AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We arrange the orange and pink blooms in plastic vases that were easier to carry over than the gorgeous heavy cut glass vases he’s got in his butler’s pantry. Pippa’s arrangement is gorgeous. “You have an eye for this,” I tell her. “You’re a natural.”
She gives me a shy smile. “Thanks. I actually grew flowers before—” Her sentence cuts off. They’ve been instructed not to share anything personal with me for their safety.
“Flowers are healing, aren’t they?” I wrap an arm around her thin shoulders. “Come on, let’s go see if Remy’s here with the food.”
I stand back as the women eat, refilling their water and juice glasses. It feels good to serve. Afterward, the women thank me with hugs, the more timid ones with small smiles. I know Remy has his plate full—chef pun? —so I send him back to the kitchen and do the clearing up on my own.
I spend the rest of the day offering the women manicures. I keep the small talk light and impersonal, or sometimes we don’t talk at all, just listen to the soft music I’ve now got piping through the room from a speaker I had Nikolaos install after breakfast. He didn’t even bat an eye when I asked him for the favor. He just made it happen.
Not gonna lie. I really liked that. And I’m not going to lie about how sexy he looked, standing on that step stool, hanging the speaker up in the corner, the olive-toned expanse of his lower back showing as he raised his muscular arms overhead for the installation.
And the way his ass looks in his jeans…he could be my handyman any day. My little she-devil says,He could hammer into me any day.
I go about my day, ordering the furniture as well as a few articles of clothing we were short on. When early evening rolls in, I figure it’s the perfect time to drop by the boathouse with my offerings of chocolate.
It’s quiet when I step into the room. “Hello?” My voice echoes back to me.
I’m all alone. The boathouse is empty.
The girls are gone.
.
17
Beast
When Charlie comes dashingdown the hall of the castle, looking for me, I know exactly why she’s here. I grab her shoulders, grounding her as she catches her breath. “Whoa, there, little lady. Slow down.”
“The girls—” She sucks in a deep breath. “Where are the girls?”
I want nothing more than to sit down with her, tell her everything. She became so invested in such a short amount of time. I know this is killing her. I wrap my arms around her waist. Like she’s mine.
I look down at her, apologies in my tone. “You know I can’t tell you anything. I’m sorry.”
She gives me a pleading look. Those hazel eyes make a zing of energy burst through my heart whenever she locks her gaze on mine. She shakes her head, the end of her long ponytail swinging gently.
“Just tell me they’re safe,” she says.
“They are. They’re safe.” For now.
We’ve gotten word the leaders of the ring have suspicions about me, about Dark Island. We decided the best thing to do now is to keep the women on the island for the shortest amount of time possible before moving them on to another safe house. This time, the girls were here for less than 24 hours.
We’ve been doing this for months, saving almost one hundred women. With this new information, I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to bring them to the island, and I’m uneasy running the operation with Charlie here.
I don’t want to do anything to put her at risk. There are eyes and ears everywhere. Theirs, and ours. The family is sending more equipment and manpower for added security for the island, but that will only keep the people living here safe. If they find out where we are, the added safety measures won’t be enough to get the boats here from the lake.
The family leaders are putting our heads together tonight to decide how to move forward. I’ve got a lot of phone calls and meeting plans ahead of me. But right now? All I want to do is focus on Charlie.
She poses her question like a statement. “And you can’t tell me any more than that?”
“Correct.”
“I get it.” Her gaze falls to the floor as she nods, biting her bottom lip. Her eyes shift back up to mine. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about them.”
I wrap an arm around her shoulders. “I know. I get it. But tell you what, it’s out of our hands for now. Let’s try to enjoy the peace. How about having dinner with me again tonight?”
She sighs softly. “I could eat. And last night was…” Her voice gets quiet, shy. “Special.”
