Page 115 of Princess of Pride
“Found it.” Maisie smiles like it’s a victory.
I scan the darkness again, searching for lights, houses, a village, a city. Nothing.
“Please tell me we’re close to a place to hide?”
“We’re close.”
28
I KNEW I LOVED HER
Lachlan
I had her. And now she’s gone.
I knew she was up to something when she flirted with me in ways she never had before. Fake ways that would otherwise be beneath her, at least when it comes to me. Emery is raw, honest. She can’t hide her hate or her lust for me. It makes me want to tame her more. It makes it that much more gratifying when she gives in.
The moment she batted her lashes and taunted me to watch her walk away while she went downstairs so she could bring me back her knickers was a big sign.
I wanted to believe she was doing this for me. We’d become something I never expected. We became awe. I’ve never been awewith any woman. I never wanted to be. Emery seeped under my cold skin like a warm ray of light and took hold of my heart as if it had been hers alone to claim.
I was thinking about that while I was waiting for Emery to come back when I got the text from Angus that stole all myattention. Had I not been distracted, I would have noticed she was gone for longer than necessary.
I missed it. I missed all the signs. Not once had I considered that she would run again. It hadn’t crossed my mind because it wasn’t possible. Itshouldn’thave been.
I don’t know what angers me more. That I allowed myself to take her here against my better judgment, that someone among my people betrayed me by helping her—there isn’t a chance in hell she did this alone—or that she had the audacity to leave me after everything that’s changed between us.
I gave her my mum’s library. I gave her more freedom than I was comfortable with. I gave her whatever she needed. I even gave her my goddamn bed! That’s as close to getting my heart as you can get.
I was so distracted by Angus’s text, I didn’t notice when Bonnie came upstairs alone. She didn’t return to the bar, which is why I assumed she was still with Emery. When I noticed her at a table instead of with Rory, I grew even more suspicious.
Something was delaying Emery, but what? A secret phone call? I know everyone she holds dear. The list is short. Or was someone talking to her, curious about her life, and bold enough to keep her trapped downstairs.
Not wanting to draw attention, I strolled across the room, stopped to talk to Rory, and then headed downstairs. I was going to spank Emery in that damn loo for making me anxious.
When I found it empty, I checked the additional one around the corner that the employees frequented. Empty as well. Tension coiled in my body. I didn’t want to lose my shit in front of these people who respected me, so I kept my cool as I checked the kitchen. They hadn’t seen her. Could she be lost in the storage room? It didn’t make sense, but she’d had half a pint of ale. Perhaps the effects snuck up on her. She is a lightweight when it comes to Scottish liquor and brew.
I scanned the dimly lit storage room and decided it was too dark and cold for her to have wondered inside.
That left one other place. The office. The door was locked so I texted Rory and had him send down the manager. I had Duncan open the door in case Emery somehow passed out inside. As ridiculous as it sounded, it made more sense than her escaping this place. When I found it empty, I began to panic and called her. No answer. I told Duncan to act as if everything were fine and that I needed his office. Within minutes, I had texted Rory, Connal, and Hume at the door.
When they came up clueless, having not seen her, I texted Wes. He regularly monitored the cameras and village activity from the castle.
Ten minutes had passed before I learned from Wes that Emery had fled out the cellar door with a raven-haired girl I knew was Maisie. Ever since Ewan’s death, she’s blamed me. He was her favorite uncle. She attended his wedding to my mum and even visited him at the castle once. I knew she hated me and didn’t blame her, but I didn’t think she was capable of this.
It took Wes ten more minutes to interrogate his sister and report back that Tessa had connected the two young women. Tessa thought she was setting Emery up for failure and humiliation for her preposterous attempt to leave me.
Preposterous indeed, as well as dangerous and foolish. She, too, was shocked that Maisie had been able to get Emery away.
I’d deal with Tessa’s impetuous behavior later. After I had Emery back in my care.
Despite that it took me twenty minutes to discover she’d ran, it took me only one minute to figure out why. She overheard me on the phone in my study. It was the only logical explanation. Wes confirmed it with footage of Emery from the hallway that matched the time I was talking to him.
Had I known, I would have explained that wasn’t the plan anymore. That she meant more to me than keeping my deal with Angus. That I told him I would make him a partner at my second largest American company—one that would work well enough for his operations—and that he’d accept or he’d get nothing at all. We’d go back to war.
He countered my offer while Emery was in the pub’s loo.
Angus:Spencer Securities was the deal. Now I take the girl and get it for myself, along with the castle.
