Page 12 of Stealing His Christmas Present

Chapter 4

SHE SMELLED LIKE ROSES, and her body was so damn warm in my arms. With her eyes closed, she seemed even more innocent than she was.

And her lips...

I wanted to feel them move against mine.

The beep of my watch brought me back to reality. I could look at Claudia all I wanted once I had her in my home.

But first I had to get out of here.

My plan had been carefully devised, and I couldn’t make a single mistake because I’d get caught. I kept my gaze on the watch that kept tracking each second that passed.

The guards would switch their positions in three minutes, and I had to get to the back door in time.

Hauling Claudia over my shoulder, I held her tightly as I stepped out into the hallway. No one was in sight.

It was a good thing the family wanted privacy, and after they had all been at the party and nothing had happened, no one would expect someone would sneak into the house. The guards had to be weary too.

As for the alarm systems, Claudia was going to help me with that. I’d gotten in while the maid was leaving through the door for the staff, but now I had to go through the back door because it was the only one that wasn’t going to be watched for the next five minutes.

I just had to hope the cameras were still down. A few days ago, I’d gotten close enough to the house to be able to tap into them, and now they were showing the same image in a loop. My hacker team had helped me with it, and I hoped they hadn’t made any mistakes.

I moved as quietly as possible, glancing right and left.

No one got in my way.

When we were at the door, I pressed Claudia’s hand to the panel next to it. The alarm light went green and I opened the door.

I threw another glance at my watch, and then I strode through the darkness.

The Casadeis were going to lose their minds when they realized Claudia was gone.

I reached the trees, but I had to be very careful. There were landmines everywhere, and it had taken me a while to figure them all out and memorize their location.

It was a bit harder to sidestep them with Claudia over my shoulder, but I managed. I slowed down, peering through the darkness, and then I crossed over the tripwire.

The Casadeis might have lost one daughter in an attack, and they’d turned their house into a fortress, but all the protection in the world couldn’t stop someone as patient and dedicated to their goal as I was.

The hole I’d made in the fence was still there, and I squeezed through it, careful of Claudia. If she scratched her arm and there was blood, the Casadeis would know in which direction I’d taken her.

It wouldn’t help them, but it was better if they weren’t sure if she’d been taken or had just gone off somewhere on her own.

Once I reached my car, I put Claudia in the back seat. She was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Maybe even more beautiful than before.

Excitement filled my chest.

Claudia was mine.

Finally, mine.

And I was never going to let her go.

***

I HELD CLAUDIA CLOSEin my arms as I entered my home. More than anything, I wanted to lay her down in my bed, where she belonged.

But if I did that, I’d never get what I wanted.

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