Page 207 of Captive Ruin

She bristles. “I don’t need jailers.”

“They’re not for you, they’re for me,” I say quietly.

Bastien inclines his head. “If I can’t protect my friends, what’s the point of being rich?”

It’s a week before I’m stable enough to leave the hospital, and when we transfer to Maine, a nurse comes with us. Amelia isn’t happy but says nothing, understanding the need.

A week after that, Bastien calls me.

“I have a little problem,” he says bluntly.

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”

“It’s not you I need. It’s Amelia.”

She’s sitting in a chair near my bed, legs tucked up beneath her, reading her book, pretending not to listen.

I flick the phone to speaker and drop it on the bed. “She’s here with me.”

“Hi, Amelia,” Bastien says.

“You’re not taking my husband anywhere,” Amelia says coldly.

He chuckles down the line. “As I was just explaining, it’s you I’m requesting.”

She looks at me in confusion. “Go on.”

“You remember the PI? Victoria Callahan?”

“Of course,” I say, while Amelia nods, brow furrowing and a hint of a scowl appearing.

“It transpires she was retained by Amelia’s sister.”

Her eyebrows go up in surprise.

“Was she now?” I ask, amused.

“She’s… uh… mandated that Amelia be allowed to meet her client.”

“Why am I hearing coercion?”

“Because you know how to listen,” Bastien bites off. “Let’s say it’s… mutually advantageous for them to meet.”

“Do we know why she’s requesting this?”

“She believes Amelia is being held against her will.”

Hmm. She’s not wrong. But is she out of date?

I look at my wife, my shoulders tightening, exacerbating the ache in my wound. I don’t know how she’ll respond, and that troubles me.

“Tell her I’m not,” Amelia says firmly, watching me.

The breath I’m holding drains out of me, and my body relaxes. I feel like there are no more weights pressing down on me, stronger than I have been in weeks, despite my injuries. I reach for her, and she comes over, gripping my hand.

I love you, I mouth at her.

She leans in close, her lips by my ear. “You’re cute, but you’re still a bastard.”