"Kai, are you sure about this?" Ethan's voice was low, yet, from where we sat in my office, waiting for Lena to arrive, I felt the tautness in his tone.I nodded, not taking my eyes off the door. "She's the only lead we have. If Zara told anyone about her plan, it would be her sister."Ethan flopped back in his chair, expressionless. "I hope you are right. If she knows anything, though, she isn't going to make it easy.""She'll talk," I said, hardening my voice. "One way or another, she'll talk."Uneasy silence crawled minutes while my mind kept racing on and on. Security tapes kept running over in my head, the picture of Zara getting into that car with some mystery man, her image branded into my brain, and I flared up in a burning rage that just would not die. I had to know who'd helped her.Again, the silence was broken by someone else's knock on the door, and Ethan stood up to let her in. Lena walked in looking nervous; her eyes flitted from Ethan back to me, trying to be bold, tho
CHAPTER 10"Tell me where she is, Liam." My voice came out surprisingly flat. The air was tight with tension, taut, seeming as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.Liam is the son of my company's Legal advisor. I did my findings after seeing him in the CCTV footage and discovered that he was Zara's ex-boyfriend. It all made sense now. Liam's jaw was clenched tight as he looked up at me, but in his eyes, I could see the flicker of fear. He was trying to be brave, but I knew better. I could smell weakness, and I was going to use that weakness against him."Mr Adler, I don't know where she is," Liam persisted, shaking his voice. "She just wanted out, and I helped her. That is all."I was closer now, inches from his face. "You want me to believe that? You helped her get away from me, and now you think you can just feign ignorance? You know where she is, Liam. You know, and you're going to tell me.".Liam swallowed, his Adam's apple rising, then beginning to bob nervously.
ZARA'S POV "Are you quite sure about this, Zara?" The lady I've been staying with, Margaret asked, filling her eyes with concern, as she handed me a steaming cup of tea.With my hands wrapped around the mug, smelling first the soothing aroma of the chamomile, I responded, "Yes, Aunt Margaret. I have thought long and hard about it. This is the best decision for me."She heaved a sigh and sat down on the other side of me at the narrow kitchen table. In the fine wood grain that stretched between us, we could see the first sunbeams filtered through the lace curtains. "All I want is for you to be sure, dear. Once it's done, there's no going back.""I know," I said, infuriated, reaching out for the cup of tea and taking a sip to calm myself. "But bringing a child into this world under these conditions… that is not fair to anyone, let alone the baby."She reached across the table, her palm coming to rest over mine. It was a warm touch, very comforting in its way, much like everything that w
Kai. He stood his ground. His big presence crowded the small room. His dark eyes sparked—anger, but also something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Maybe relief? Possession? Anger?But behind him, his men were holding the nurse and security guard without a move, effectively closing off any route of exit for them."Kai?" I tried whispering, so my voice would be soft, gentle, and quite unsure.A step closer, his eyes nailed into mine. "You think you can hide from me, Zara? You think I wouldn't find you?"My very blood went cold as something grasped onto each part of me in fear. This wasn't how this was supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to find me."How… how did you find me?" I stuttered backwards until my back hit the wall.His lips twisted into something wicked. “Now. Did you think Liam's family would keep you from me? From your husband? No one can separate us, sweetheart."I balled my fists. Psycho to some semblance of bravery, at least. "I don't belong to you, Kai.
ZARA'S POV "Are you quite sure about this, Zara?" The lady I've been staying with, Margaret asked, filling her eyes with concern, as she handed me a steaming cup of tea.With my hands wrapped around the mug, smelling first the soothing aroma of the chamomile, I responded, "Yes, Aunt Margaret. I have thought long and hard about it. This is the best decision for me."She heaved a sigh and sat down on the other side of me at the narrow kitchen table. In the fine wood grain that stretched between us, we could see the first sunbeams filtered through the lace curtains. "All I want is for you to be sure, dear. Once it's done, there's no going back.""I know," I said, infuriated, reaching out for the cup of tea and taking a sip to calm myself. "But bringing a child into this world under these conditions… that is not fair to anyone, let alone the baby."She reached across the table, her palm coming to rest over mine. It was a warm touch, very comforting in its way, much like everything that w
An hour went by with me pacing up and down my office floor, thoughts churning of what I would do when finally I had Zara back within my grasp. Mine. And she needed reminding of the fact. My phone buzzed an hour later with a new message that I grasped eagerly and read with so much anticipation. "I found her," the words said. "She is being held with an old Lady in a small cottage on the outskirts of town. Attached is the address." A slow, dangerous smile spread across my face. Now Zara was so near, this close, so near to being back to where she belonged. Not a minute could be wasted, and I instinctively tugged at my jacket, began for the door, and texted Ethan, That he should meet me by the car. We were off to see Zara, and it was high time that she learned she couldn't get away with it. The sun dipped under the horizon as Ethan and I turned into the drive, dragging long shadows across the landscape. The tension stirred between us, focusing into a core, sharp edge in the vacuum of s
CHAPTER 15"'Still not thinking, love," I muttered, half to myself. "You need to come home, where you belong. We'll work this out, Zara. I swear it."She pulled again, but I wasn't about to lose her. "Kai, I don't belong to you, only this child does. I never did. If you were looking out for me, looking out for us, you wouldn't treat me the way you did."Actually, at this particular moment, I was just silent at the words that she said, cutting straight through the layers of anger and desperation that I had built around me. The words I am telling her are strange to my ears, the words that will make her understand that I am not the kind of monster in her view. But maybe, I am a monster. Not that it mattered; I could but barely let her slip away, not now, not ever.Zara wept, soundless, convulsive. "Please, Kai," she said, gasping the words, if you ever cared for me even a bit, make it such that at least I have a choice in this. Let me be free."Her words closed the room in on me, and I
ZARA'S POVAt last, Kai had won his battle. I woke up to a smelling fresh linen foreign in my nostrils, with a throbbing head. The previous day's events crashed over me, and I opened my eyes to the soft morning light that seeped through heavy drapes. Slowly, I rose into a sitting position, around me surveying the room clearly. My mind had been so weak with the word opulent when I took in a grand four-poster bed, antique furniture, and lush carpeting. All that luxury in the world could not make this place look more less than a prison, a gilded cage meant to hold me. I began kicking my legs across the bed and then down onto a cold floor below me, anchoring myself into reality. I needed to get out. Groggily, I looked around the room for some exit, anything. But there wasn't as all doors and windows closed tight at their handles while I pulled at them frantically.The door into the hall was open a crack. For one fleet moment, hope pumped through my veins. Maybe I could slip out unseen