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He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. His jaw clenches.
“Fine. I’ll leave you here,” he says as he walks towards the door. “But I’ll be back after Christmas, and I’ll take you back with me. You better take care of yourself until then.”
“Rainier…”
He stops with his hand on the doorknob and meets my gaze. “Only then will I get the ring. I told you, right? You can only give it back to me after we leave this place. Together. So until then, you’re still my fiancee. If the Northups hurt you, they’ll pay.”
Then he opens the door and steps out.
Chapter 18 ~ Warning
Rainier
I step inside the car and close the door. My driver, Mike, glances over his shoulder.
“Is Dr. Smithson coming, sir?”
“No,” I answer. “Drive.”
The car starts moving. I sit back and put on my seatbelt. My gaze falls on the empty space beside me and I frown.
I’m still shocked that Ellis might be a Northup. That goes without saying. I’m even more frustrated, though. Of all the families she could have belonged to, why does it have to be the Northups? They’re going to break her. And she’s not even going to put up a fight. She’s just going to let them because they’re her family. Worse, she won’t let me fight for her.
I know, I know. I’m not her real fiance, so I understand why she won’t accept my protection. But I am her friend, her boss if nothing else. And goddamn it, I don’t want her to get hurt. But how can I keep her safe if she won’t let me? How can I help her when she pushes me away?
I look out the window and let out a deep breath. The snowflakes fall just as they have been doing the past few days. It’s what they’re meant to do. For once, though, I don’t know what I should do. I feel so…
Helpless.
No, I realize. Not for once. I felt this way before, after that plane crash.
As I catch a glimpse of the trees in the distance, I remember the woods I and the other survivors wandered for days, woods filled with wild beasts and other threats. I remember looking under rocks for things to eat. I remember drinking water from a leaf, savoring every drop as if it were my last. I remember the impatience of trying to start a fire, spinning the stick between my hands just like James taught me and waiting, hoping, praying for a spark.
James. He was the only one of all of us who stayed calm at all times, who never acted like we were doomed to die. While we lay still to conserve our energy, drowning in our hopeless thoughts, he would hum while making something – a trap, a crown of flowers for the little girl who survived, a cup of leaves. Sometimes, he would carve, too – a fish, a duck, a horse…
A horse.
My eyebrows furrow as the memory of James carving a horse comes back to me.
“Why a horse?” I ask him.
He trims the piece of wood in his hand with his knife. “Why not? I like horses.” He looks at me. “You’re rich, aren’t you? I bet you own a horse.”
I don’t answer.
“My wife, she had a horse. I think everyone in their family had a horse. I don’t remember what she called hers, but I remember the name of her father’s horse, which she said he mounted on top of his bed – Run Like Hell.”
“Run Like Hell,” I mutter to myself.
Then I sit up. That’s the name of the horse above Samuel’s bed. It can’t be a coincidence, can it?
Come to think of it, James mentioned that his wife had run away from a rich family. And she died during childbirth, which is why he gave up his daughter.
My eyes grow wide.
A horse above a rich man’s bed. A woman who ran away from home. A daughter given up. A father’s plea.
If you ever meet my daughter, tell her I want her to be happy.
I tap Mike’s shoulder as adrenaline pumps through my veins. “Turn the car around. We’re going back to Northup Manor.”
~
I find Ellis still in the bedroom. I thought she’d be at Samuel’s side or in Christine’s room or fixing the ornaments on one of the Christmas trees around the house. Instead, I find her sitting on the couch in front of the fire and staring into the flames just as I left her.
No. Not as I left her.
She looks more upset this time. Her cheeks are pale. Her hands, clasped together as if in prayer, are trapped between her knees.
“Rainier?” Her eyes grow wide when she sees me. “What are you doing back here?”
I ignore her question and sit beside her. I take her hands in mine. Just as I thought, they’re shaking.
