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“Already leaving?” she challenges.
Emotion punches at me. “How the hell do I open the door?” I demand.
“Punch the button and enter a code.”
“What code?” I push, wanting to throttle her right now.
“I’m not allowed to give out the code.”
Of course, she isn’t. “Open the damn door.”
She punches something on her Apple watch, and the door pops open. I know she works here. I know she was engaged to the man who once owned this castle, a man who is family to Jax. I even know she has every right to control the door, but something about this moment and this exchange doesn’t sit right. In fact, it hits all kinds of wrong, but I’m objective enough to know that I’m not objective at all right now. I turn and pull on the handle, but it’s heavy, and I struggle. I bite back my frustration, not about to let little Miss Priss see me squirm, and pull on the door again. Thank God, it opens and I step outside. The man guarding the door, or managing it, whatever the case is, turns to me, and I have no sense whether he means to stop my retreat or offer aide. I don’t know why I even had that thought. Why would I think I’m a prisoner here?
Not liking where my head is, I don’t wait for the man to speak. I start the long walk down the massive stone stairwell, my heart thundering in my chest, my emotions a ball in my belly, hugging myself against the chilly ocean air. The same air that was at my back when I hung over that tower ledge. My stomach churns, and bile rises in my throat. Another wave of queasiness has me fighting the urge to double over, right here, with everyone watching. I’m a freak show tonight, and I need a sanctuary, but lord help me, the walk down the steps is eternal.
When I’ve finally reached the end of the steps, I realize that I don’t even know where I’m going. I have nowhere to go. I have no car. The walk to the gates alone is long and then what? I have no way out of here, and really, I’m not sure if that’s what I want. I just need to think. I need to be alone, I need to calm down. And so, I just keep moving. I turn left down a walkway that leads into some sort of garden and the scent of sweet flowers teases my nostrils. The drop of a weeping willow, followed by another, and another darken my path. Death darkens my path, perhaps for the rest of my life if my family killed Hunter. As for the moment, though, there are tiny delicate lights sprinkling my path, illuminating my way forward.
Is Jax using me to get to my family?
I reject that idea the moment I have it. Jax and I had this conversation. He’s not using me to get to my family, not now. Not after he got to know me. And I believe him. I do. I believe him, but then I thought I knew my father, too. I thought I believed his truth that was all lies. And I didn’t know Jax’s brother thought someone in my family pushed their brother to his death, either, and yet still, Jax brought me here. That very concept pushes me onward. I ignore the wobble of my knees and the pinch of my high heels. I ignore the brisk air on my legs, damn this skirt. Why didn’t I change before we left San Francisco? I start running, and this time, it’s not fear. It’s a release, an adrenaline-driven need for release. God, I run, and I don’t even know if I’m really running from Jax. I’m just running. I need to think. I need to breathe and finally, I clear the path to find a dock that leads to a covered observation area. I run toward it like it’s my shelter from a storm that only exists in my mind. I make it all of two steps when someone catches my arm and pulls me backward until I’m suddenly against a hard body.
CHAPTER FOUR
Emma…
We were all better off with him dead.
My father’s words that I found in his journal rip through my mind. A man I’d loved, I’d wanted to please, wrote those words, and now, I’m being punished for his evil. Now, I’m going to end up dead. “Let me go!” I shout, pushing against my captor, squirming against his hold.
“Emma, it’s me. It’s Jax.”
I hear him, I feel him, this man who has taken my world by storm in such a short time, but I can’t quite register that it’s really him. I can’t quite come down off that fight or flight feeling that has obviously been triggered again.
