Page 36 of Chandelier Sin
“Where’s that?” My voice sounded faint, drenched in panic.
“A village in Cornwall.”
I thought I couldn’t hate Aemon more.
This loathing for him had grown like a cancer, eating away at my soul. He had done this to me, to us, continuing to use her as a pawn, knowing I wouldn’t leave until she was with me again.
“Can you tell me anything else?” I pleaded.
Tell me Eloise is safe.
I put my hand to my throat, feeling like the air was too thick to breathe.
Ben glanced toward the house, perhaps afraid I would break down in tears and draw attention.
So far, I’d been strong. As brave as a mom could be. Because that was how I’d get her back.
A new wave of memories, of realizations, came to me about my own childhood. Had my mom been as torn up when we’d been separated? Was she still out there, alive? Did she think of me? Or ever try to find me?
“Eve, tell me you’ll be okay.”
“Do you have any photos?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’ll do what I can.”
Eloise might forget me.
She might not recognize me when we were reunited.
“I’ll keep working on the exact location,” he said.
“Thank you.” I would have hugged him but if anyone saw us, he’d be placed in further danger.
“How do we get her home?” I asked.
“We’d have to deal with the U.K. embassy.”
“And they’d tip off Aemon,” I said softly.
Maybe if I moved there and we both went into hiding.
He’d find you,came that creeping threat.
Ben had been a kind of father figure to me. I’d learned to trust him over the years. But what I was asking of him now was so very much.
Contact with Eloise was forbidden.
We both knew that.
My love for my daughter was a force of nature, a primal instinct that drove me to protect her at any cost—a love both fierce and tender. A love like this could never be extinguished by anyone or anything.
Not by that man.
Not by time itself.
“Don’t mention this to anyone,” he said. “Trust no one.”
“I won’t.”
