Chapter Nine
Caroline
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IWATCHED THE DOORas it closed behind Claude, leaving the two of us alone in what our host had called the ‘viewing room’.Harper’s deposit box had been brought from the appropriate vault and placed on the table for him to open, but to the word ‘room’ didn’t do the gigantic place justice.Its scale and décor were incredible for a space so few people would see, but after our journey through the labyrinth of vaults, I was hardly surprised.The technology keeping those deposit boxes safe was like something out of a science fiction novel, the high-end security reminding me of a futuristic crypt.
“This is it.”Harper’s excited tone captured my attention, and I watched as he walked the short distance to the clean, white table, where his box was waiting.
In my head, he was still ‘Harper’, the commander general who’d wielded such terror and temptation at the camp I’d been held in.Yet, simultaneously, he’d become Adam, the man who’d loved, pleasured, and protected me.
The man who’d saved me.
In truth, he was both men; the tender lover and the callous tyrant.And even though one of those roles had recently become redundant, the way he embodied both with comparative ease was still a headfuck.How could a man who’d locked up so many innocent women have been prepared to sacrifice everything for a woman he scarcely knew?A part of me still didn’t understand the leap of faith he’d taken.
“So, this is where everyone views their boxes, Sir?”
I glanced around, not sure if I was impressed or disgusted.I’d known Harper was a significant man in the alleged new regime, but I’d never appreciated the extent of his personal wealth.The kind of money it must have taken to keep possessions in the vault of a bank like the one we were standing in then was probably more than I was ever likely to see in my whole life.
“That’s right.”He slotted the key Claude had given him into the lock.
“You could do anything in a place like this.”I heard the awe in my voice as my gaze scanned the sumptuous space.“In fact, this is about the same size as the downstairs of the house I used to own.”
Before the state impounded it as its own.
“I’m pleased you like it.”He wasn’t paying attention to me, not anymore.
For the first time since we fled Fortorus, something other than my wellbeing had commanded his focus, and collapsing onto one of the fancy chairs positioned around the room, I concentrated on the box that held such fascination for him.
He’d mentioned that there was foreign currency inside, but what else he’d reveal, I had no way of knowing.My gaze darted to the bag he’d left by the entrance.Everything else we owned in the world was in there, and none of those possessions were mine.In the frenzy of getting away from an authoritarian state, I’d forgotten just how penniless I truly was.
“It’s all here.”He sounded relieved, though I didn’t understand why.Surely, he paid the bank a fortune to ensure that everything was precisely where he’d left it.
“What are you looking for, Sir?”I considered getting up to look for myself, but an odd sense of propriety kept me rooted to my seat.
Whatever was in that box was his property, and the fact that he’d run away with me didn’t make any of it mine.
I paused at that, the idea resonating again.I had nothing.No money, no property, and no possessions.Hell, even the friends I’d had were either dead or on the run in the country I’d once called home.Staring at the man I loved, I realized abruptly just how dependent I was on him.
