Chapter Twenty-Five
Hannah
The party lingered on and on and I didn’t realize how late or how much drinking, Christian’s friends could do. By the time it got late, most of the parents who’d brought children had sleepy kids on their hands. One by one, they carried them out and let their drivers take them home.
Annie had passed out a while ago, curled up with her little black shoes on the couch.
I pushed her curls from her face and smiled. She’d done a good job, never taking them off and being the boss of the others. I knew she’d make a good leader someday. Even I was impressed by the way she negotiated peace between the Bronson twins and kept the room running smoothly when I stepped out. She’d had fun and even made new friends.
“Come on, Princess.”
I slipped off her shoes and picked her up. She automatically wrapped her arms around my neck almost choking me as I carried her out of the room.
Christian caught sight of me moving across the party with her in my arms and stopped me. “Let me take her.”
“No, no you go ahead. I’ll just get her upstairs and into bed.”
Christian shook his head. “You look great in that dress, but you can barely move and I don’t think you can navigate the stairs like that. Besides, you’ve been working the whole night. I admire your dedication, but you need to take a little break. Go on, I’ll be right back.”
I felt a little bad about Christian having to take care of things at his own party, but I let it go because he was definitely right about the dress. He set up an account for me at an expensive boutique and insisted that I buy something that I would never have been able to afford. I nearly died when I saw the price of the clothes there, but he had called me on my cell and told me either I got myself a dress or he was going to buy it himself.
Put like that, the little gold number had called to me right away and I’d picked it immediately. The way his jaw dropped tonight when he saw me confirmed that it was definitely a great purchase.
I watched the two of them disappear up the stairs. Christian kissed her gently before they disappeared from sight and I sighed contentedly. The night couldn’t have gone better. I grabbed a flute and glanced around the party. As nice as everyone had been to me, I wanted a little alone time to myself.
Navigating my way around and smiling politely, I decided to go outside to the gardens. The garden was one of my favorite places at night. The floral scent always made me happy. As soon as I entered it, I could smell the night blooming Jasmine and I smiled. A crescent moon lit the sky up above just a bit, and I could have stayed there forever.
“You two seem very close.”
I jumped at the sound of the voice and spilled some champagne down my dress. Light droplets darkened the golden fabric and I quickly attempted to brush them off. When I glanced up, I saw Gabriel.
He had one hand in his pocket while he looked me up and down in a way that made me shift from foot to foot.
“Who?” I asked, even though I knew exactly what he meant.
“You and Christian,” he said as he sauntered forward. “Is there something there?”
I stared at him. Why did he care? The more I heard about Gabriel the less I liked him, but dealing with him up close and personal gave me the creeps. He was a good looking guy, but he was intimidating in an almost predatory way. “I suppose,” I answered with a polite smile. “He’s my boss.”
“Just your boss?” he mused.
Something in his voice alerted me to an immediate danger. Why the hell did I come out here alone? I frowned. “Well, he is my boss.”
“Then he won’t mind if I do this,” he said taking a step closer.
“What?” I stared wide eyed with shock as he grabbed my arm and tried to drag me deeper into the garden.
At first, my mind went blank. I couldn’t even understand what he was doing. Then my brain came back online and screamed one thing.
Run.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hannah
I couldn’t run. I could hardly walk in this dress, let alone run. But I could scream. Even as I opened my mouth to do that, he shoved his hand against my mouth, while his other hand tightened on my arm. With a hard look on his face, he yanked me away from the party, away from Christian.
In my panic, I dropped my glass of champagne and it shattered on the stone path. We were in the furthest reaches of the garden, a place that was darker and away from the house. My heart thudded in my chest.