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“Well, I’m done. My therapist said I needed to get back to normal. I’m going to see her at her office.” I take a deep breath, ready to fight them.
Austin straightens. “Okay.”
I continue, “And none of you can stop me–wait what?”
“He said okay,” Saint says.
My mouth pops open around a silent ‘Oh’. I really expected an uphill battle to get them to agree to me leaving the room, let alone the penthouse.
“And I want ice cream–” when no one says anything I add, “and pancakes at the diner.”
“I’ll get ready,” Felix says before disappearing as fast as he appeared.
I’m left with Austin and Saint watching me. “What?”
The corner of Austin’s mouth kicks up, his eyebrows lifting slightly, and he licks his lips. “Are you ready to talk about punishments yet?”
I swear my whole body flushes at his words. My belly flips, and I sink my teeth into my lower lip. “After my errands, Daddy,” I reply.
A grin slowly spreads over his face, and my scent blooms strong and ready. “Well, then I guess I need to get ready, too. Have to make sure you don’t take your time.”
I shake my head as he backs out the door, leaving me with my concerned alpha. “I’m okay, Saint.”
He steps forward, his hands coming up to cradle my face. His rough thumb strokes my cheek bone as he stares into my soul. “We need to talk about why you left the party to get that painting. Austin is letting it go, but Audrey, you can’t put yourself in danger like that.”
My stomach dips like I’m on a rollercoaster as I think back on that night. I hadn’t planned to steal the painting. Seeing Jason had messed with my head. I felt off and had the stupid idea of stealing the painting and hiding it somewhere I could return for it later. When I saw the back exit in the bathroom, it was like I was possessed. I needed to get it.
And it went off without a hitch. I knew what floor Valentine lived on, so I took the elevator down. I passed a guy in the hall and made up some story about surprising him, and he told me which door was his. All of that was perfect. I had all I needed to pick the lock in my hair, and I had done it before. It just wasn’t my preferred method of stealing.
Then fate showed her hand. Painting in hand, I headed back to the elevator. I didn’t think about taking the stairs, which may have avoided everything that followed.
The doors slid open, and Jason was there, standing in the middle of the elevator. I froze. The same way I did when I saw him at the party. But this time, it was only us, and I was stupid to think a mask and different hair color would prevent him from knowing me the second he saw me.
“Little sweets, I was looking for you,” he said. His words washed over me like a cold shower, and before I could move, he snagged my arm and pulled me into the elevator.
“Let me go! What do you think you are doing?” I struggled against him as the metal box moved again.
He chuckled. That sure of himself sound, the one he used to do when he knew he had me where he wanted me and it soured my stomach.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find you? That I wouldn’t come for you?” he asked, but he wasn’t looking for an answer.
The doors slid open on the next floor, and he let me go. I bolted. Running for freedom. All I had really done was make his job easier. He wanted me on the pool deck. It was a game for him. He blocked the stairs before I could get to them, leaving me on the patio beyond the doors. If I could get out and block them somehow, someone would come for me eventually. Right?
How wrong I’d been. I tripped as one of my heels broke. The painting went flying across the cement, stopping right next to the pool. But my fall was what he needed. He yanked me up by my hair and then dragged me to the edge of the pool. He laughed when he looked down at the painting.
“If I knew they would deliver you straight into my arms, I wouldn’t have spent the last few weeks following the crumbs you’ve left to your location. Did you really think you could keep running? That I wouldn’t track you down? We found the warehouse, the pawn shop, a few gangs in the area were way too willing to give you up. Then it went dry. Until two nights ago, after yet another one of my men showed up tortured and dead, I knew we were close, and Saint,” he laughed like a madman, “He was the common denominator. Your down fall.”
I wrapped my fingers around his hand that was pulling my hair, trying to get myself free. He kicked the painting into the water, and it sank to the bottom. Then he kneed me in the back, and I tumbled in after. As I came up and sputtered the water from my mouth, he shoved me back under, holding me there.
“Hey, Audrey, come back to me,” Saint says, tugging me from the nightmare of a memory. Tears roll down my face, and I blink up at him.
“I thought I was doing what was right. But I should have told you and Felix.”
He shakes his head and pulls me into his chest. “I didn’t mean to push. Any one of us would have done the same if we had your skills. And none of us knew you were in danger until it was too late.”
“I should have known,” I say and swallow. “I knew we weren’t safe, and that he was still coming after us. I just grew comfortable and secure with you guys. It felt like nothing could hurt me if I had you three watching my back. Only I left a party without telling any of you–”
I let out a self deprecating laugh and shake my head against his firm body. I had been stupid. Not that I was some girl that needs rescued, well, clearly I was, but not normally. Normally, I can hold my own.
