90. Claimed

He hurled me over his shoulder and started toward the side of the gas station where a black car was readily in wait.

I screamed, yelled, scratched his back, yet nothing. Well, I might as well be hitting a brick wall. The area was deserted, there was no one to help, and my screams weren't getting me anywhere.

There was nothing hurried about his steps; he took his time, and when we got to the car, he threw me in the back seat and filed in behind me.

"Drive." He said, and that was it, his driver or whoever the robotic-looking man was, started the car.

"How... What are you doing here?" I asked him, frantic. "How did you know where I was?"

He didn’t answer right away, instead, he leaned back in his seat and said, "I've been keeping tabs on you. There is this thing called a tracker. Since you chose to run from me, I had to be creative."

I knew that must be the situation, but it still took my breath away. "You're kidnapping me, why?" I asked breathlessly.

"Because I told you, Celia. If I ever set my eyes on you again, I won't be able to let you go. Which is exactly what is happening right now." His eyes were watching me through the rearview mirror as we streamed towards a country road.

I didn’t know how to respond to what he said. So, I flashed my false engagement ring at him, telling him I was engaged. To who? A ghost? He doesn't need to know that.

But flaunting the ring only gained me a faint chuckle. "You must be out of your fucking mind." He said, grabbed my finger, and pulled the ring out of it.

He paused and examined it briefly, probably checking if it was a valuable piece. When he was certain it was just shine and bling with faux crystal stones, he pressed the button, and the window winded down. Then he threw my ring out through the window.

"You won't be needing that."

"You idiot! You threw my engagement ring away!" I yelled. "I'm fucking engaged for crying out loud!"

"And does it look like I would care?" He snarled.

Christ, I'm in deep shit. "Edoardo." I finally mustered the courage to call him by his name. "I really appreciate you rescuing me. I would really be forever grateful to you If you could drop me off at Oakville. I have this meeting with..."

"Laurette Brisk. Yeah, I know." He interrupted. "Except that Laurette Brisk is me. And we're going to have that meeting anyway. I've run out of patience, Celia."

"What do you mean?" I asked, startled.

"I mean I can't drop you off anywhere. In other words, I don't plan on letting you go." Edoardo said, "I let you go all this time. I fucking pleaded with you to be with me, but you left me for him. Now that he's no longer in the picture, I'm not going to sit in the sideline and watch you being taken from me, again. I’m afraid I don’t have the ability to let you go. Once you showed up today, all bets were off."

"What do you mean you let me go all this time." I objected.

And then he did turn to me. His beautiful blue eyes, so full of bright intensity. "I mean, I let you leave when you visit the grocery stores and pharmacies, I let you go home from that your little store every day, I let you sleep peacefully in that cute bed of yours every night, I've never stopped you for once."

My heart started beating like crazy. "You've been stalking me."

"Correct." He didn't deny it.

"How would you have stopped me?" I asked, feeling caught and trapped in his gaze.

His eyes were still focused on me. "I could have claimed you earlier. Open my car door like a gentleman and let you in."

"And if I didn’t want to go?" I asked.

His eyes gleamed. "I would have tied you up and thrown you in anyways."

"Jesus! That would be illegal." I said sharply.

"Baby," he said, his eyes filled with an unholy glee, "nothing I do in this whole county is illegal."

"Well, you can't claim me, I'm engaged."

"I won't only claim you, I will marry you. You haven't been seeing anyone. So, I wonder who you're trying to fool with a false ring."

"You can believe whatever the hell you want to. Just so you know, we can't get married. Not against my will. My father won't even consent to It."

I objected, trying to ignore the heat and need that was pounding in my pussy whenever he looked at me like he just did.

“I’m marrying you anyway," Edoardo said.

My jaw dropped. "Isn’t there a police station around here?" I asked irritably.

"There sure is," he replied.

"I’m sure the police would be very interested in your plans to kidnap and force me to marry you," I threatened.

"Yes, they would," he replied. "The Police Chief is a good friend of mine. He would be thrilled to finally meet you in person."

I gasped, bereft of speech.

"So in essence, there’s no escape, Cel," he said. "You’re mine now. You didn't want it the easy way, so here we are."