Her. Her. Her.
“You have saved me,” she said, her voice rough. “I owe you everything.”
Uncomfortable with a great many things, he pulled his hands from hers, stepped back. “I do not require thanks. Come, let us see what we can scrounge up to eat.” He turned on a heel and walked out of the living room in search of the kitchen. He had seen the floor plan of the house, so he had a vague idea where everything was.
Another thing he would do with the days he could afford to stay was ensure her security system was state of the art. The best Marti Systems had to offer.
While he kept her from touching him, even so generically, ever again.
The kitchen was big. Everything seemed commercial grade. Still with that almost corporate feeling. Perhaps once some time passed, he could have it redecorated, give the place some warmth for her.
“I’m afraid all this will be lost on me,” Evelyne said, peering down at the stainless-steel gas stove. “Father often punished me with cleaning tasks, but I was never much allowed in the kitchens. I’m not even sure I know how to make toast.”
“Lucky for you, the internet is a trove of information that can teach you. Definitely how to make toast. I have already had the fridge and pantry stocked for you prior to our arrival, and we’ll set up recurring grocery deliveries in some way before I leave.”
“I don’t have my phone, my computer…” She looked around, clearly a bit overwhelmed by everything, and understandably so. “I don’t have anything.”
“It’ll all be taken care of before I leave.”
“Leave.” She wrinkled her nose, but she turned away from him so he only caught the hint of her profile. “What will I do in this big house all by myself?” she asked, hugging her arms around herself.
“Stay out of sight. Live a quiet, private life. Learn to cook, perhaps.” He shrugged. “That is up to you, how you spend your time. Such is freedom.”
“How novel.” She delivered the quip with a hint of humor, a hint of self-deprecating sarcasm. “I am not sure anything of importance has ever been up to me. I am not sure I know how to…handle things being up to me.”
“Freedom always comes with a bit of a price and learning curve, I fear.”
She nodded, straightened her shoulders. She looked older than she had. Not quite duller, but not asshinywas the only word he could think of.
“Well, I’m ready to pay it,” she said resolutely.
He felt strangely proud and figured it best if he didn’t linger on that feeling.
CHAPTER FOUR
The day Evelynedreaded had come. After just three days of getting her settled, Gabriel would leave her here. Alone.
Shealmostloved the house. It was beautiful, if a little overly white and almost sterile feeling inside, but she absolutely loved standing on the balconies, terraces and porches watching the sea’s fascinating dance. Sometimes the lull of calm waves against the rock, sometimes angry slaps, sometimes chaotic whirls. It made up for the bad decorating.
She would have loved the house itself, she thought, if it was full of people—like the palace had been. But the echoing emptiness of it at night—with Gabriel the entire length of the home away—left her uneasy and…sad.
Sadness was silly, she knew. She had escaped her father and General Vinyes. This was cause for constant happiness and celebration. She should beecstatic.
But really, she’d traded one prison for another. Gabriel even warned her against taking walks just yet. And now he was leaving her alone and with instructions to stay inside.
This prison wasbetterof course. No one would beat her or ridicule her or force her to marry a man who would also no doubt beat and ridicule her, but it was still…forced solitary confinement—even if the confinement was elegant and luxurious.
Gabriel must have read her distress over that—he was good atreadingthe room. Or just her. And not in the way her father or even Alexandre was. Though she hated to draw comparisons between her father and brother, they both had a way of understanding her in order tomaneuverher into whatever they wanted.
But what Alex wanted was for the greater good, so that was not so bad. What her father wanted was always to prove his power, his dominance, so thatwasbad.
But Gabriel seemed to read her in order to…understand. And now, he assuaged her concerns. Or tried to.
“Eventually, we will ease your way into a less isolated life,” he was saying while she watched him fiddle with a computer—hercomputer now. He’d gotten all sorts of things in place over the past three days. A computer, a phone, an entire security system controlled by both. “Once the talk of your disappearance dies down, once your father finds some different vengeance plot to follow, and with some slight physical details shifted, you may eventually lead a very normal life.”
May. Eventually. She tried not to be depressed by those words—she was safe from both her fatherandthe general, after all. She waslucky.
She would teach herself to cook. She would watch the ocean. Maybe at some point she could buy some paint, some new furniture, bring life to this place’s interior.
