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They hustled me out with smothering laughter and then Artie, who seemed to be oddly kind for a Mafioso, told me that I was free to wander the property.
“Don’t go past the tree line or the rock wall,” Artie warned as he smoothed back the sides of his hair with a comb. It was a gesture that few people could pull off with his natural kind of finesse. “Our guys shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Right,” I said and went to grab a heavy sweater. It was then I found a few pairs of shoes in the closet of the guest room. For a brief moment, I was tempted to wear the sneakers and see if I could make a run for it but, in the end, I settled on the knee-high riding boots.
Outside, I was greeted by a cold, overcast day and I shivered, wondering if it might have been better to stay inside. It had gone down to single digits the night before. But the thing was, I’d rather be cold and trick myself into think I’m free than be warm and locked inside.
As I walked across the frozen grass, I noted movement behind the trees and a guard walked by, giving me a curt nod and resuming his perimeter loop.
All at once, the spacious yard closed down on me and felt oppressive and I swore I could feel several pairs of eyes peering at me, weighing my actions and finding me wanting. They were probably wondering why their boss hadn’t killed me yet.
I wondered the same, then pressed my fingers to my lips. Did Ty just want to fool around with me andthenkill me?
The thought had me walking faster, agitated, wondering what I could say to him when he returned. Would he let me go?
My stomach dipped. I seriously doubted it.
After I made a lap of the back yard, confirming that I had indeed seen wooded hills from the window last night, and was probably either in Western Mass or Southern New Hampshire, I spotted a wrought iron fence around the corner of the house.
Making my way over there, I stopped short as I took in the massive garden that ran from the side of the house down to a river and fields beyond. It was barely contained by the iron fence that encircled it.
Where the hell was I?
No answer came to me, and I walked along the fence until I came to a cracked open door. Slipping into the garden, my lips parted as I took it in; there were paths running through trees and trellises adorned by climbing plants, and I found myself picturing how gorgeous this would look in the spring and summer.
Ty’s stone house beyond and the metal fence should have given the garden a foreboding feeling but the carefully trimmed plantsand neat paths made it seem as though years and years of care and attention had been poured into it.
Had a Mafia boss done all this?
I made my way down another path, walking back toward the house when I came upon a small pool with a fountain fixture in the middle of it. It wasn’t on but I stood there for a few moments before spotting a stone bench underneath a pine tree.
Going over to it, I sat down and bit back a yelp at the icy stone biting through my leggings. Then, determined to ignore it and sit there, I pulled my knees up and set my chin on them. My eyes drifted to a close and, more than once, I almost nodded off. I wished I’d asked Flora for coffee but I’d been too shy.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my face into my knees and a bone-deep shiver went through me. Lifting my head, I glanced around wondering why my heart had begun to thrum so nervously.
I slipped a hand up and under my hair, rubbing at my prickling neck then let both hands curl around the edge of the stone bench under me as I gazed around.
There was no one here but I could have sworn—
Shaking my head, I stood up and then pulled in a sharp inhale of breath.
Ty stood at the entrance of the path, the shadows of the trees beyond appeared as if they were about to reach out and caress him, trying to entice him back. His dark eyes burned into mine and his hair was messier than I’d seen it so far.
Hell, from here, he didn’t even seem real, and my stomach spiraled with nerves as I recalled those full, sensuous lips that had been intent on tasting every inch of my skin the day before. Even though he was out of the suit and wearing a deep green cable-knit sweater, jeans and gray boots – he still cut an imposing and dangerous figure.
He was a man that no one in their right mind should fuck with.
Well, that was too bad.
I lifted my chin and tried to summon my inner troublemaker. She got me into a lot of hell but she’d also helped me hold my own for the last year without anyone else there to watch my back.
Besides, it occurred to me at that moment that it wasn’t like Ty would want to keep me here forever.
I didn’t want to examine why I wouldn’t hate the idea if he did. That just meant I needed to get out of here sooner.
I have to get him to let me go. I have to get as far away from here as possible.
“Is my house so terrible you have to hide in a dead garden?” he asked.
