Page 35 of Beneath Deception
I knew that Jonathan cared for Tessa deeply and he would do anything to keep her away from Colin as long as possible. Looking through the crowd to where Colin had been moments ago, the space where he stood was now occupied by a young woman who couldn’t have been any older than twenty. The man Colin had been talking with placed his arm around the young lady as he whispered something in her ear. I would have loved to hear what he might have said to her.
Losing sight of Colin, Jonathan went to find him, while Tessa and I continued walking over to the empty table. As we took our seats, there was no longer any reason for Jonathan to find Colin since he was moving towards us. We didn’t have the time we needed to move when his eyes fell upon us. Our only option was to sit tight. The last thing I wanted was for him to think we were avoiding him.
Towering over us like a vulture stalking its prey, he placed his hands in his front pockets and said arrogantly, “My sweet Tessa, you are more beautiful than ever.”
His words were as sharp as ice and I could feel Tessa’s uneasiness as she adjusted her position, moving closer to me. Her arm wrapped around mine, giving Colin the indication that she was now mine.
Before, I could respond to his comment, his eyes focused just past our heads, causing me to turn to see what had his attention. Standing not more than two feet behind us were two men, which I presume were his. With a cocky smile he said, “I think we should go inside and chat.”
“There is no way we are going anywhere with you,” I hissed, even knowing that there was a reason those men were so close to us.
“Let’s not create a scene, London,” he suggested as he removed his hands from his pockets and open the jacket of his tux, showing the gun he had tucked away on his side.
With no other choice, I stood from my seat and assisted Tessa out of her chair. Following Colin, with the two men close behind, we entered the house. The only people who knew what was really going on was us. All I could think about was where Jonathan might have been. Then it dawned on me that Tessa had a tracker in place and his men would know where to find us. Hopefully, we didn’t end up getting separated.
