AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He snorted a laugh. ‘Thank God for clean underwear then. Well. Clothes we can—’
A knock sounded at the door. Sara leapt from her seat, her drink sloshing onto her hand. She placed the glass on the table, her heart pounding so hard it felt as if it could burst from her chest. No one should have access to the Presidential Suite other than staff at the hotel, and Lance hadn’t called them for anything. The room also looked like housekeeping had already been. No breakfast plates left on the dining table in front of the windows. Everything in its place.
‘They’re looking for me.’ Her breathing came out in gasps, as if she couldn’t get any air. They were here for her. She knew it.
‘Why?’
He had no idea. Her days were diarised to the last second, and she was always trailed by someone. For a long time she hadn’t left the house without an army of people knowing exactly where she was headed, ostensibly for protection, but after the Crown Prince had died she wasn’t sure what the need was. She wasn’t important any more.
‘I always have security. Today I...left.’ Without a word to anyone.
‘Does anyone know you’re here?’
‘I asked for you at Reception.’
Lance rose from his chair, calm and slow. Took another long sip of his drink. Pinned her with a hard stare, pointing over her shoulder. ‘Bedroom. That way. Take your things.’
His voice was low and authoritative. Too soft for someone outside the room to hear, but to her it screamed loud as a shout. That he seemed to believe what she said was telling.
She grabbed her coat, hat and bag and hurried out through a doorway, closing it behind her. Then she remembered she’d left her glass on the coffee table. She opened the door a crack. Perhaps she could get it. But the murmur of voices signalled it was too late.
She tried to slow her breathing, but it came in thready gasps. She couldn’t hear much, only snatches of words like‘value’and‘jewels’.‘No’and‘search’?
Sara backed away from the door without thinking. Her chest heaving, she scanned the room for somewhere to hide and spotted a closet. She wrenched open the door and backed inside, closing it after her. Dropping her bag to the floor. She shouldered through hangers and clothes. Slid down the back wall till she sat on the carpeted floor. Wrapped her arms round her legs and huddled as tight as she could make herself. Every sound was muffled in the darkness of the closet. She tried to tamp down the sick feeling burning in her throat, the fear that they’d find her and take her home. She swallowed. Lance was a duke. His father had been respected here. Whatever he said, they’d believe.
But what if he gave her up to avoid trouble? She hugged her knees even tighter. He wouldn’t do that. Would he? The silence crushed her as she tried to curl into herself, make herself as small and insignificant as possible. To embrace in physical form how she’d felt for years, with nothing but the cocooning blackness around her and the slight sliver of light shining through the crack between the doors. Then she dropped her head onto her knees so she couldn’t even see that. Waiting for what seemed so long. Too long...
Sara jerked her head up at the cool breeze of the door opening. Coat hangers scraped on the bar above her as two arms reached in and pushed them back.
‘Oh, angel.’ Lance leaned forwards and reached out his right hand. ‘Come here.’
She placed her hand in his as he pulled her upwards and she threw herself into his muscular chest, one sob after another cracking the veneer she’d presented to the world. He wrapped his arms round her, drew her tight as she gripped the front of his shirt and held on, all that strength cradling her as she wept in his arms.
‘It’s okay,’ he murmured, cradling the back of her head with his hand. ‘They’re gone now. I’ll look after you.’
She felt safe for the first time in longer than she could remember. The sobs petered out to hiccups, and then to sniffs as Lance held her, whispering gentle words she couldn’t make sense of, till she came back into herself. Relishing the comfort of being truly held, pressed against his hard, strong body, she became aware of her ragged breaths and how his hand stroked up and down her back, soothing her. She could stay here all day, but she lifted her head, looking into his concerned face. He loosened his arms then and she pulled back and wiped her face. His shirt was a crushed, damp mess.
‘I’m sorry.’ She reached out and began smoothing the creases in the previously pristine cotton. The taut curve of the muscles underneath distracted her, the tight nubs of his nipples as she brushed her hands over them. He put his hands over hers to still them and his nostrils flared.
‘A shirt I can have laundered.’ If only washing away what had hurt her was so easy. ‘Are you all right now?’ His voice sounded strangely rough.
She nodded, his body hot under her palms. She pulled her hands away and wrapped them round herself.
‘They were looking for me?’
‘Yes. But I gave them enough truth to make the lie believable.’
‘Which was?’
‘You came to ask for a valuation of a piece of jewellery you’d been given for your twenty-first birthday. I valued it, and you left. Told them you’d asked for suggestions for a few pawn shops in the city where you might be able to sell it. Hopefully they’re on a wild goose chase.’
‘Thank you.’
He frowned. ‘They were persistent and came with a man who looked like personal security.’
She shivered. He walked towards her and took her by the arm, guiding her to the vast bed. ‘Sit. Before you fall.’
She shook her head. ‘I need to keep moving. What if they look at the security cameras? They won’t stop looking until they find me. I’ve brought trouble to your door.’
