Page 28 of An Enchanted Spring

She drew a sharp breath. She leaned forward and gingerly picked up the charm bracelet that lay in the middle of the mess.

Aidan placed his elbows on his knees, then clasped his hands and rested his chin against them.

“Ben took me to a jeweler about a month before we broke up. He asked me to pick out some pieces that I liked, for my wedding present,” she explained shakily. “This is the bracelet I chose.”

She glanced at the charms scattered on the table and the bile rose to her throat. “Oh, God.”

Aidan sifted through the charms. A revolver, a knife, an axe, a sword, and a bottle of poison glinted in the firelight. Emma dropped the bracelet as though it had burned her. Horrified, she met Aidan’s steely eyes. “He means to kill me.”

“Not on my watch.”

“You can’t be with me every moment,” she whispered, fear choking her.

“I damn well will be. But we’re still going to need some backup to protect you.”

“Backup?” Emma whispered. “As in, a security guard?”

He ignored her question and instead grabbed his phone. “Cian. Alert the hotel that absolutely no one comes up here. Iwant guards in the elevators.” He hung up, and a smile suddenly broke across his face as he noticed her shirt. “Ride a cowboy?”

She flushed. “Um…”

“I’m all about the message,” he drawled, “but I hear knights are better.”

“I’m not having this conversation,” she declared, wishing she’d thought to put it on inside out.

“Emma, you are one surprise after another, you know that?”

“Yeah. I get all the best surprises,” she muttered, her eyes shooting to the jewelry littering the table. She stood and began to pace.

He swept the pieces into the envelope and crumpled it in his hand. “What do you want to do about this?”

“He’ll find me no matter where I go,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. “In a city of millions, he tracked me here. He has eyes everywhere.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I wish I could say no, but my gut tells me otherwise.”

Aidan crushed the envelope a little more, and Emma could hear the charms break. “Then we have two options. One is to involve the police again.”

“That wasn’t the most effective route.” Emma hated the tremor in her voice.

“Nay. The other option is to test your theory out.” He looked up at her through his lashes, his eyes a clear green. “We see how far he’s willing to go.”

“To what end?” she asked.

“He’ll never stop unless we make him.”

“This isn’t aweissue. This is my battle. I’ll have to confront him. Or get him the money.”

Aidan raised an eyebrow. “And you think, knowing whatever it is that you may or may not know, that he’ll just let you off the hook when you pass him some money?”

She chewed her lip. “Maybe?”

“Well, before you try that out, perhaps we can try mine first. Come to Boston with me, Emma.”

“Boston?”

“Aye. It’s close enough that we can make it there quickly, and far enough away that he will have to make an effort to find us.” Aidan’s gaze speared her. “At this point, Emma, what do you have to lose?”

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