Page 8 of Dangerous Temptation
‘Maybe I can leave late tonight,’ she murmured, fighting the decision she knew she had to make.
‘They’ll be here around the clock until they get what they want. You know that, and those individuals assigned to late-night hours will be even hungrier.’
Hungry for the illusive big ‘get’, only she had nothing to tell them. She hadn’t been involved. She didn’t know where the money had gone. She looked at those leaves still clinging to the trees, trying to withstand the weight of the dew that had settled on them.
‘All right, I’ll stay,’ she said quietly. She had no other choice. ‘But only until things settle down.’
Leonard’s shoulders relaxed and his hands loosened into their customary position. ‘Wonderful. You don’t know what a relief that is to me.’
He stepped up to the trunk. ‘Let me help you unload.’
‘That’s all right. I can do it.’
She didn’t want to make more work for him.
‘Nonsense.’ He’d already lifted the heaviest of the boxes from the trunk, and she stepped aside to let him pass.
Elena wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision. The manor looked as vacant as it had for the past month, but she could feel the new presence. The aura of the place had changed. The sleeping giant had awakened. She could feel it in the air; she could sense it in the ground beneath her feet.
Alex Wolfe wasn’t a person who could be ignored, but she was going to do her best to avoid him. She needed to avoid them all.
Movement caught the corner of her eye, and her head snapped around. A curtain in a far window of the mansion swayed before settling back into place.
A shiver ran through her, and she grabbed a box from the trunk. The weight pulled heavily at the muscles in her arms, but she lugged the clothing back into the cottage and set it on the floor near the door. ‘Over here is fine, Leonard.’
His white eyebrows pulled together. ‘Do you want Marta to help you unpack?’
‘No need.’ She nudged the box closer to the wall with her foot. Unpacking wasn’t part of her newly formed plan. She wanted to be ready to go, in case she needed to leave fast.
The butler finally bowed at the waist. ‘Then I’ll send her down with some hot chocolate for you.’
Elena did her best to work up a smile, allowing him that much. She knew he only wanted to help. Hot chocolate had been the treat he’d given her when she’d been young and in his care. ‘That would be lovely. Thank you so much, Leonard, for everything.’
By the time she’d lugged in everything from her car, Marta was on her doorstep with a warm mug of cocoa. Elena accepted it gratefully. It had always managed to soothe her, but fixing her current problems would be a challenge. She sipped at the sweetness as she looked out of the window to the lake. All was still out there. No breezes disturbed the haze, and the water looked like black glass. Deep and endless.
It gave off the oddest looming sensation.
She wandered over to the side window and peered up at the manor. He’d been watching her again. She’d felt it. The back of her neck had prickled, yet a warm spark had run through her veins.
A warm, pulsing spark.
She shook her head. This was wrong. All wrong. She couldn’t stay here, yet she couldn’t leave. She was locked in the wolves’ den, trusting the alpha male to protect her from the danger outside the lair.
It was insane. How had she gotten herself into this mess? What was she supposed to do now?
Jerking away from the window, she walked about the house. The mug cooled in her hands as she considered her options. There weren’t many. She found herself in the doorway to her office. Piles of paper were strewn about, notes were taped to the walls, and her laptop waited for power. She was so close to making a breakthrough, she could feel it.
Yet it was all so close to slipping through her fingers.
She rolled her tight neck. Alex Wolfe had ruined everything.
She slammed the mug down on the coffee table, pivoted on her heel and headed to the door. She’d found a sanctuary, but all she wanted to do right now was run.
‘Damn that man,’ she hissed.
Why did some people have it so easy, while others had to plod and fight?
Moving past the dock, she headed for the trail that rounded the far side of the lake. She’d taken it several times over the past few weeks. The silence and the remoteness might help calm her down, especially the remoteness.
