him down on top of me and have him kiss me on the mouth once more but he was right.
“Go to sleep,” he said and stroked my forehead.
Then he was gone and I lay alone in my cold empty bed.
I woke up some time later to the sound of noise outside the house in the driveway.
Startled awake, I sat up in bed and glanced out the window. It was still dark, so I checked my clock radio. I’d been asleep for only an hour.
Then I heard a shout and the sound of vehicles in the driveway screeching to a halt. My heart rate increased, my pulse hammering as adrenaline coursed through me. Was it Kier’s brother already here to take him back? It seemed far too soon but they were wealthy. Perhaps they had a private jet?
Evan couldn’t have got here from Montreal so fast…
Then I realized it must be his enemies and so I crept out of the bed, tiptoed to the window and pulled aside the venetian blind to see the yard. Three big black SUVs had driven up and several men dressed in what looked like SWAT gear stood in a semi-circle, their weapons drawn.
I hunched down and went to my bedroom door, opening it a crack to see if Chelsea was up, but the hallway was empty and her light was still off. I tiptoed to her room, and opened the door.
“Chelsea,” I said in a hoarse whisper. “Chelsea, get up.”
She didn’t move a muscle. I crept to her bed and shook her shoulder, but she still didn’t wake up. Kier must have compelled her to stay asleep until dawn.
Damn him…
How could he know I’d need to wake her up early?
Desperate, I went back to my bedroom and peered out the window once more only to see men dragging Kier out of the guesthouse. He was wearing one of my grandfather’s beach robes and his boxer shorts and must have had a bath, for his hair was wet. Then I saw there were three holes in his chest, and streaks of blood running down his abdomen.
I gasped when someone struck him with the butt of their gun, knocking his head to the side with a sickening crack. A guard turned towards the house and I pulled back, but the blinds swayed from the motion. I crouched by the window, a hand over my mouth. Had the guard seen me? Did they know someone was inside the house watching?
I could only wait and see.
Fearing that I’d be discovered too easily, I slid under the bed and lay on my side, clapping a hand over my mouth to keep from making a sound.
The front door banged open as someone kicked it in. Heavy footsteps sounded on the floor. Doors to the bedrooms slammed open one by one. They must have found Chelsea for I heard someone trying to wake her.
“She’s compelled to stay asleep,” I heard Kier say. “Leave her. She’s of no use to you.”
“There’s another one,” someone said. “I can smell her. She’s sweet.”
Footsteps approached my room down the hallway. I could see them through the open door—three sets of black leather boots and one of Kier’s bare feet.
“Where is she?” said a gruff male voice.
“She must have run out the back door,” Kier said, and it was then I knew he was trying to protect me, preventing them from finding me. “Really, let the poor girls be. They’re not involved in any of this.”
Then one set of boots came to the side of the bed and in a second, the bed was flipped over against the wall, box spring, mattress and frame in one swift movement, exposing me where I lay cowering on my side.
“Grab her,” one of the men said who was holding Kier.
“Don’t touch her,” Kier said, his voice almost a growl. “She’s my pet.”
“All the more reason to bring her along and ensure you behave,” the guard said.
I screamed when the soldier grabbed me and pulled me up by the arm. I hit at him, trying to struggle free, but his hand was like a vise grip on my arm. He pulled me up and threw me over his shoulder as if I was nothing more than a bag of feathers.
“Let’s go,” he said. Kier caught my eye and shook his head, an expression of horror on his face, which was blood-spattered.
“I’m so sorry, Calla,” he said as they pulled him behind me. “I wanted to spare you any danger…”