Stolen Heart (Bride of the Billionaire)

Blackmail. So much for honesty among law enforcement.

“You’ve got nothing on me, Childers. Come in? For what?”

“Well to start, you confess to the Picasso break-in the other night,” he replies. “And then the Monet, which we’ve been looking for. Oh, and the Van Gogh where we got your fingerprints and you managed to convince the judge that it was because you had touched it accidentally at a museum fundraiser. That one too.”

“And if I don’t?” I ask. “Then you’ll charge Amory with this bullshit?”

“That’s the deal, pal. Take it or leave it. But I need an answer right now.”

I glance back at the house where my love is sleeping, blissfully unaware of the Machiavellian level deceit going on out front. I should have seen this coming. I knew Childers was determined, but I never thought he’d stoop this low.

Even if the charges don’t stick, she’ll be dragged through hell because of me. I can’t allow that to happen. I love her, and love means not just doing what’s best for you, but doing what’s best for the other person.

“Last chance, Duke,” Childers says. “Come with me now, or I go inside with a SWAT team and we drag her out here in whatever she’s wearing right now. You want that to happen?”

Son of a bitch. I should black his eye for saying some shit like that. Or worse.

“Fine, Childers,” I say. “You win.”

I know he’s smiling as he grabs his walkie-talkie and calls in the troops, but I don’t even look at him. I send a quick text to my lawyer and am pressing send as he takes it from me. I hear the sirens as two squad cars pull up from either end of the street and present my wrists to him.

“Bet you never thought this would happen,” Childers remarks as he puts the cuffs on me. “But I guess it’s true what they say; even the mighty shall fall.”

I’m sorry, Amory. That’s all I can think as he puts me in the back of the squad car.

She’s going to wake up alone and confused. The pain she’s going to feel will surely rip her apart, but it’s nothing compared to the alternative.

I clench my fists until my knuckles scream with pain.

I won’t see her again. That would be cruel. I’m going away for life and to drag this out would just make things worse. No. I have to let her go now to give her the best chance of surviving without me. And even if she hates me for it, she’ll be free.

8

Amory

When I wake up, I’m alone. I don’t even have to call out for Zander to know it. Somehow, I just know.

I get up and find one of his T-shirts and slip into it and head downstairs. I glance out at the beach, hoping to find him sunning himself or sipping a drink on the patio, but he’s not there. He’s not out front either.

I try my best to stay calm, but I’m alone. By myself.

My chest goes tight, and even though I know it’s pointless, I do a quick search of the house. I even check the closets and the laundry room. But he’s not there.

Maybe he went out to get something. But why would he do that when he could simply make a phone call and have one of the countless members of his staff do it for him? I go around the house again, this time looking for a note he might have left me. But again, I find nothing.

Terrible thoughts begin invading my mind. I tell myself not to listen to them, but it’s near impossible to block them out.

Was I just another girl to him? Is this his game? Romance like this is like a simple dinner date to a billionaire. Did I completely misjudge him? He is a thief after all.

Stay calm. Don’t panic. There must be a reasonable explanation for this.

I’m on my way back up to the bedroom when it hits me.

Childers…

He got him. I don’t know how, but he did. He’s been arrested and taken to the police station. I have to find him.

But what can I even do? They won’t let me see him. I’m not family. And what am I even going to say?