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Chapter Four
In the middle of the night, Alastair reached for Beth and found the bed empty and cold. He jackknifed up and looked around. When he couldn't see her, he threw back the covers and started to search for her.
Fortunately, she was only in his private living room off of the bedroom, asleep on the sofa. He couldn’t believe the relief he had experienced. For the first time in his life, he felt fear and alarm when she wasn’t there, and it didn’t sit well with him.
He lifted her into his arms and took her back to bed. After he set her down still asleep, he climbed in, arranged her back against his chest, wrapped an arm around her, and went back to sleep. Once again, the feeling of contentment filled him, and he didn’t know what he thought about it yet. There were so many new emotions, so he felt he needed to take the time to understand them to feel in control again.
The next morning, he sat in a chair in the corner of the bedroom, sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper.
Alastair set his cup down and relaxed back when she started to stir. He watched her look around before she pushed the covers off herself and swung her legs off the mattress. She stayed like that and stared down at her legs. He waited a full two minutes before he said anything.
“There’s coffee and Danishes on a tray by the door.”
She whipped her head toward him. He would have liked to see the pleasure in her eyes but knew it was too quick to get that. But he would settle for the relief he saw before her wall was erected between them.
He knew it stemmed from the situation being he was the only one she knew or had talked to, and that was exactly the way he wanted it for the moment. Until she was a little more secure, she would stay in their rooms. It wouldn’t be too much of a hardship because she had the TV in the little family room off the bedroom, and he’d make sure she got a Kindle so she could download all the books she wanted. The one thing she wouldn’t have was the internet because too many things could happen with that.
When he felt she’d come to accept her destiny was when he would show her around, and she would get some freedom.
The thought of her trying to escape scared him. The fact that she might be hurt in the process when she was caught pissed him off, and she would be caught, of that, he had no doubt. So, he tried to lessen its chance by keeping her contained.
“I’m not hungry,” she said.
“That’s fine. I’ll have someone bring you up a tray later.”
He stood, folded the paper, and walked to the door. “Explore our room, baby. There’s nothing in here that can hurt you or help you escape.”
She stopped him before he closed the door. “Why are you doing this?”
He looked at her for a long moment, hating the tears that ran down her face. “Because you’re my destiny, and I’m yours.” He closed and locked the door before he walked away. What he just said was the truth, but he had only just figured it out himself. When he saw her the night before, he just knew he had to have her, but now he knew it went deeper than that.
When he was ready to enlighten his father about her, he’d tell him that. Since his father had told him that he felt that the first time he saw Alastair’s mother, Isabella, the love of his life, he just knew it was his destiny.
He spent the rest of the day on business in his office, but Beth filled his head with every spare moment he had.
“What in the fuck are you thinking?”
Alastair looked up and saw Blake and Graham, two of his stepbrothers but closest in age. There were five more stepbrothers. Eight boys altogether, including him. They’d grown up thinking they were full brothers, and nothing had taken that closeness away. There were even several cousins who were a big part of his life growing up.
He knew this talk would happen, so he relaxed back and sighed. “Shut the door.”
They did and sat in the chairs in front of his desk.
“Calum told us what happened last night after I left,” Graham said.
Alastair shrugged.
Blake rolled his eyes. “Man, you kidnapped a woman. We don’t do that kind of shit.”
“I know. But she’s different,” Alastair said.
“How?” Graham asked.
“You guys have heard Dad talk about Isabella and how they met.”
“Yeah, we’ve heard the story a hundred times,” Blake said.
“What has he told us what his first thought was when he saw her for the first time?”
Graham snorted. “He called her his destiny.”
“That’s how I felt.”
Blake grinned. “That’s bullshit. You’ve agreed with us our whole lives that the story is a fairy tale.”
“And I did think that until I saw my Beth.”
Both men stared at him.
“You’re fucking with us, right?” Blake said.
“No.” Alastair sat still and let them think.
“When can we meet her?” Graham asked.
“When I think she is ready.”
“What does that mean?” Blake asked.
“It’s just everything is new to her, and she needs some adjustment time.”
Graham grunted. “Yeah, shooting someone in the head next to her might shake her up a bit.”
“Fuck the sarcasm, man,” Alastair said.
“So, she’s here forever?” Graham asked.
