction is in less than forty-eight hours, but we have not been able to arrange an invitation. Contact him. You must convince him you have a slave you wish to sell.”
“Damn it.” I gritted my teeth as my phone chimed with an incoming text containing Ronan’s phone number. “I hate this.”
“You’ll hate yourself more if you let her go without you.” Pointing at my phone, he added, “That’s Ronan’s public number. He won’t question how you got it, but your call will probably pass through a secretary or two before he gets the message.”
“Thanks.” I spun on my heel and hurried to the suite I shared with Natasha, then threw our training equipment into a suitcase, including a sheer black dress, her leash, and lastly, a dragon tail whip. As I packed clothes for myself, my anger grew.
“What the fuck is she thinking?” I tossed a set of her throwing stars into the bag, but didn’t find any of her daggers or her pistols. “Did she consider the danger? Or even make sure the car she took had enough fuel?”
For the first time since I let her go all those months ago, I thought I could indeed become the Master I needed to be.
And Natasha’s ass would learn that lesson soon.