“You want what everyone wants. The beautifuloutside. You don’t want what’s underneath it. Trust me.” She shakes her head before adding under her breath, “I don’t even want that.”
“I want to show you the house.” Taking hold of her hand, I lead her back towards the estate and up the stairs. Maria is waiting for us in the foyer. “Maria, this is mi alma, Evie. Evie, Maria is our housekeeper. She’ll make sure you’re comfortable while you’re here.”
Maria’s eyes light up like she’s just found a long-lost friend. “Miss Evie, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Are you hungry? Of course you are. I’ll get you something,” she says, and then she’s rushing off towards the kitchen.
“She doesn’t need to get me food, Emmanuel,” Evie whispers.
“She’s going to whether I tell her to or not. If Maria wants to feed you, she’s going to feed you.” I laugh. “This way.”
I guide Evie through the bottom level of the house.
“Why are you showing me every room?” she asks.
“Because I want you to be familiar with the estate. It’s big. I don’t need you getting lost in the halls.” Next, I lead her upstairs and show her the bedrooms, leaving mine for last.
Evie steps inside and takes in every detail. “You’re kinda boring, aren’t you?”
I laugh. No one has ever called meboringbefore. Not to my face anyway. “What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know. I expected your bedroom to be like some kind of sex dungeon. It’s just so… plain.”
“You want me to build you a sex dungeon, Evie?” I quirk a brow at her. I’m not opposed to the idea.
“No. I prefer to not be tied up. Or passed out,” she mutters.
“Again, I didn’t touch you,” I remind her. “I do want to know who did, though.”
Evie’s body tenses and her eyes look everywhere but at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You screamed out in your sleep.”
“It was a nightmare. People have them. Except you, right? Considering youarethe nightmare,” she throws back at me.
I laugh again. I don’t remember a time I’ve smiled so fucking much. “Funny, but it wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory, and I want to know what it was about. I want to know what happened to you.”
“Nothing happened to me,” she insists.
My phone rings, and Paz’s name flashes on the screen. “I have to take this. I’ll be in myoffice when you decide to stop lying to me.” I close the distance and kiss the middle of her forehead. “Maria will come and find you soon.”
I leave Evie in my bedroom. I don’t need to keep her locked up. I’ll know the minute she steps out the front door and tries to leave. I’ll also be there to follow her.
“Yeah?” I answer Paz’s call.
“We have a problem,” he says. “Basement.”
“Be there in a minute,” I tell him and make my way downstairs towards the one room I didn’t show Evie on her tour. I don’t need to fill her head with anymore nightmares.
Chapter Nine
He just left me in this room. His room. What the hell is this guy’s problem? I consider walking out, just going right out the front door. The issue with that is the horde of armed men who will be there to stop me. I’d have to go past them. And honestly, that’s not something I want to try to do on my own. Without Emmanuel standing beside me.
I shouldn’t find comfort in him. Yet hispresence makes me feel almost untouchable. Stupid. It’s probably my subconscious’s way of trying to cope with the fact I’ve basically just been taken hostage by a psychopath.
No,not basically. I have been taken hostage.
He wants to know what happened to me. He’ll be waiting a long-ass time before I give up that information. It’s not something I talk about. It’s bad enough that Rachel and Charlotte know a little of my story. No way does anyone else need to know too.
Charlotte. I could call her. Surely, Louie knows where Emmanuel lives. They could come and get me. But it’s her first day of being married. I don’t want to make it about me, when it should be about her.
