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“I will,” I say, partly because I want him to keep me safe and partly because I like having him close.
Something unspoken swirls between us, a palpable tension that neither of us is ready to address.Still rattled from the encounter with Jasper, I choose safer ground.“Thank you for tonight,” I say softly, looking into his eyes.
“No need to thank me, Miss Slater.It’s the job,” he says, letting go of the end of my robe.
I’m disappointed that he’s back to formalities, but I lean back and slide into bed, utterly exhausted.
“Stay till I fall asleep?”I ask, even though I can feel myself already drifting off.
“Yes,” he says after a moment’s pause, and I hear him settle into the corner chair.
With that assurance, my eyelids grow heavy, and I finally allow myself to surrender to sleep, comforted by the knowledge that he’s watching over me.
* * *
Kingsley has been unusually silent—even for him—since we returned to New York a few hours ago, and the quiet is getting under my skin.I find myself agitated and restless while he hovers near me in the garden.My mind keeps circling back to his earlier comment about being “used to women… people obeying him.”It didn’t come across as misogynistic, and I’m puzzled, trying to understand what he meant.
“Why won’t you press charges?”he finally asks, his eyes ablaze and fixed on me as if he’s about to explode.
That’s why he’s being moody?
“You don’t get it.If I press charges, everything goes public,” I say, trying to keep my voice even.
He clenches his jaw.“To hell with that.What if I hadn’t made it in time?Did you even consider that?”His voice rises, tinged with a potent mix of anger and something else.
I straighten up, locking eyes with him.I don’t appreciate his tone, but oddly, I find myself drawn to the intensity of his emotions.
Could it be that he actually cares about me?
My phone cuts through the tense silence, and I’m almost relieved for the interruption.Glancing at the screen, I see Rosie’s name, which is strange because we just left one another on the tarmac.
“Are you refueling the jet to take me back to Sardinia?”I ask, walking away from Kingsley.
“Victoria,” she starts, and the tone of her voice tells me something is very off.
“What is it, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Fox.Isabella’s son is missing.”
“What?Since when?”
“They got back from Italy, and she went to pick him up from daycare, according to her agreement with her ex, and Fox wasn’t there.”
I feel a pit open up in my stomach.“Oh God,” I mutter, imagining the sheer terror any mother would feel at that moment.
“The daycare staff said her ex, Travis, picked Fox up.He’s not answering his phone, and the police have seen him heading north.”
“He kidnapped him?”I feel my skin prickle with anxiety, memories of my own past experiences flooding back, threatening to suffocate me.
“Yes.I understand if you don’t want to come, but—”
“Where are you?”I cut her off, urgency replacing any other emotion.
“We’re just arrived at Julius’ penthouse.”
“I’m on my way.”I hang up, turn around, and pin Kingsley with a stare.“Let’s go.”
9
