A Debt Owed(39)
“Are you okay?” Jill suddenly whispers into my ear, and she places her hands on my shoulders. “I was so worried about you climbing out that window.”
“I’m fine,” I whisper back, trying not to alert Easton, who’s still busy trying to take care of that one guy on the ground … and the dead body lying mere feet away from me.
“Why did you do it?” she asks while I start to shiver from the cold rain soaking my bathrobe. “You could’ve died.”
“Because …” I shrug. What answer can ever satisfy her or Easton? Freedom is all I ever wanted but not like this. Not when I risk one of his own men attacking me… and for one of them to die right in front of me.
Jill picks up the pager from the ground and checks it thoroughly before tucking it back into my pocket.
After talking with a few staff members, Easton suddenly turns around to face me and looks me dead in the eyes. “Are you hurt?”
The bluntness of the question brings heat to my cheeks. I shake my head, still unnerved by his ability to change the subject this fast even though he just killed someone in cold blood. “A bit … rattled. That’s all.”
That’s an understatement, but I don’t want to put him further on edge by telling the truth.
He licks the droplets of rain off his lips, his intense eyes blazing with a fervor I’ve never seen before. He’s soaking wet, but he doesn’t even seem to care about the rain. “Did they try anything on you?”
“I …” His deep stare disorients me. I look around at all these people staring at me, and my throat jams completely. “I—” I stutter, my lips trembling while my mind contorts as it tries to twist these awful memories into something palatable.
“Jill,” Easton interrupts. “Take her inside and make a bath. Get her clothed and fed.”
“Yes, sir,” Jill says, and with a warm hand, she grabs mine, and says, “C’mon.”
The sweet smile on her face lures me back inside, back into that mansion I call my prison. But that same place calms me and allows me to breathe. Even though Easton’s still outside while I’m being pulled inside. Even though he just killed a man and the mere thought brings shivers to my body. I don’t know what made him such a violent man, but it saved me from a fate worse than death.
The melancholic look in his eyes is the last thing I see as the door behind me closes, maybe for good … But I’m not fearful anymore.
Chapter 18
Charlotte
It’s strange how safe and secure I feel in this place I shouldn’t ever call home.
The guy who tried to claim me as his own is dead, and the other one is probably on his way to meet the same fate. The Company, whatever it is that Easton called them, will probably dispose of the bodies and deal with the aftermath while Easton continues his business as though nothing ever happened.
His staff must be used to this, but I’m not. No one’s ever killed for me, yet Easton Van Buren didn’t think twice to make that decision. He rescued me from an even bigger threat, shaking up everything I thought I knew about him. Twisting my feelings for him until even I don’t recognize them anymore.
Am I truly thankful to this man who saved me from an even worse fate? Or is that the Stockholm Syndrome talking while one of his assistants undresses me?
“You’re so cold,” Jill says, peeling the bathrobe off my naked body and helping me into the tub. “This should warm you up nicely.”
I sit down in the hot water and clench my legs together while she throws my bathrobe into the laundry bag. I hope she sets the thing on fire. “Please … don’t bring that bathrobe back. Ever,” I say, and she looks at me as though I’ve lost my mind. “I don’t want to wear it ever again.”
“Oh … of course,” she says, adding a soft smile. “I can get you a new one. No problem.”
“Thank you,” I mumble, and I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to keep everything together. I’m still numb from what I just witnessed and experienced. Even as Jill leaves me alone for a second to take care of the bathrobe and grab new clothes for me, I can’t seem to let my guard down. I can’t break apart, not here in this house. Instead, I suck it up and push back the tears while staring wistfully at the wall in front of me.
Jill comes back and helps me wash. I don’t need the help, but my body is not responding to any of my commands either. It’s as though I’m nailed to the tub, to the heat circulating my body, trying to bring me back from the dead.
I almost escaped. Almost. And then I failed. Miserably.
The thought of how freedom literally slipped through my fingers breaks me physically, emotionally, and mentally. And on top of that, one of his guards tried to take advantage of me in the most despicable way. And then he died. Bang. One shot was all it took to end someone’s life, and Easton did it as if it meant nothing to him. For me.
A strange mixture of sadness, disgust, and serenity flows through my veins. Sadness for the death of that man who disgustingly tried to take me … and the serenity that followed when Easton came to my rescue.
Did he know I was there, or did he hear my cries? Could he have seen me escape? Is he upset that I did?
My brain takes a second to reboot, and I chastise myself for allowing Jill to pull me back into the mansion. I should’ve pushed her away, should’ve fought tooth and nail for my freedom, yet I went inside like a placid little lamb ready for slaughter. All because of the way Easton talked to me. With that smooth, bossy voice of his, he can make me do whatever he wants.