Giving a terse nod to Dante, I lifted her small body and we left the room. I couldn’t help glancing at her face. It was a bit thinner, dark circles under her eyes.
“There will be hell to pay,” Dante muttered as we headed for the exit staircase. Running into someone at this hour was unlikely, but we couldn’t risk it. It would leave a trail of dead bodies in its wake.
I kept checking on her pulse as we descended the staircase. Now that I had her, I was fucking scared to lose her again. I had no plans of letting that happen. Her hair hung loose, so fucking long and those bouncy curls that usually gave her a mischievous look now made her seem even thinner.
The moment we exited the hotel, Emory spotted us and started the engine.
“You sit in the front,” I told Dante and he cocked his eyebrow, smirking knowingly.
He didn’t know shit. I wouldn’t let another man hold Wynter. She was mine now, and I’d be the only man touching her. Once in the car, my gaze lowered to watch her face. She looked like a fucking angel with that gold halo of curls around her head and pale skin. I trailed my eyes over the soft swell of her breast. Her breathing was shallow, and I pressed my finger to her pulse again.
“Don’t fucking tell me you gave her too much sedative and killed her,” Emory hissed, checking the rearview mirror.
“She’s breathing,” I said, never lifting my eyes from Wynter. “Focus on your goddamn driving and getting us out of here.”
Wynter wore a slim tank top and boyshorts. Pink again. Some things never change, I guess. A light shiver rolled down her body and I cursed myself. I should have grabbed a blanket; it was the middle of the fucking winter with below zero temperature in the mountains.
I was too fucking focused on the fact I finally had her. Why couldn’t they have the Winter Olympics in the tropics?
Sliding my jacket off, I covered her body.
She stirred slightly and a soft moan sounded on her lips. And fuck if it didn’t give me a goddamn hard on. Yes, I was a sick bastard. But nine months without a woman would do that to you. Turn you into a cranky, ready to blow-a-gasket, horny kind of jackass.
It took us ten minutes to get to the helicopter, and another thirty to the jet waiting for us. Wynter never stirred again.
Like a thief in the night, I had stolen my bride.
CHAPTER45
Wynter
Aconstant hum of an engine came through the fog, demanding I wake up. I was still in the hotel room. What could that noise be?
I blinked slowly, feeling disoriented. I felt a warm body underneath me and a heavy arm around me. I went to shift but my movements felt slow and sluggish. My breathing picked up and icy terror clawed at my insides.
Clutching my fists, I pushed against the body, stumbling backwards. I struggled into a sitting position, the entire room spinning and my vision swam.
The man’s face I loved so much came into focus and I blinked again.
“Bas?” I whispered, confusion swimming through me. “What-”
My mouth was dry and my body refused to listen as I scooted backwards, away from him. The vision of him was blurry and it kept moving.
“Go back to sleep, principessa.” I heard his deep voice. I fought to keep my eyes open and lost.
* * *
The next time I woke up was in a car, curled into myself, and a jacket over me. The familiar scent was all around me.
I raised my eyes and found Bas in the backseat beside me. His dark eyes sent a shiver down my spine. The problem was that I couldn’t distinguish whether it was fear or something else that wouldn’t bode well for me.
I shifted up, struggling to sit up and Basilio’s hands came to assist.
“Don’t,” I bit out, shaking his hands off my shoulder.
A driver who I recognized sat behind the wheel. Dante DiLustro and Bas’ sister. She helped her brother kidnap me? The tension was palpable, my body ached and my eyes flitted around, touching the three of them.
There was no apology, no regret in any of their dark eyes.