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It made me question everything.
10
London
Crewe didn’t come back to the room at his regular time. Even when dinner was served, he still didn’t show up. I knew he had a lot of work to catch up on, but I was surprised he hadn’t popped in for at least a visit.
I started to get worried.
I hadn’t shown my face to the rest of the castle because I knew everyone hated me. If I ran into Ariel in the hallway, nothing good would come from it. None of the men would touch me, but Dunbar would strangle me with just his eyes.
But the later it got, the more concerned I became.
I didn’t have a cell phone to call him. My only option was to search for him in the castle. If I didn’t find him, one of his men would know where he’d disappeared to. I put on a pair of jeans and a sweater and walked downstairs. The first person I came across was Dimitri, the man who took Dunbar’s place when he’d been put on guard duty. He gave me a quiet scowl but didn’t say anything. His hands were held together at his waist, his gun on his hip. He didn’t draw his weapon or insult me, but his eyes did enough damage on their own.
I walked into Crewe’s office and found it vacant. His laptop was closed and everything was neat and tidy, like he hadn’t used it at all. I took a look around to see if he left any clues behind, but there was nothing.
I walked back outside and saw another guard in the hallway. He gave me the same derisive look as Dimitri and kept walking.
At least they wouldn’t touch me.
I walked to the front door where Dunbar stood. In dark jeans and a black jacket, he looked as deadly as Dimitri. He kept his arms over his chest like he had no intention of hurting me, but I wouldn’t push my luck. “I’m looking for Crewe. Do you know where he is?”
He stared at me in silence.
I knew I wasn’t going to get an answer out of him. “When I do see Crewe, I’ll let him know how accommodating you were.” I turned around and retreated, knowing Crewe would turn up sooner or later.
“He left a few hours ago.”
I turned around. “Where did he go?”
“He took the Jaguar and left on his own. I’m not sure where he went.”
He and Ariel must have gotten into a fight. “Can I call him from your phone?”
“Unlikely that he would answer.”
“Can I at least try?”
He sighed before he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it over.
I found his name in the address book and hit send. I listened to it ring four times before Crewe finally answered.
“Yes?” The single word told me exactly how he was feeling. He was in a particularly bad mood. Something must have happened with Ariel today.
“It’s me.”
He sighed into the phone like my voice was displeasing to him.
“When are you going to be home?”
“Stop acting like my wife. I’ll be home when I feel like being home.”
He was definitely drunk. “A heads-up would have been nice.”
“Don’t owe you a damn thing.”
I could actually hear the sound of his glass hitting the hardwood table at the bar where he sat. Or maybe it was just part of my imagination. I didn’t want to start our new relationship like this, but I couldn’t let him talk to me that way. “We can do this in two different ways. You can be a real man and come home to me. You can tell me what you’re so pissed off about, and I can help you through it. Or you can keep acting like the biggest asshole on the planet and sleep alone tonight. Which path do you want to take?”
Silence.
“I’m hanging up, then.”
“I’ll be home in twenty minutes,” he said with a growl.
“Can you drive? I’ll have Dunbar pick you up.”
“I’m fine.”
I wasn’t buying it. “Dunbar is picking you up. Tell him where you are.” I handed the phone back to Dunbar. “Get him home in one piece.”
Crewe got home after midnight. His suit was no longer crisp because he’d been slouching in it all night at the bar. He tossed his expensive watch on the table like it wasn’t worth more than a car. When he took off his jacket, he threw it on the floor like he didn’t give a damn.
I was sitting up in bed reading when he walked inside. I hoped he’d had a chance to sober up on the drive home, but my expectations weren’t high. The fact that he was happy last night and took such an unexpected turn told me something significant happened. He didn’t just have a fight with Ariel. Something serious went down.
He didn’t look at me as he undressed. He made a pile of his clothes on the floor and kicked his shoes off like he was a child. He stripped all the way down until he was naked, and in all his glory, he looked nothing like a child. He was over six feet of man vertically, and nine inches of man horizontally.
