Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Harris
She smiled at me, and for a moment, I hoped she could forget about the seriousness of our situation. “This place is amazing, Harry. Do you come here often?”
I shrugged, crossing my arms. “It’s a vacation spot for me. The few times I have let go. Care to guess where we are?”
She ran to the sliding glass doors of the spacious deck. It overlooked the dark crashing waves of the ocean, the sun setting. She slid the door to the side and stepped outside, looking around silently, and I followed her. “I have no clue where we are. Tell me.”
“Miami. Bal Harbor, actually. It’s quieter compared to South Beach, but not far.
I’d normally take you somewhere more exotic, but we have to go through customs for that, as it’s illegal to teleport into another country, and I need to keep us off the radar.
I hope this will be a good substitute for what you had in mind for yourself.
Although I can’t tell you how long we have to be here. ”
She turned to me, hands stuffed into the pockets of her shorts as her excited eyes became more serious. “I didn’t mean to sound like a brat earlier. This has all been a very overwhelming day. I’m trying to process. I mean, I can’t even tell my family and friends where I am.”
I wanted to hug her, but I wasn’t sure that was what she needed.
We were only just reconnecting, and I could tell she was wary of me.
I’d said a lot to her before I left the cottage.
I was very close to professing. I had no problems doing so, but this didn’t seem like the right moment.
“You can tell your parents that you’re with me, and you’re safe.
I’ll give you your phone back soon when my people ensure it's free. You must be hungry. I’ll have someone grab dinner for us.
Give me a list of things you want to eat, and I can make sure the fridge, and pantries are appropriately stocked. And anything else you need.”
She patted my chest and then moved back inside. “I’m more interested in what your liquor cabinet is stocked with.”
I followed her. “You can’t just drink. You need food.”
She shrugged. “Will we be able to leave the house?”
“Perhaps, with protection. Not tonight, though.”
She turned back to me briefly and stuck her tongue out before heading over to my open bar area connected to my dining space. “Were you always this bossy?”
She was being cute. I liked that. It felt like an opening for me. “If by bossy you mean careful, strategic, and decisive, yes.” I took out my phone and clicked on my notes app before giving it to her. “List your desires, sweetheart.”
She reached for the phone but paused, looking up at me with questioning eyes before taking the phone. Our fingers grazed, and I felt the mildest buzz of electricity between us. I was going to enjoy being this close to her. She had no idea what she was in for.
“Desires. Sweetheart,” she began as she started typing on my phone. “I like how you’re talking to me.”
I chuckled before going to the bar and taking down two short glasses. I rinsed them out, then poured a bottle of Japanese whiskey into both. “Get used to it.”
She looked up, mouth open to say something, but we were interrupted by Paulo.
“Everything’s secured. We have this place double-warded.
The glass was already bulletproof, and your safe room is still in order.
I have guards posted outside, and they will work on shifts.
I’ll send you their names and profiles. If you leave, have someone with you at all times.
Always good to have backup. Sam is safe, and Marcus was made aware.
I’ll have people maintain eyes on them and Marcus’ fiancée.
I already have folks looking into possible threats behind this attack.
Our enemies don’t typically hide behind the things they do, but someone on the inside would.
So, I won’t rule out that it could be one of our own. ”
I nodded slowly as I walked back over to Camilla with her glass. “Don’t make any new enemies getting to the bottom of this. I have some contacts I need to call as well. Keep me updated on the process in regular intervals.”
Paulo gave me a curt nod before looking over to Camilla.
Besides my brother, Paulo was the only other soul who knew my feelings for her and that everything I’d been doing the last several years was in an attempt to live a better life, not just for me, but for her, too.
He was like my own brother, and I trusted him with my life.
He dug into his pocket and offered her phone back, which she eagerly took.
“It’s clean. Don’t post anything on social media, including comments and likes. Don’t send any emails.”
She nodded swiftly, pressing her phone to her chest as if it were the most precious thing. “I understand. I planned to disconnect anyway.”
Paulo smiled briefly, which my irrational mind didn’t like. His eyes were on her longer than they should have been, which was at all. I knew he was simply being polite and respectful, but I feared that if he continued to look at her, I might rip his eyes out.
He quickly looked to me as if he could feel my annoyance burning on his skin. “I’ll be going. I’ll make sure we end this.”
I nodded, moving slightly in front of Camilla, trying, and failing, to fix the scowl on my face from their miniscule interaction. “Thank you. I’m going to text you a list of food. Send it to someone to get.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you, Paulo,” Camilla said, waving goodbye as she peeked around me.
He gave a curt nod and walked away. I took my phone back out to send our orders to Paulo. “What do you want to eat tonight?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Pizza is fine.”
“Your favorite. You didn’t change.”
She scrunched her face. “Who grows out of pizza?”
After I sent a request for dinner, I turned to see that Camilla had gone.
She couldn’t have been far because I didn’t feel like death.
Part of me wanted to look for her, but I understood that she needed a moment to herself.
She wouldn’t have many, and I couldn’t say that didn’t excite me.
I would have her all to myself, and my mind was already racing with ways to seduce her, woo her, love her.
Dinner came, and she ventured downstairs where we ate pizza together in the living room, wordlessly watching some mediocre action movie on one of my streaming services.
She hadn’t eaten enough by my standards when she got up to put her plate in the dishwasher.
I turned slightly to the dining and bar area behind the living space and watched her pour herself another whiskey.
I stood up and walked over to her. “I can make you a cocktail.”
She shook her glass at me. “Nope, this is good. You know I’m simple when it comes to my drinks.” She finally smiled up at me, and I couldn’t explain in words how much I needed to see that. My heart expanded just a little for her, and I welcomed it.
“Look, I know this is happening to us both. How are you holding up?” she asked in a quiet voice.
I picked up the decanter and poured myself another drink. “I’m used to threats. You aren’t. Nor do I want you to be.”
She glanced at me, then quickly looked away as if shy. That was new. Camilla had never been shy with me. At least not since she was a tiny child. Was I making her shy again?
“Well,” she began, “it’s different seeing you so in control. Running things with people calling your boss. Getting things done. You have a lot of power.”
I didn’t respond. She was right, I did have power.
Power that had made me weary. However, I’d trained and worked in this life since I was a teenager.
It was only when my club started to make a real profit that I believed I could live a life of my own making.
Away from death and violence and the sheer exhaustion of constant paranoia.
I could turn my family legit. Or at least close to it.
She leaned a hip against the bar counter. “You said a lot to me, Harris, before you stepped out my cottage.”
I nodded slowly. “I did.”
“You insinuated that you loaned me to my ex, like I was some toy.”
“I don’t think you’re a toy, Camilla.”
She sighed. “Good.”
I took a sip of my drink. “But you are mine.”
She raised her eyebrows, shaking her head in confusion. “That’s crazy. I’m yours, but you had no problem with me being with other men.”
I grimaced, trying my best not to picture her with anyone else, especially her ex-husband.
It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do: give her up. It was that whole, if you love someone, set them free thing. However, that time was over. “I always had a problem with it. I just didn’t have a choice. It would have been cruel to deny you companionship all this time. I’m not that much of an asshole. ”
She considered me for a moment, eyes searching mine as if she were looking for something I wasn’t freely sharing.
“I don’t know, Harris, I’ve been replaying everything you said earlier over and over in my head.
I don’t get it. I’m not your type. I’ve seen the women that you dated.
The mother of your child. I know you, remember?
You never flirted with me. Even when we were teens.
I remember when your parents suggested we go to junior prom together, and you gave them a look of disgust and said it would be like going to the prom with your sister.
That kind of hurt, but I got it. I knew who I was to you. ”