Page 21 of The Forsaken Heir
“Uh, what did you want? Red, white? Rosé? Champagne?” Rasp asked.
“Those are all types of wine,” Vincent said with a single nod of his head.
“Thanks for that,” I said to Vincent, then glanced at Rasp. “Chardonnay. Chilled.”
They nearly stumbled over each other to get back out the door. When it clicked shut, I dug into my pocket, finding my phone still in my jeans pocket. Thank God, I hadn’t been wearing leggings. None of those had any pockets. The fact that the two would-be kidnappers hadn’t even bothered to check me for weapons or a phone showed how silly it was that they’d thought this plan of theirs would do anything but backfire.
I quickly dialed Delphine’s number, hoping they’d take a while to return. It rang several times before she answered in a groggy voice.
“Hello?” she muttered. “Bri?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“What’s wrong? Do I need to come to your room?”
Glancing around at the suite, I chuckled. Doubtful.
“I wanted to let you know I’d stepped out for the night. I’ll be home sometime tomorrow.” The last thing I wanted was to explain what was going on. Delphine would get too worried and distraught. All this would be over as soon as my parents told Aurelius he could toss me out on the curb for all they cared.
Suddenly wide awake, Delphine said, “What? What do you mean youstepped out? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, I’m all good. Just had some thinking to do, and I’m going to hang at a friend’s place.”
“A friend?” she said, her voice tinged with suspicion.
I winced inwardly. I didn’t have any friends I’d spend the night with, and Delphine knew that.
“Uh, yeah. It’s actually Lorraine’s house. She’s, uh, not there. A big emergency, and she wanted me to, uhm…” I glanced around the room for something to help my story, and my gaze landed on a massive potted plant beside a window. “She, uh, wanted me to take care of her plants.”
“Plants? Really?”
“Yup,” I said, putting a hand over my eyes in embarrassment.
“And you decided to water her plants at one in the morning?” Delphine asked dryly.
“Sure did. Honestly, I forgot I told her I would and decided to head over now, rather than wait. I’ll crash here and be back tomorrow. I didn’t want you to worry.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and when she spoke again, I thought I could almosthearthe smile on her lips.
“Honey, are you with a guy?”
My eyes bulged in surprise at her jumping to such a conclusion. Then, without meaning to, I imagined Aurelius kneeling before me, those strong, muscular arms with those sexy veins crisscrossing over them, expertly slicing the ropes off of my body. I recalled the way he’d looked up at me, those ocean-deep blue eyes studying me. A sudden, shocking heat flared between my legs.
“No!” I nearly shouted into the phone, trying to push all thoughts of Aurelius from my mind.
“If you say so,” she said, but there was a dubious tone to her voice. “Be careful. Use protection.”
“Oh,God,Delphine. Stop. I’m hanging up now. See you tomorrow.”
I shoved the phone back into my pocket. The two attempted do-gooders hadn’t returned with the wine yet, and my curiosity was rapidly getting the better of me. With nothing else to do, I shrugged and headed for the door, deciding to get a closer look at my surroundings. The stroll from Aurelius’s room to these quarters hadn’t given me a chance to really get my bearings.
Taking a right, I made my way down the hall, my sneakers making no sound on the lush carpeting. The house appeared even more massive inside than it had from the outside. Very majestic. The hallway ended at a banister that overlooked what must have been the entrance hall below. The ceiling arched up nearly three full floors above the massive front doors and sweeping double staircases.
“See anything you like?”
I gasped and spun around. Aurelius stood behind me, a faint grin on his lips. He’d appeared so fast that I hadn’t even registered his scent or the sound of his approach. Impressive.
Regaining my composure, I smiled back at him, feeling a bit like my old self now that my imminent death or torture wasn’t in the cards.
