“Thank you,” I say. Mathilde goes to show herself out, but I stop her. “Mathilde, can you please send my sister in here?”
“Yes, mademoiselle.”
I explore my surroundings, mesmerized at the way so much beauty can be crammed into one luxurious suite.
“Hey.” My sister stands in the doorway a few minutes later, a coy smile on her face. “Still hate me?”
“What is going on? I’m so confused.”
She shuts the door behind her, slinking across the room and climbing onto my bed. “Dad’s been planning to marry you off for a while. He was never going to let you go to college. I overheard him talking to our moms about it a few months ago, and then again, not long after Mr. Waterman came over.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you’d have ruined my plan.”
“This was your plan?”
“You act surprised.” A hand slinks to her hip as her blue eyes dance. “It took a lot of careful forethought, and a little bit of sacrifice, but I waited for the right time and then I made it happen. We Miller girls were bred to be patient.”
“So, Dad thinks you’re driving me to South Dakota?”
She grins, like she’s just pulled off some mastermind heist. “He won’t know for another day or two that we didn’t make it, and by then, he won’t know where to find us. At least, not for a while. Should buy you some time to figure things out.”
“Where’s Jensen? Does he know?” I miss his voice, his touch. Not knowing where he is or what he’s doing kills me.
“He doesn’t know anything yet.” Bellamy tucks her chin, speaking slowly. “We had to be cautious.”
“You have to tell him where I am, Bell. He’s probably worried sick looking for me.” My hand clasps at my heart, pressing against the squeezing sensation in my chest. I never knew it was possible to miss someone this hard.
She tilts her head to the side, a knowing smile warming her face. “I knew you loved him. I knew you wouldn’t want to be away from him.” She places her hand over mine. “You’ll see him very soon. Trust me.”
CHAPTER 31
JENSEN
Waverly’s car is still parked when I leave to fill up my truck Monday morning, and when I return, Gideon’s back from breakfast. He waits until Kath leaves the room before telling me Waverly wasn’t there this morning. Even at six years old, the kid knows something’s up.
I have to find her, and if I know Mark Miller, she’s long gone by now. But I don’t care.
I will find her.
And Mark-fucking-Miller will be sorry he fucked with me.
***
“Where the fuck is she?” I storm into the main house, damning Mark’s bullshit decree and demanding an answer from one of his brainwashed wives. “Where’s Waverly?”
Jane and Summer exchange looks. Neither making a sound.
“Jensen,” Jane walks up to me, placing her hand out as if it had the power to stop me. “You know you’re not supposed to be here.”
“Me being here is the last thing you should be worrying about right now. Where is she? What’d he do with her?” I push past them and charge up to her room. “Waverly!”
“You can’t be up there,” Summer calls. “Jensen, you heard the rules. Mark doesn’t want you here.”
She’s up here. I know it. Every ounce of me ignores their powerless commands.
Her room is empty. Her bed is made. Her stack of books rest on her nightstand untouched. I yank open her dresser drawers, most of them empty. Her closet is half-empty as well. When I return to the kitchen to confront Mark’s three accomplices, they’re nowhere to be found. Those fucking cowards are hiding from me. Mark undoubtedly gave them strict orders, anticipating this would happen. He might be a step ahead of me now, but I will find her.
***
“Liberty.” I storm up to the front desk at the garage. “Do you have Bellamy’s cell phone number? Her work phone? I need to reach her.”
Fuck. Right now would be a great time to know where the hell Bellamy works.
“Okay, will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?” Liberty’s hand flanks her hip and she laughs.
“I need the number, Lib. I know you have it.”
“I don’t. She doesn’t give it to anyone. It’s, like, some kind of private line between her and her boss. I don’t get it.”
The phone rings and Liberty answers, scheduling an appointment with a client and then proceeding to casually shoot the shit. She twirls the cord around her finger, laughing, and then reaches for a set of keys. She drops them in front of me without so much as an explanation.
I flip them over to reveal a BMW logo. No other identifying information or so much as a house key accompanies this set. I arch a brow and mouth, “What is this for?”
She hangs up. “Bellamy came by yesterday and dropped these off. You’re supposed to get in that white BMW sitting out front, press the ‘home’ button on the GPS, and follow the directions.”
CHAPTER 32
WAVERLY
All the fancy blackout curtains and six-hundred thread count sheets in the world can’t calm a loud mind in the middle of the night.
I didn’t sleep a wink.
I can’t rest or relax until I see Jensen again. Bellamy assures me I’ll see him today, but until it happens, I can’t calm down.
Washing up in a bathroom fit for a king is a temporary distraction, and when I trek downstairs for breakfast, I find Bellamy seated on Dane’s right. He’s reading something on his iPad and she’s steeping a tea bag into a white teacup.
They wear the collective appearance of a couple more than comfortable together, one who have been together quite a while. I don’t ask in front of Dane. I’m not about to ruin this moment or prematurely outstay my welcome with a tactless question. I’ll get my answers from Bellamy later.
“Did you sleep well, Waverly?” Dane asks. He enunciates each syllable like a Harvard scholar, his voice rich and velvety.
I nod, taking the same seat I used at dinner last night. “Very well. Thank you.”
A uniformed woman brings out a plate covered with a tin cloche and sets it before me.
“I told the kitchen what you like to eat,” Bellamy says. “I hope that’s okay. I figured with everything going on, it’s one less thing for you to worry about.”
When I remove the cloche, I’m presented with a feast of French toast, sausage, and eggs over easy. A tiny cup of maple syrup rests warm between it all. “Thank you. This is perfect.”
Bellamy smiles, lifting her teacup to her lips, her pinky raised. When did she become so refined? Had she been changing before us all along and no one noticed?
The butler glides across the room with silent shoes, his hands clasped behind his back. He leans down, speaking quietly into Dane’s ear.
“Yes, yes, let him in. We’ve been expecting him.” Dane dabs his mouth with a napkin and stands up. “Waverly, I believe your friend is here.”
My heart sprints. It’s not quite been twenty-four hours, but it may as well have been a lifetime. I abandon my breakfast and run to the foyer, swinging the doors wide and stopping short at the porte-cochere where a white BMW comes to a smooth halt.
A second passes, then another, and another, until the driver’s door opens.
And then I run to him, jumping into his arms like he was a soldier who’d crossed land and sea to get back to me. He holds me up, keeping me nose to nose with him.
“Did you miss me?” I ask.
“Like hell.” His mouth claims mine with a single, unrelenting kiss, our bodies melded together with desperate longing.
He sets me down, but doesn’t release my hand from his. Our fingers lock. I dare anyone to try to separate us again.
“I think you love me,” I say, squeezing his hand and not trying to hide the smile in my voice.
“Shit, Waverly. I know I love you.”