“You’ll have to excuse us,” he said, and closed the door firmly in her face. “Time sensitive matter. You understand. But thank you,” he drawled, “for the lunch. Fulfilling as usual, my dear.”
“But how will I get home?” she hissed, tugging at the door handle. Discrete, so as not to draw more attention than the commotion had already warranted.
Asher tapped Marco’s shoulder, and said, “I’m sure Mr. Collins would be delighted to escort you.”
15
Abreath hissed between Asher’s teeth, but he tore his inky gaze from the passing scenery to pin me with a sardonic glare. “Getting bold again, I see.”
I hummed, shifting in my seat. “How’s that?”
He plucked the bottle of wine from my fingers, turning it into a shaft of sunlight to inspect the label.
“Ah.” I pinched my tongue between my front teeth to squash the smirk. “Just accepting Carina’s generosity. She went to all the trouble to save a bottle of summer wine, after all. Who could possibly appreciate it more than me?”
“You are without a doubt, the most relentless pain in my ass,” he drawled, but handed the bottle back to me with a quiet smirk.
“And you,” I returned, “expect too much, and say too little. What’s the emergency?” I asked, and ran a thumb over the gold embedded in my wrist.
His response was a terse, clipped, “Alicia didn’t bother to say,” as he pulled his cannon from its holster. Checking the complicated mechanisms, he paused for just a moment before pulling on the bond to charge the weapon. Setting my wrists and throat ablaze, but only for a moment.
Breath hissing through clenched teeth, I weathered the pain without complaint, then said, “Something deadly, then.”
He set the barrel atop his thigh, and murmured, “Just in case,” as he turned to stare out the window.
Eying the heavy brown envelop in his free hand, I tugged it from his clenched fist and flattened the crumpled paper.
Only two words, written in beautiful script on Asher’s personal, watermarked stationary.
* * *
Emergency. Hurry.
~ A
* * *
“This place is exhausting,”I whispered, and let my head fall back. Eyes drifting closed for a moment as the letter fluttered to the floor.
Brows raised, Asher hummed, but that was all until his residence came into view.
It was dark.
Not a light on. Silent and still.
“Stay close,” he breathed against my cheek. “Stay silent. Let me deal with whatever comes, understood?”
I nodded. Pulse in my throat. An open bottle clutched in bloodless knuckles.
“I need to hear you say it, Mila,” he said. Unblinking as he pinned me with a heavy look and did not falter.
I flicked my wrist, impatient and bubbling with anxiety. “Yes,yes. I’ll be a good girl. Obedient, until such a time that I can over power you and take my sweet revenge.”
Despite himself and the tense, mysterious situation unfolding in his residence, the captain laughed. Letting his eyes drift closed for the space of a single breath, before he said, “Marco?”
“On your right, old man,” the soldier replied, fidgeting with his weapon, he stepped clear of the pilot’s chair. Utterly void of his usual banter as he scowled at the house.
“Right. Move.”
