Page 116 of Princess of Pride
The fool wants to use her as leverage to get what he wants. For me to get Emery back, I’ll have to give him my inheritance and Spencer Securities. Wes was right. I flaunted her in his face at our wedding when I invited him as a guest. It gave him access to her in a personal way he never would have had. It was a game brought on by my arrogance. I didn’t know I’d fall for Emery and want to protect her with my life.
I was also confident he’d never get her while she was under my care. No one could take her from me. She didn’t even want to leave anymore—hadn’t brought up returning home since we started fucking. I knew she wouldn’t. It had all been part of my plan. Every bit of it, except for the part where she left me, and what felt like a searing blade lodged deep in my heart. Fear paralyzed me in a way it never had before.
My reaction was how I knew I loved her. To realize this, I had to lose her and at the worst possible time.
Angus doesn’t make threats without the means to pull them off. I keep tabs on him and his spies. I always know when they come to the village. No one has spotted them lately, and Wes would have seen them on the surveillance cameras. After I informed Angus about my amended arrangement, I knew it’d piss him off, so we became more vigilant about monitoring the town. Had I any inkling that she’d leave me, I never would havelet her leave the castle. He could be on his way here. He could find her before I do.
I’ll burn the world down if anything happens to her.
“She stopped.” Wes’s voice comes through the speaker of my phone.
Connal slows the SUV on the dark road. As soon as Wes was able to track Emery’s phone, we chased after her. They couldn’t get far in that mini car that barely reaches forty. I offered to buy Maisie a new car when she graduated high school. My mum told me she needed transportation to work. Buses don’t service here.
Maisie said, “Trying to buy my forgiveness is low. Unless you can bring them all back, leave me alone.”
My intention to help had only made her hate me more.
“Where’d they stop?” I ask, my shoulders as hard as rocks. Most likely, car trouble is the cause. Still, I worry that my sudden change to the agreement means Angus has someone watching and waiting for me to screw up—like I did tonight
“A mile up the road,” Wes says.
“Got it.” I end the call but don’t tell Connal to step on it. Scaring them might make them run.
Our headlights don’t catch sight of anything other than open road.
“It’s been a mile,” Connal says.
I call Wes.
“They’re not here,” I say instead of hello when he answers.
The clicking of a keyboard sounds through the phone. “You’re right there.”
“There’s nothing.” My lungs burn with anger.
Wes laughs, dark and low. “She figured it out and tossed her phone. I’m tracking you both. You’re right on her. It’s there.”
Fuck! My mind scrambles for what to do now. “Find outeverything you can on Maisie. I don’t think she’d bring Emery to her home.”
It’s a small house she inherited when her parents died. At sixteen, she could legally choose to live there on her own, but I don’t think the isolation was good for her. Ewan was there for her, though not consistently. She got into trouble. I forced Duncan to give her a job despite her reckless behavior and shoplifting charge. It helped keep her busy, but Maisie is the blackest sheep in the village.
“I’ll call you back,” Wes ends the call.
“What now?” Connal pulls to the side of the narrow road and parks on the grass.
I crack my knuckles to keep from roaring at the top of my lungs. I want to beat the dashboard in, beat on someone! I unlock my mashed molars to answer, “We wait.”
Emery
After driving for fifteen more minutes, Maisie pulls into a driveway with an open gate. She parks in a large, paved area in front of a modern ranch home that looks Scandinavian in design. Two other sedans are parked near the side entrance garage.
“Whose house is this?” I ask, suddenly nervous. She didn’t seem like she knew what she was doing and now we’re at this house that isn’t a cottage like I expected in such a rural area. The low surrounding fence and gate aren’t fortress-material like at Duhnill Castle. This place is in the middle of nowhere.
I hear sheep. The fence could be to keep them in.
Maisie turns off the engine and looks at me. Light from the front entrance shines on her face which is much more pixie-likeand young in appearance. The heavy black eyeliner, nose piercings, and black hair are deceiving.
“The man who lives here knew my uncle. He’s cool. Travels a lot, but he’s in town.” She nods at the sedans.
