AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We weaved through the living room, feet shushing softly over the polished floors. Kael squeezed my hand. “I guess, after some of the things I’ve done, sneaking around with an heiress does seem more entertaining than dangerous.”
I puffed out an incredulous breath. “Well sorry for my boring, four-million-dollar gig, Mr. Ghost.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call it boring,” he smirked, tugging me close and stopping at the foot of the stairs. He pressed my back into the metal railing and cupped the back of my neck. Pressing his hard body into mine, he lowered his head and found the bruised hickey on my throat. He skated his teeth over it, causing me to draw in a sharp breath. “Nothing about you is boring, Ms. Thorne.”
“So glad to hear it,” I gusted out. I was going to have a seizure if he kept stealing my breath like this.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. The combination to the front door sounded through the quiet space. From where we stood, we were directly visible from the entrance, and as the door opened, letting in a golden rectangle of light, two figures walked through the doorway. Kael shifted his grip suddenly, circling his hand around my throat and twisting both our bodies so the steel band of his arm clamped around me from behind.
As the two guards came through the door, Kael kicked my legs behind my knees and forced me to the ground. It didn’t hurt, but I let out a real gasp of surprise as my body went down. He wrenched my hands behind my back, pinning them to the base of my spine. The guards ran over as the front door shut.
“Did she escape?” one of them asked.
“Marta said neither of you were in the suite when she went to check on you,” the other added.
I let my forehead fall to the freezing marble. Of course, she would go up there to check on us. My parents are paranoid assholes. The shock of having Kael’s hands twist my wrists painfully after being so gentle moments before was giving me mental whiplash.
“She did, but I found her,” Kael responded smoothly. “She tried to find a way out through the terrace.”
The stockier guard snorted. “Right. Like that would get her anywhere.”
I pressed my cheek to the floor. Fuck off, asshats.
Kael hefted me to my feet, keeping my hands firmly behind my back, and I made sure to bow my head so I looked defeated. He shoved me toward the stairs. “I’ve got things handled, gentlemen. Thank you.”
“You got it,” one of them said with a nod. They left to exit the front door again, and Kael led me up the stairs, his body rigid.
“That was close,” I whispered softly when we reached the top of the stairs.
Kael didn’t respond. He kept up the pretense until he put in the code for my door and had me inside. As soon as it shut, he released me and let his hands fall to his sides. I blinked, squinting against the bright light from my apartment after being in darkness for so long. The TV was still running, already on a different episode, and I’d made a mess with my hoodie and popcorn when I’d discarded them in a rush.
“Well, at least it looks like I ran on a whim,” I offered with a weak smile. Kael stared at me, glacial eyes hardened with speculation. I panned my gaze across the room uncertainly, crossing my arms. “What?”
“I’m not doing this anymore,” he stated. Like he’d made up his mind, Kael passed me, going for the kitchen and taking out his phone. “We didn’t find anything in the study, and I’m not putting you in a position like that again.”
“Like what?” I demanded, following him.
“Like the one where I just used a takedown maneuver on you and could have easily hurt you in the process,” he shot back. His dark brown brows formed a slashing divot between them, and he pressed a button on his phone.
I lunged for it. “Whatever you’re doing, stop. That was totally fine!”
“It is not fine,” he snapped. Kael grabbed both my hands in his large left one, and the screen said “Tabitha” as it made the call. “There’s no reason for you to be here, Mattie. We can help you get away from them, and I’ll make sure they don’t attempt to follow you anymore. I’m more than capable of persuading them to back off.”
“Don’t you dare,” I seethed. I pulled against his hold on me, although I knew it was useless. “Kael, this is my life. I’m telling you to stay and finish what I hired you to do.”
Kael ignored me, putting the phone to his ear. “Tab, extraction plan. Now.”
“No!” I shouted into the receiver. “Tabitha, don’t! He’s overreacting.”
Kael slanted a derisive look my way. “I don’t overreact.”
“You are most definitely overreacting. You’re hurting me more now than you did downstairs, you sasquatch.”
Kael spun me so my back hit his side, and then wrapping his solid arm around me, he pinned my wrists between my breasts and locked me to his body. “Tomorrow morning is fine,” Kael said into the phone. “No, don’t find one here. We can regroup in Denv—”
“I’m not going,” I cut in hotly.
Still ignoring me, Kael made a low “mhm” sound, and then he added, “No, if we fly out of JFK, they might notice. Yeah, that would be better.”
