“How do you mean?”
“My father assigned my security to this bodyguard guy. Apparently, he’s good at what he does.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s true, I swear. Apparently kings and emperors want him on their payroll. It might be kind of impossible to trick him.”
“Leave all that to me. All I need from you is a thumbs up.”
It finally dawns on me that he’s serious. “You know I’d go anywhere with you,” I say, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“Okay, let me work out the details. Maybe tomorrow or the day after.”
I close my eyes, as fatigue overtakes me. This has been an emotional rollercoaster of a day. I can’t even think straight. I don’t know if he’s serious or not but I can’t solve that mystery tonight. Tonight his love is enough. “Let’s get some sleep,” I say. “If we can find our way back to our room.”
He stays silent for a long while. “We’ll have to sleep in separate rooms,” he says in the end as he gets up, offering me a hand for support.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Lucius’ home, Lucius’ rules. He was adamant about it.”
“He doesn’t like me much, does he?”
“It’s not you, Ella, it’s him. It’s the way he lives his life. He needs to feel control. He can’t rest until every little thing is in place.”
“Well, that’s just great,” I say as I stand up. “Hunted, sleeping alone in a strange place, and you’ve destroyed my last panties.”
“Oh, wait,” he says. “I think I have a solution for that last part.”
He walks to the door and produces two shopping bags from behind a tall potted plant that looks like it could do with some watering.
“I thought you might need these,” he says, handing me the bags.
“Let me see,” I say, clapping my hands like a little girl. “T-shirts, shorts, a sweater, combs, brushes, flip-flops and, yes, underwear. How did you get these, Jaxson?
“I sent one of the men,” he says with a smile.
“And how did you know my size?” I say, bending my face.
He rolls his eyes at me. “Come on, give me some credit. I may not know many things, but women’s sizes? I got that down, babe.”
—seven—
Jaxson
She’s given me another chance. I am humbled by her faith. I have to make this right for her. Leaving her would be leaving her at the mercy of men without conscience, men capable of any evil. We have to disappear, change our names. We have to find a simple life in a simple place somewhere out there beyond the reach of all the power-hungry murderers.
We can leave no trail behind. There are people who owe me. I’ll need their help to disappear. All I want is to be alone with Ella in a place where we can walk in the open sunlight hand-in-hand without fear.
Ella’s enthusiasm over the smallest things infects me with warmth and promise. I never thought I could feel these things having seen the things I have seen. Together we combust into pure energy and chemical reaction. Her body was made for my body. Her lovely tits, sugar sweet pussy, her delicious belly and ass, they’re all mine. Her laughter gives me bliss. I need the entire girl, body and mind and soul.
It might be a tad early to start making phone calls at six in the morning but the clock is running. I can feel it in the beating of my heart. I hop down the stairs to the first floor and hurry through the kitchen to the old pantry that is now out of use.
Nobody knows about the pantry except myself and Mrs. Miller, our cook. Although Lucius would have used it when he moved in many years ago, he would have almost certainly forgotten it by now.
The old pantry was sealed off years ago and covered with a heavy antique hutch. I remember the space being almost the size of a small bedroom. They said it was closed down as it was entirely unnecessary for a household of one or two. I knew they were lying to me. I was just a boy. Something bad had happened in there and it needed to disappear. I felt it in my bones.
I take the key I stole from the staff office out of my pocket. I move the hutch away from the wall just far enough to squeeze behind it. The pantry door opens with a loud creaking sound that will probably chase away all the mice and spiders that have built a home in the dark.
I turn on the light, reach under the hutch to slowly pull it back toward the wall and then close the door behind me. I remove my cell phone from my pocket, but am distracted as childhood memories return out of the blue.
Everything has stayed the same in here as if stuck in time. The brown shelves across the walls, the metal hooks from where ham and cheese logs used to hang once upon a time. The old white fridge and the white cupboards are all here, clean and tidy and waiting for me.