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“No. When I came to see you in Las Vegas. Were you actually there for a bachelorette party?”
She drops her gaze to her lap. “No. I’ve been living there for the past several years.”
“With Owen?”
She looks up and glares. “No. I had my own apartment. The lease was up this month. That’s why I picked the date I did for the wedding.”
I fucking hate sitting here listening to her talk so casually about walking away from what we had.
Tobias stays quiet as he looks back and forth between the two of us.
“I realize you still have feelings for each other. But do you understand the importance of this marriage?”
I twist the tablecloth in my fingers. “Bellamy does. I do not. There are other ways to form this alliance.”
“Perhaps there are. But none as clean as marriage.”
“Enough,” Bellamy says. “You will not talk about me like I’m a pawn in whatever chess game our families are playing. I’ll do what I’m supposed to, but I will be respected.”
I couldn’t be prouder of her at that moment. Despite the subject matter, it’s always good to see her standing up for herself. It’s something she’s gotten better at over the years.
Tobias pulls his phone out of his pocket and stands. “Give me one second, mother.”
He excuses himself, and I sit in silence while Bellamy takes a sip of her drink.
“I love you, Owen. It’s cruel of me to tell you that, but it’s true and it felt wrong not to say it at least one more time. Thank you for saving my life. If there were any way to stay with you, I would do it.”
I put a hand over the one she has resting on the table. “I won’t lie and say I understand. But I’m also not going to pressure you. I promise.”
“I appreciate that. This is so painful. I fucking hate it.”
“Just go with your gut, love. I trust it and you implicitly.”
It’s painful saying those words to her, but ultimately, I mean them. When Bellamy and I first explored power exchange, she lacked confidence in herself. Together, we built her up into the powerful woman she is today. But she did all the work, and I’ll never stop telling her how proud I am of that.
Tobias returns looking grim.
“How soon can your pilot get us out of here?”
“What happened?” I ask, already pulling up Matteo’s number to make the arrangements.
“Someone came to the hospital to deliver a message. They want me to return to the hospital, and they want Bellamy to be delivered to her parents.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And your response is to run?”
He hesitates, and I wonder if he’s leaving something out.
“I told my mother we were already on a plane out of the country. It buys us some time. At least a couple of days to figure out who’s behind this. I’ve done all I can do here, and I would rather not have Bellamy shot at again. So, we’re getting her out.”
At least I’m sure he has her safety as a top priority. It doesn’t make this any easier, but it does give me some semblance of comfort to believe he’ll go to great lengths to protect her.
Chapter eleven
Chapter 10
Tobias
It’sbarelyfourinthe morning, and Owen and I are standing in the hallway outside our hotel room where Bellamy is still sleeping. He asked me to step out and talk so we wouldn’t wake her. At first, I thought we were going to argue about how best to get to the plane, and whether our flight plan should include any stops, but so far, we’re on the same page. A straight flight to Las Vegas where we’ll formulate a game plan for tracking down the people who shot up my wedding.
