Page 34 of Chain Me
A way for him to lower my guard.
Again…
Stop, Ellie.
Rolling my window down and inhaling fresh air helped somewhat. Or at least the biting chill put everything back into perspective. Once again, I’d signed a portion of my life away, though I wasn’t quite sure what I’d bargained for in return. In all honesty, I didn’t need his protection. A squadron of security guards on my family’s payroll would have sufficed—though, admittedly, not as effective as a vampire.
But sufficient.
I didn’t need him.
“Where are we?” I asked as the car finally slowed before a building in the heart of the city. A secluded high-rise accessible only through a security gate and a garage activated by a keypad.
“Somewhere safe,” Dublin replied before exiting the vehicle. He circled to my end and offered his hand to help me stand.
Wary, I followed him into the building, observing everything as objectively as I could. “You certainly haven’t changed,” I blurted. “My house would have been just fine, you do realize?”
It was a lie.
“Your house looks like it should be condemned,” Dublin replied, tugging me along.
I tried to regain my anger, but I was too busy gaping at our surroundings to remember to be insulted. Dublin had always had a flair for elegance, but this…
Black walls and marble flooring created a hushed world of darkness. Elevators lined in gold led to the upper floors. There was no lobby. No grinning receptionist. Just a silent trip up to the tenth floor, where we exited into a darkened hallway. At the end awaited a black door that opened the moment Dublin approached.
A woman stood behind it, her smile warm. “Good evening, sir,” she greeted while stepping aside, allowing Dublin and me to enter what appeared to be a private suite.
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, hating how my stomach tightened with every detail observed. Blond hair formed a neat bun at the nape of her neck, displaying beautiful features subtly enhanced with makeup. Her modest black dress did little to disguise her curves. A strange sense of déjà vu warned that I knew her.
From where?
It was only when she gestured for my coat that I remembered.Katherine.That was her name. The woman whose contract he managed. He’d saved her from Saskia and her henchman if I remembered correctly.
And now she was apparently at his personal beck and call.
“Thank you. That will be all, Kate,” Dublin told her, sending her scurrying off across the spacious entryway.
Kate. The nickname echoed inside my skull. The same man refused to call me Ellie, professing a hatred of “unprofessional” monikers. And yet, this woman wasKate.
“Nice to see you’ve had company.” The statement slipped out, but I didn’t know how I intended it to land. As an insult? A jab? Something innocent, I decided when Dublin trained his gaze on me. Merely a harmless question. “Last I remembered, you lived alone.”
Whether out of an unwillingness to fight or simple disinterest, he gritted his teeth against a reply and stalked forward to throw open two double doors directly across from us.
Beyond them was a sight so unexpected that my mouth dropped open, all else forgotten.
A room formed the center of the suite, one almost entirely encased in glass, each massive window displaying a harrowing scene of the city. Multicolored swaths of skyscrapers bathed in nightfall created a fantastical landscape of neon and navy.
“Does this meet your expectations?” Dublin wondered, his tone as smug as ever.
Perhaps for good reason, considering I had to physically nudge my mouth closed with the tip of my finger.
“It’s fine.” As I spoke, I crossed the room, wandering as close to the glass as I dared. Awe turned out to be no match for pride, however. “It’sbeautiful…”
“There is no family crypt,” he added. “But hopefully it will suffice.”
Was that yet another joke?
“Luckily, my pre-chosen tombstone isn’t going anywhere,” I said. “Who knows, by the end of the month, I may be enjoying it the way my parents always intended.” A smile shaped my mouth. “I should pick out my coffin tomorrow, I suppose. A nice, sensible, boring one fit for a spinster.”
