Page 7 of His to Keep
Although the woods don’t hold any dread for me, I am beginning to tire of walking around in the dark. I expected to see the house by now. The early autumn air isn’t particularly cold, but I worry about Eilidh in her skimpy little dress. I should have given her my jacket before getting out of the car. It’s too late to worry about it now. The house finally comes into view. Quickening my pace, I stride toward it.
I enter the combination for the safe by the front door to retrieve the key. Once inside, I carry Eilidh straight through to the bed. Ilay her down and remove her shoes, then drape a blanket across her. The dress won’t be comfortable to sleep in, but I don’t want her to wake up and freak out about me taking her clothes off.
When I’m sure she’s sleeping peacefully, I quickly check all the doors and windows in the house to make sure everything’s locked up tight. I grab my gun from the kitchen drawer where I left it earlier and head back to the bedroom. Taking a seat on the armchair in the corner, I settle in to watch Eilidh sleep. It’s going to be a long night.
CHAPTER 4
Eilidh
Waking with a jolt, I experience a moment of confusion. As I blink the sleep from my eyes, I’m unsure of where I am or how I got here. My recollection of what happened last night doesn’t include getting into bed. I remember being at the hotel with Jason and his sister revealing his plans for me like some smug movie supervillain. I also have a vivid picture in my mind of running from Jasmine and Ryan and ending up in a room filled with greenery. They were planning to give me to Semion Barevsky, and I had to try to get away.
My memory of being caught by that American mobster is clear, but it takes me a minute to recall his name. Gio something. Racking my brain, I come up with the name Volante. That sounds right. Gio Volante. He flung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and shoved me into the back of a car. He made some ridiculous declaration about marrying me and then everything went blank. Shit. Did I pass out? That’s embarrassing.
I don’t know who Gio Volante is or why he thinks he has some claim on me, but I suspect he’s responsible for me being in this unfamiliar place. Needing to get a better look at my surroundings, I struggle to sit up. It’s difficult to move in the tight red dress Jason made me wear, but it’s a relief to find I’m still fully clothed. I don’t like the thought of someone undressing me while I’m unconscious.
The room is very different from the one I’ve been allocated at Jason’s house. My accommodations were cramped, but nicely decorated, with cream walls and a thick, wheat-colored carpet. It had a small walk-in closet and an en-suite with a shower. For a prison cell, it was quite luxurious. The room I’m in is larger, but there’s only one door, presumably leading to a corridor rather than a bathroom.
The furnishings are sparse, with an oak dresser pressed up against the wall behind the door and a matching nightstand to the left of the wood-framed double bed I slept on. There are no personal touches in the room that would hint at who lives here. The only photo on the wall is a black and white close-up of a daisy. It’s the sort of picture they hang in a model home or a holiday rental to lend it some charm. I’m not convinced it’s working. The room totally lacks character.
I stretch to tease out the crick in my neck and get up from the bed. It probably won’t be long until Gio Volante or whoever is working with him comes to get me. Before they do, I want to get some sense of where I am and whether escape is possible. Clambering awkwardly off the bed, I go to the window. To my surprise, I discover the room I’m in is at ground level. There’s a small patch of grass outside and then some trees, which are precariously close to the house. If one of them came down in a high wind, it would crash straight through the roof. I don’t knowwhy I’m worrying about that. There’s not a whisper of a breeze in the air.
Trying the window, I find it slides open easily. I lean over the ledge to judge the distance to the ground. It’s less than four feet. I could easily climb out. Perhaps I should. Gio Volante may be infinitely more pleasant to look at than Jason, but that doesn’t mean he’s a safer option. Something tells me he is, but I can’t be sure.
“Don’t even think about it,” a stern male voice with a distinct American accent comes from behind me.
Startled by the command, I don’t think about what I’m doing. I act out of sheer panic. Scrambling headfirst through the window, I land in an inelegant heap on the grass. It was a stupid, impulsive thing to do, especially since I didn’t really intend to run from Gio. I want to learn more about him before I decide whether I need to escape.
I’ve barely stood up and smoothed down my skirt before six foot four of irate male climbs out through the window and grabs me. For the second time in as many days, I find myself upside down over his shoulder. He carries me back inside caveman-style and deposits me on my feet.
We’re in an open plan space. There’s a small kitchen with stark white cabinets and a small stove, a living room with two sofas, a coffee table and a TV, and a dining room with a table and six chairs. It’s decorated in the same clean, comfortable, and soulless fashion as the bedroom I was in. I’m now certain this is a rental property, especially since there’s a fire safety notice on the wall alongside a no-smoking sign. You don’t see those in private residences.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Gio demands.
Fury emanates from him, but I can’t help thinking how hot he is when he’s all riled up like this. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. This man could be planning to chop me up into tiny pieces and keep my eyes as a souvenir, but I’m totally distracted by his pretty face and impressively muscular physique. It doesn’t help that he’s wearing gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. That casually sexy look is definitely my downfall.
“I wasn’t thinking.” I admit. “You scared me, and I acted without thinking.”
“You always dive through windows when you get a fright?”
“Only open ones.” I can’t help giggling at the absurdity of my own actions. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“Nor can I.” Gio’s stunning blue eyes narrow. “You put your safety at risk.”
“Oh, come on,” I snort derisively. “It was a four-foot drop.”
“That’s not the point. We’re only a couple of miles from the hotel. Henry’s men could be searching the area.” He folds his arms across his broad chest. “I didn’t rescue you just to let you fall straight back into his hands.”
Now it’s my turn to fix a steely glare on him. “Oh, you rescued me, did you? I was doing just fine getting away by myself.”
That’s far from true. If Gio hadn’t intervened, I probably wouldn’t have made it off the grounds of the hotel. I hadn’t even thought to kick off my shoes so I could run faster. Still, something about his domineering manner makes me want to give him a hard time. I need to get the measure of him, to seehow far I can push before he snaps. I have to know if he’s the type of man who’ll lash out with his fists.
“Were you?” he demands. “If I hadn’t taken care of Ryan and the Henry woman, they’d have caught up with you in seconds.”
Suddenly, the image of Gio holding a bloody knife pops into my head. “What happened to them? Did you kill them?”
“Of course not.” Gio sounds almost insulted that I’d think he would kill someone. “I knocked the Henry woman unconscious, and I cut Ryan up a little, but he’ll live.”
I narrow my eyes as I realize that’s the second time he’s mentioned the new recruit to the Drummond organization by name. “How do you know who Ryan is?”
