Page 44 of Mine

“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.

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