I couldn’t keep Claire here for good. I knew that. But if she met me in the middle and stayed for as long as it could take for me to ensure her safety outside these walls, I was sure I’d bore of her. My curiosity would have to wane.
“Martin.”
The butler stepped forward as Claire and I stared each other down, neither of us flinching.
“Please show Dr. Donovon to the guest suite in the west wing.”
Claire’s eyes slitted further, as if she could sharpen the precision of the daggers she sent my way with her glare.
“Provide her with all she needs as our newest guest.”
“Guest?” she spat. “I’m a captive. Not aguest.”
“You are not leaving until I deem it safe.” I turned to walk away, impatient to have a breather from her when she made me feel so mad and alive. I had to check in with Andre and Roman to make sure no one was bothering anyone else at the hospital.
“I have a life. A job! I can’t stay here!” she protested to my back.
I didn’t stop. I couldn’t, because if she tried to argue and rebel, fighting to get my permission to leave, I doubted I’d be able to resist the allure of making her submit and surrender to my wishes.
12
CLAIRE
“This way, please,” the butler said, gesturing for me to follow him up the staircase.
I frowned in the direction of where Mikhail had walked away, leaving me to follow his orders, nothing else said.
Dragging my withering glare from the way he’d gone, I cast a look at the guards at the door.
I wasn’t so stupid as to try to get past them. I wasn’t so dumb that I could plan on begging them to let me out of here. They wouldn’t defy their boss.
Defeated, I trudged after the butler until he showed me to a lavishly decorated and elegant guest suite. He gave me a brief, monotone tour of the area, showing me the attached bathroom and adding that clothing and anything I needed would be delivered to the suite.
That was it.
He showed me in here as if I were a guest and left.
The second he closed the door after himself, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and unlocked it.
This was insane. This was wrong. I couldn’t just go along with any of this and stay and…
Fuck.
As I looked at the screen, ready to do the common-sense thing of calling for the police, I stopped my finger. It hovered over the keypad. Not only was there no service or reception for me to call out from this building, but I also recognized that Icouldn’t.
How could I call for the cops when they wouldn’t be able to get in here?
How could I alert someone to save me when Mikhail had been the one to actually rescue me from death?
How…
I slumped to the bed and buried my face in my hands. Shaken all over again, I let the enormity of the situation really sink in.
I was here because I had to be. I had made the mistake of getting involved. Now that I had, I had to stick with this Mafia man just to be safe!
Memories of the moment flooded into my mind. Flashbacks of being so startled. Of feeling like I’d pass out. Of fearing that bullet piercing my skin. Sitting there and hugging myself, I hated that I wished for that small flicker of security that I’d felt when Mikhail put his hand on my back. He wasn’t supposed to be a source of comfort. He wasn’t supposed to be the one I’d seek out for protection. That Italian thug had targeted mebecauseof Mikhail!
Antsy and irritated, I did my best to breathe through another start of a panic attack. I couldn’t just sit here and let the images and memories play on a loop in my mind’s eye. I couldn’t just?—
