Page 49 of Cruel Master

I inhaled sharply and stepped around the man before nodding to Archer. “Check CCTV footage,” I ordered. “I want every single file from the Club’s footage the second you have it—anything that pertains to her.”

“What are you going to do?” Archer asked.

I scowled as I moved further into the hall. “I’m going to pay my sister-in-law a visit,” I hedged.

It was time to cut the head off of the beast—literally rather than figuratively. The second Jackie was gone, Angel would have no more reason to run. Unless, of course, it was never her sister that kept her away, but me.

That wasn’t a possibility I wanted to consider, though.

Just when I thought things had gotten easier, that we were coming to understand each other once again … it all went to shit. Every time I got close, Angel disappeared on me. I grasped at her, only to be disappointed again and again. Another man might have given in and finally let her go. A normal man certainly would have taken the hint. I was anything but normal. I was Gaven fucking Belmonte.

The only outcome I wanted was one where I woke up again with Evangeline Price in my bed, in my arms. I wanted her belly swollen and round with my child—ourchild. Still, heir or no heir … she was mine. I’d laid claim and no other woman could affect me the way she did. No one else could drive me to the brink of insanity the way she did. Now, she was gone. Again and again, I would hunt her.

Even if it meant we circled this path over and over for the rest of our lives. Catch and escape. Hunting her as my prey. I would do it as many times as it took for her to realize that I wasn’t going away. I was never going to stop. Not until she realized that she belonged with me. That she was mine.

23

ANGEL

Three days. That’s how long it took for me to track Ronald down while dodging every CCTV known to man. Even if Gaven hadn’t caught up to me, I still felt watched every second of every day. Then again, at least I was free and not locked up, naked, in some room in the middle of nowhere, New York.

Thankfully, in the time I’d been captured, Ronald had managed to stay hidden. He’d followed my commands and found a shitty motel several hours from his home, where no one would ever think to look for a world-renowned genius and scientist.

I slowed the cheap sedan I managed to pick up from one of my own hidden locations of supplies and turned into the Byway Motel’s parking lot. The one-story building stretched out with its back facing a long stream of woods and its front turned towards the old highway that likely saw more action and attention fifty years ago than it did now.

A large yellow VACANCY sign with faded red letters was set beneath the motel’s dingy name above the pull-in area in front of the office. I bypassed it and headed straight for the lot along the side of the building, parked, and got out.

Dark clouds hovered overhead, and the distant rumble of thunder threatened the already dreary day. The weather here never knew what it wanted to be, though. There was still a fifty percent chance that by the time I retrieved my client and got back on the road, the clouds would have dispersed and the sun would be shining. It made it damn near impossible to predict.

With a sigh and a quick grab of my hand, I picked up the satchel I had stashed in the passenger seat and closed up the sedan, pressing the lock button on the key fob before heading up the sidewalk. When I’d last spoken with Ron and gotten his location, he’d told me he was staying in room number 6 and was nearly out of money.

Dimly, I felt a pang of regret. Not just for Ron and leaving him like I had—even though it hadn’t been by choice—but because I wanted nothing more than to leave him again. To disappear into the void of the world and never be found again. Jackie had taken so much from me, and I didn’t want to risk her finding me the same way Gaven had.

Maybe it was time for me to move on and find a new place to live. I thought I could return to America after so long, but I was wrong. If I stayed in the United States for much longer, I feared that I would grow too comfortable, which would only lead to being captured again. Unfortunately, I had enough sense to realize that if Gaven got a hold of me yet again after my second escape—technically my third, if I wanted to count the very first time before our wedding—it would result in something far worse than being locked up without clothes.

I shivered as a burst of cool air hit me in the back and I turned as I reached the awning over the motel room doors. The clouds chose that exact moment to open up and dump down over the land below it. The sudden downpour sprayed the fronts of my legs and my face, misting me with cool, wet rain.

I sighed again and shook my head, turning towards the rooms, not stopping this time until I reached the correct door. I knocked three times, stepped back, and waited. Moments later, the tremble of the chain lock shaking loose echoed back to me. Then the old key lock clicked, and the door swung open.

“Oh, Ronald…” I grimaced as I looked over the man. He looked far worse than the last time I’d seen him. His face was covered in days’ old stubble, and his eyes were even more prominently sunken in—detailing just how little sleep he’d likely gotten since we’d last been together.

I took my first step into the room and let the door close at my back. “W-where the h-hell have you been, Eve?” he said, stuttering out his question as his eyes flicked over my shoulder to the now closed door.

I turned and flipped the lock and put the chain back into place, knowing that it was his anxiety and paranoia causing him to be so nervous. Then again—he really did have people after him—so was it paranoia if it was warranted?

“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching for him. I touched his face with a pained smile. “I was going to suggest we leave right away, but Ron, you need to get some sleep.”

“N-no, no,” he replied quickly, turning away as he hurried over to one of the two full-sized beds—the furthest one back—and lifted a small grocery bag from the floor. “I’ll be ready in two seconds.”

I shook my head, but since he was turned away from me, he couldn’t see. “No,” I said, moving forward, my sneakered feet squeaking against the fake wood vinyl flooring. At least the motel had donesomeupgrades since the 70s. Otherwise, I’d have expected a grotesque green carpet.

“It’s pouring rain right now,” I said, as if he couldn’t hear the thunder booming over the room. “You need more rest than a small nap in the car can give you. Why don’t you lie down and take a nap. With me here, you’ll feel safer.”

He paused and glanced back, his eyes skittering up and down my form. I knew I didn’t look as powerful as I had the first couple of times we’d seen each other. He’d only ever met me at my best, wearing power suits and dolled up in dresses. If I were to take a look in the mirror right now, it would reflect little more than a young woman with no makeup wearing cut-off jean shorts and a big, oversized sweatshirt that read the faded name of a miscellaneous college I’d never even heard of.

That was purposeful. I wanted Ron and I to blend in. Right now, with his anxious demeanor—the sweat stains showing through the undersides of the white sleeves of the same button-up shirt he’d been wearing several days ago—there was no way we looked like two people who were meant to be together.

I nodded to the plastic bag he’d placed on the bed. “Do you have a change of clothes in there?” I asked.

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