جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

HARPER: “Hello?” I called as I entered the room. There was no answer. “Is anyone there?” Still no answer. The cabin wasn’t large. A small sitting area occupied most of the space with a wooden table, a few chairs and a fireplace against one wall. Everything looked suspiciously normal. My heart raced in my chest. What if this was actually a trap? I took a step forward and another. You can still go back, I told myself. The room appeared empty then movement caught my eye. I froze. I turned as a figure stepped out from the shadowed corner near the fireplace. The air caught in my throat. “James?” I screamed. Alexander’s assistant looked up from the glass bottle in his hand. He was pouring himself wine. Like actually pouring himself fucking wine? “What the hell?” the words tumble out of me. James' eyes caught mine, his eyes glinting with malice. The corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk. “Oh,” he exclaimed. “You’re here.” I blinked. Once. Twice. Was he serious?

HARPER: I wrapped a towel around Elias’s wet body. My mind was still drifting back to Liam, especially his threat. I wasn’t so sure he was really going to go ahead with his threat but it wasn’t something I could risk. One week. That was all he had given me. One week to find whatever file he wanted from Alexander’s study. My stomach turned. The study might as well have been a vault. Alexander doesn’t allow anyone inside and even if somehow I got through the door, Liam had never told me exactly what I was looking for... except that the file has a red cover. The entire thing was impossible. Yet, Liam didn’t sound worried at all and that confidence unsettled me even more than the threat itself. “Ouch,” Elias screamed, snapping me from my thoughts. I had wrapped the towels around him too tight without thinking. “So sorry baby,” I whispered, loosening it a little. His face relaxed but he didn’t say anything else. I grabbed his arms and led him into his room. His night clothes we

HARPER: “Get up.” The voice sounded from above me, urgent and familiar. “Get up!” The person said again, shaking my shoulder. I groaned, rolling to my other side but before I could even turn completely, the person turned me to the other side. “Luisa!” My eyes flew open. I didn’t even get to wake up properly before a large hand wrapped around my wrist and I was yanked upward like a rag doll. “What…” I stumbled, my bare feet scraping against the cold floor as he dragged me across the room. Alexander didn’t even answer as his grip tightened, shoving me behind the thick cotton curtains behind the window. I didn’t understand what was going on and Alexander wasn’t explaining. I didn’t have the chance to complain and just did what he asked. “Stay there,” he commanded. “Don’t move.” My throat was raw but I forced myself to ask, “What are you doing?” My heart hammered against my ribs. His hand shot up immediately, pressing his index fingers to my lips. I couldn’t

HARPER:The stranger’s hand clamped over my mouth before I could make a sound. “Don’t scream,” he pressed his mouth close to my ears that I could feel the warmth of his breath. “Or you’ll force me to do something we both regret.”My pulse exploded against my ribs. Panic clawed up my throat, begging me to fight, to scream, to do something. But I’d leaned… the hard way that panic made you stupid. Panic got you killed. Don’t fight strength. Fight balance. The words echoed in my mind, from a memory that I had learned in Paris. It all started as something that I wanted to learn for fun… something that would get my mind off of Alexander. I never knew it would come in handy today. I let myself go limp. Just for a second. The arm around my waist loosened almost immediately as the man adjusted his grip, reacting to the sudden dead weight in his arms. That tiny shift was all I needed. I slammed my heel down onto his boot with everything I had. “Fuck…!” he unwillingly screamed. His grip

HARPER: I didn't waste time. I tried to unlock Alexander's phone and surprisingly he hadn't changed his password. My hands trembled as I moved to the messages app and quickly pressed delete. The message vanished like it had never existed. I placed my hands on my chest, trying to calm myself down. Rowena knew. Rowena knew who I was. How? Deleting the text had just bought myself some time. Hours maybe. Days if I was lucky. Time was running out. Breathe, Harper. I placed the phone on the nightstand and forced myself to walk toward the bathroom. Calm, like I wasn't falling apart inside. I turned on the tap and bit down a scream as cold water rushed over my hands. I splashed it on my face, letting the shock ground me. She doesn't know anything for sure. She suspects. That's what I thought. I mean, if she had proof, she would have told him already. But the thought didn't comfort me. Because Rowena wasn't stupid. If she figured out enough to send that message, she was clos