Take It All

Chapter Ten

Rory

“Anna, answer the damn door or I’m coming in.”

I’ve been miserable without her. She not only took my car the last time I saw her but left the island for a weekend in the city. I know because I kept getting alerts on the charges. At one point, the hotel manager called me because she was trying to buy a three-thousand-dollar handbag, and I told him if he denied her so much as a cup of ice, I would buy that hotel and fire him first.

After that, she really put my card to work, but I didn’t give a shit. She could take it all, because none of it mattered without her in my life.

I’ve been watching her house all week and driving in circles around the island, stalking her. Every morning when she takes Celeste to school, I follow them. Maybe I should be ashamed of just how crazy she’s made me, but I don’t care. She won’t answer my calls, and I don’t want to show up when Celeste is home. We need to do this in private, and I know once I get my hands on her I’m not letting go. But I’ve had enough of her avoiding me. This stops now.

After she dropped Celeste off at school this morning, she went all over town running errands. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did it just to tease me. I had to stop following her for a short time while I went to Apollo’s rowing race.

We had a good talk, and I said the things I should have said a long time ago. Apollo has grown into an amazing man, and I’m so proud of him. Maybe it’s Anna that’s changed me, but I’m seeing things so differently than before.

When the race is over, it doesn’t take me long to find Anna again. It’s like she was waiting until I came back to start driving. I follow close behind her and watch as she pulls into the driveway of her house and darts inside. That’s when I know for sure she’s seen me watching her.

“I swear to god, I’ll break down this door.”

“I’ll call the cops,” she yells from the other side of it, and I growl. But the tiniest part of me wants to smile, because if she’s yelling at me then she still cares. If she didn’t, she would have walked right past me without even looking my way.

“You want to borrow my phone? I’ve got all of them on speed dial.”

Just then she jerks open the door and scowls at me. “That’s illegal.”

“No, it’s not, but this is.”

Anna gives me a funny look right before I grab her and throw her over my shoulder. She begins kicking and screaming right away, but I anticipated this. I walk over to my SUV and open the back door, tossing her in. She immediately lunges for the door, but I’ve got the child locks on, and she’s not going anywhere.

Getting in the driver's seat, I start the car and head for the estate. She’s glaring at me in the rearview mirror, and that tiny part of me that was smiling earlier wants to roar in victory.

“You can’t do this, Rory. It’s kidnapping.”

“I know,” I respond coolly as I make the turn toward my home. It’s not far at all, so this should be quick.

“I don’t want to do this, and you should respect me enough to give me my space.” She crosses her arms over her chest, and I shake my head.

“No.”

“No? That’s all you’ve got to say?” She blows the hair out of her face. “I should have spent more of your money,” she mumbles to herself.

“You should have.”

When I say that, she snaps her eyes to mine again. “You can’t be serious.”

I shrug as I make the next turn through the iron gates of the estate. We’re silent for a long moment as I pull into the driveway right up to the front door.

“Are you going to fight me when I let you out?” I ask, and she presses her lips together. “All right then, another piggyback ride it is.”

“Rory!” she shouts as I get out of the SUV and open the back door. She starts to kick me, but I snatch her ankle in my hand and throw her over my shoulder again.

“It didn’t have to be this way.” I feel her hands smack my ass, and I grin as I carry her through the house and up to my bedroom.

By the time I make it there, she’s gone limp in my arms, and it goes a long way to settle the anxious feeling inside of me. When we’re in my room, I lock us in and walk over to the bed. After I toss her in the middle of it, she scowls at me.