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Crewe would never kill me. “I’m not gonna spill my secret. I’m just going to ask for more out of the relationship—like freedom. I want the ability to come and go as I please. If he can’t give that to me, then he doesn’t love me.”
“Everyone has a very different definition of love—especially a guy like him.”
“I think he means it. He’s different with me.”
“He’s keeping you locked up in a castle. Sounds like a fucking monster to me.”
I couldn’t argue against that. “Let me do this first.”
“And if it goes south? He’ll never let you call me again.”
No, he wouldn’t. “It’s not gonna go south.”
“But what if it does?” he asked. “I have no way of contacting you.”
Based on everything I learned about Crewe, I had to believe he would let me go if I asked. He was compassionate and caring, and we had a deep connection. I refused to believe he would backhand me and chain me to the floor. “If you don’t hear from me in two weeks…come and get me.”
“I can get on board with that. Where are you?”
“Sterling Castle outside of Edinburgh.”
“Tell me about his crew. Where are their posts? What time do they change shifts?”
I told him everything I knew and what kind of weapons they had. “But if it comes to this, I don’t want you to kill anyone. Just make them surrender, get me, and leave. And don’t you dare shoot Crewe.”
“There’s no way I can pull that off. People are gonna get shot.”
“Then I don’t want to be rescued.”
Joseph sighed into the phone. “This guy has really fucked with your mind, London. You shouldn’t care if I shoot him between the eyes.”
“But I do care.” A lot. “I don’t want anything to happen to anyone. They’re good people just trying to support their families. They’re no different from you.”
“I would never kidnap anyone for six months,” he snapped.
“But you aren’t innocent. You crossed him to begin with. Let’s not forget how we got into this mess.”
All I got from him was silence.
“Those are my terms, Joseph. Give me some time to talk to him.”
“What if he moves you?”
“He hasn’t mentioned any plans for travel, so I doubt it.”
“I doubt he keeps you in the loop about everything,” he jabbed.
“Two weeks, okay?”
Joseph didn’t say anything.
“Okay?” I pressed. “Two weeks and you choose Plan B.”
After another moment of silence, he finally agreed. “Fine. Two weeks.”
17
Crewe
London and I hadn’t spoken about that night.
The night she told me she loved me.
And I said it back.
I assumed that would open the gates to a long and complicated conversation about our relationship, but that had yet to come. I hoped her confession meant she wanted everything to stay the same, that she enjoyed sharing this enormous castle with me. I wanted our lives to stay exactly the same.
She was the first woman I’d loved since Josephine, and when I compared my feelings for the two women, I questioned whether I loved Josephine at all. I knew I had to marry someone of my stature, and since Josephine was beautiful, I probably just made the best of it.
But with London, it was totally different.
She was everything I wanted in another person. She wasn’t royal, but she had class. She wasn’t rich, but she was the most intelligent person I’d ever met. She wasn’t a suitable partner, but I couldn’t picture myself with anyone else.
How did this happen?
She meant nothing to me when she first came into my life. I’d slapped her a few times, kept her in my freezing basement for weeks, and stripped her naked so a stranger could contemplate buying her.
But now she meant everything to me.
I didn’t think I was capable of feeling anything like this ever again. I didn’t think I could quit being an alcoholic, but she made that happen. I didn’t think I could be happy…but she made that happen too.
When I woke up the following morning, I didn’t feel like getting any work done. I never took a day off because there was always so much to do, and I felt burned out at the moment. Ariel could cover my calls. And if it was something she couldn’t handle, they could wait until tomorrow.
I was usually gone before London opened her eyes, so I took the opportunity to watch her sleep. She abandoned her side of the king bed and hogged mine, her arm wrapped around my waist with her head resting on my chest.
Her back rose and fell as she slept, and her eyelashes looked thick when they were pressed against the top of her cheek. She was naked under the sheets since we went to sleep the second we were finished fucking. My come was still sitting inside her—exactly where it belonged.
Thirty minutes later, her eyes opened and she looked directly into my face. It took her sleepy mind a moment to understand what she was looking at. She blinked then focused her gaze again, my features registering in her brain. “You’re still here…”
