Hold You Against Me (Stripped 4)

“I already told you, I won’t let anyone else touch you.”

Except you’ll touch me, even if I say no. “You don’t know for sure she’ll be safe. I have to warn her.”

He says nothing.

“And she’ll be so worried about me. I need to at least let her know that I’m okay. Please.” I’m begging, which is a bad position to be in. Of course, I’m already completely under his control.

He shakes his head. “There’s more going on than I can tell you. Warning your sister would put everything at risk.”

“Not warning her is already putting her at risk.”

His hold tightens on me. “I’m going to keep you safe, I promise you that. And I’m doing my best to leave her out of this. That has to be enough for you, bella. Don’t ask me for more. Not now.”

Chapter Fourteen

“Clara?”

I look up from where I’m rubbing my feet, flushed with guilt and embarrassment. At least until I see who it is. Juliette looks genuinely excited to see me, her brown eyes warm. I need a friendly face after the coldness of Giovanni’s words and the sordid curiosity of the other guests.

I stand without my shoes and give her a hug. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you.”

She squeezes back. “So grown up, little Clara.”

Making a face, I point to the shoes. “Not grown up enough for those. My feet are on fire.”

Her laugh lightens my mood. She was always more Honor’s friend than mine, being two years older than me. But she was always kind. Her father was the consigliere before his death, which gave her and her mother enough status to remain in the family, despite their poverty due to his gambling debts.

“Well, let’s sit down,” she says kindly. “You can tell me where you’ve been, all the things you’ve seen. I still haven’t left Nevada.”

“Oh, we didn’t do much traveling.” And I’m not sure how much I should really share. Talking about where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing just leads to the fact that I didn’t want to leave.

“And what about Honor? Is she okay?” Concern shines in Juliette’s eyes.

“She’s fine,” I assure her. And apparently pregnant. I ache to hug my sister, to ask how she’s doing, to offer her a shoulder rub or whatever it is pregnant women need.

Instead I’m just adding to her stress by disappearing.

And despite what Giovanni said, I’m not content to do nothing and hope she’s okay. Maybe kidnapping me has diverted the attention, but what if it hasn’t? It’s not a risk I can live with. I know that her husband, Kip, will keep her safe—he’s a force to be reckoned with in his own right. He protected her when our father found us once. And he takes security measures more than most men would.

But he doesn’t know about the imminent potential threat to her. He’ll know I’m missing but not who took me. And the ease with which Giovanni found me, stalked me, and kidnapped me from my own bed proves the danger is real.

“Juliette, I need your help.”

Her dark brows lower. “What’s wrong?”

I drop my voice, glancing behind me. The corridor is empty. I left Giovanni’s side under the guise of using the restroom, but I turned left instead of right. There are some benefits to having grown up in this mansion. So I’ve been hiding on a plush bench that sits right outside the conservatory. Luckily it’s also far enough away from the party to make this request.

“I need you to get a message to Honor.”

She looks around, understanding the covert nature of my request. “I’m guessing she’s not coming to the wedding tomorrow?”

I huffed a laugh. “Not hardly. Wait…did you say tomorrow?”

She bites her lip, looking conflicted. “Oh no. I worried it was something like this.”

“The wedding is tomorrow?”

Worry floods her brown eyes. “I mean, I knew you wanted to get away from all this, but I remembered you had a thing wi