Page 22 of Billionaire's Runaway

“But your family—”

He waved it off. “We’ll do a thing for them later. I just want you to be mine now. Then we’ll come back here and make love all night long to celebrate.”

“Luke, I’m already yours.”

“Not legally. I don’t want to leave a single opportunity for someone to try to take you from me.”

“No one could. Wait… What are you not saying? Is there something I don’t know?”

Luke sighed heavily. “I keep meaning to tell you, but you always distract me. There was a tracer on your car.”

I jolted at how close I’m been to being snatched back to my old life. How had I not suspected that? It was totally my father’s MO.

“Okay.’ I nodded. “I guess that doesn’t really surprise me,” I replied. “When did you find out?”

“The night I picked you up in Michigan,” he admitted.

I wanted to be angry at him for keeping that from me, but I wasn’t. This was one of those things he did, thinking he wasprotecting me by keeping me sheltered. I was a little irritated, but not enough to get mad about it. Besides, I could tell there was more bad news coming.

“When they installed the cameras and did a sweep, my security people found one in your things, too,” he continued when I didn’t say anything. “They have this device that can detect—”

“All my stuff was new,” I protested. “I had to buy everything when I basically ran with only the clothes I was wearing. Even my phone is new because I knew my family could trace that.”

“Not your purse. That wasn’t new, was it?”

I glanced over at the black Chanel handbag on the dining room table. I hadn’t brought it with me on Wednesday because I’d used the cute little Kate Spade crossbody bag Luke had gotten me.

Crap.There was a tracker in it? I should have known better than to keep it. Panic surged up in my chest, and I started backing away, my fight or flight taking over. Having a device in my car hundreds of miles from my current location was one thing. But knowing that I’d been broadcasting my whereabouts to my father the whole time I’d been here was too much. I needed to get my things and run. I needed to—

Luke was in front of me in two steps, grabbing my shoulders and making me look at him. “Laura, listen to me. You’re safe.”

I shook my head violently. “No, I need to get out of here. If they find me, they’ll—”

“They’re not touching you.”

“You can’t marry me just to—”

“You’re fucking insane if you think I’m throwing myself on some sword. I love you, God damn it! Your crazy family has nothing to do with what I want for the rest of my life. You. I want you. Yes, I might want to marry you right away, to keep them from touching you, but damn it, I wanted you wearing my ring last week and that was before I knew they were still tracking you.”

I was shaking hard, but as Luke pulled me into his chest, warmth and protection surrounded me. I breathed in his dark, woodsy scent. In his arms, I was safe. Free to be the person I aimed to be. I wanted to be here for the rest of my life.

“I love you, too,” I whispered into his wide chest, burrowing into him.

He pressed his lips into my hair. “Let’s go get married, okay?”

“Okay.”

Ten

Luke

Two hours, three phone calls, one judicial waiver of waiting period, and a promise from my assistant, Roz, not to alert my family to what I was doing, and Laura and I were on our way to theTie the Knot Chapelthat specialized in quickie marriages for tourists and locals alike.

“Your mom is going to be pissed,” Laura reminded me.

“She’s got four other sons,” I said with a shrug. “Missing one wedding won’t make much difference to her.”

My platitude sounded good, but it was total bullshit. Both of my parents would be livid that I hadn’t included them. Not to mention my brothers would be pissed—and probably Emerson, too. Our family was close knit, and I knew I’d be chapped if one of my siblings got married without me in attendance. But I’d get over it eventually, and so would they.

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