ESTELLE
“What the hell?” I yelped in surprise to find Linden already sitting next to me in the backseat of my car. “What are you doing here?”
“I told you I need to talk to you.”
I shot him a sharp glance. “Then a normal person does by calling my office to arrange an appointment.”
“I think we both know that we pass beyond that.”
“Mr. Linden, would you mind stepping out of the car, please? You’re making my client uncomfortable,” Quinn interrupted.
Linden was unbothered and hadn’t moved a muscle. His gaze was still pinning it on. “Just give me two minutes, Hunter. And I wouldn’t do anything to harm Estelle.”
“You’re doing a great job showing it, Mr. Linden,” Quinn said.
When Quinn got out of the driver’s seat, opening the door for Linden, I butt in, “It’s okay, Quinn. He said two minutes. Just please wait outside.”
“Are you sure?” He looked straight at me.
“Yeah. I can handle this type of man,” I said in contempt.
“What type of man exactly do you think I am?”
I faced him, meeting his gaze. “Arrogant SOB, Overconfident, he thinks one fuck is enough for him to show the world that he owns her.”
“Whoa.” His eyes widened in shock, clearly, offended. “Is that how do you think I look at you? That I own you. I’d never intentionally wanted to hurt you.”
I felt the actual fury roll in my chest. “Hurt me? Why do you think that you can ever hurt me?”
“Then why are you avoiding me like the plague? If you so have no grudges over me and you don’t feel something for me, we could have just pretended that nothing happened in Italy.”
“Oh, I already forgot what happened in Italy. What I can’t tell is how you lied and manipulated me, pretending that you didn’t know who I was when we first met. So you just think that I can just forget that? Screw you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted. Your two minutes is over. Get out of my car.” I straightened in my seat as I looked away from him.
Silence ensued. It became uncomfortable for the two of us. I could hear how he swallowed.
“Estelle—”
“No. I’m not gonna answer or talk.”
“Are you engaged to Klayton?” God, he wouldn’t just shut up.
I turned to face him, glaring. I wished I could unsee the pain in his eyes. “What do you think?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think, but I don’t think it’s a wise decision. You’ve said it yourself. He’s not a good man.”
“Well, it’s not your problem anymore, right? How much your father paid you to bring me back?”
“What do you mean?”
I showed him the picture I took from Quinn.
He just shook his head to deny it.
“Liar.”
“I never lied to you.”
“Bullshit.”
“Your father approached me three weeks ago but declined when I saw your picture. And I told him I don’t do field work anymore because he asked me to personally look for you and bring you home by any force necessary. I couldn’t harm a woman. At first, I didn’t know the purpose or his intention. I told him I have men capable of doing the task, provided that the subject—”
“The subject, huh?”
He cringed at my words. “Provided that you will come willingly. That didn’t happen. Last week boss— Moses asked me a favor. I owed him a lot, and he’s my best friend’s father. He would never ask me if it could jeopardize my life, and I could never say no to him, even so. I declined at first, but when he said to convince you to come back, he said something that changed my mind, and I’m still puzzled by what he meant until now.” He looked directly into my eyes. “No money is involved. Yeah, I took the assignment— that was not even an assignment. I flew to Italy willingly and left my job. When you accused me of working for your father, that was when I realized that he had hired someone before me.”
“Three, actually. The first one, he found me in Seychelles. I yelled out kidnapper. The local police apprehended him. The second was in London. I tased him. Quinn sent my father a message. Then the man before you, he caught me. He was vicious. Thankfully the guys just came out of the blue to help me.”
“It was from Hunter’s agency.”
I stared at him. “No.”
“Hunter had been communicating with his agency before I even met you. He made a deal. Ask him. Ask him why he’s back to his job. What’s the catch?”
“That’s not true!” My voice rose in hysteria. There was no way he would betray me. “He would never lie to me.”
“Well, news flash, Estelle. He did.”
“It was to protect me.” I wanted to deny that Quinn never did that or how he knew all of this.
“Yeah, maybe, but he has to take you back home before the end of the month. That was the deal. I don’t know who issued the paycheck yet, but I will figure it out.”
I shook my head slowly, disbelieving and denying all that I heard. “You’re lying.”
“I told you I would never lie to you. When I saw you, and you introduced yourself to me, I didn’t know you personally. That’s the truth.”
When my chin trembled, I bit my bottom lip not to shed a tear for them, for anyone, for the truth I just found out.
“Get out.”
“Estelle.”
“Get out, Linden.”
“I just wanna—”
“I said get out!”
For a moment, silence echoed. None of us moved.
“Call me if you need anything. I mean anything, Estelle.”
“I would never need you.”
“Okay.”
I suppressed my anger, rage, and emotions as I silently screamed alone when he stepped out of the car.
He just admitted to being there to find me. It hurt a lot. What hurt me the most was that the person I trusted had been betraying me the whole time. Whatever reason he had, or maybe his life or job in jeopardy, he could have just come to me and cleared things out, but he didn’t.
I felt Quinn came back to the car, and then he asked me, “Are you okay?”
I drew a deep breath before I spoke. “Did your agency threaten you?”
“What do you mean?” He sincerely asked.
“I need the truth, Quinn. What’s the catch? Why they took you back after you went AWOL and betrayed them?”
“I told you.” He started the car.
“Stop. Stop lying. We’ve been through a lot for months, Quinn. I have entrusted you my whole life. What’s the catch?”
“I can have my job back provided I keep them updated on our whereabouts.”
“So you’ve been telling them where we were all this time behind my back?” I tried to keep a leash on my anger but failed.
“It was to protect you.”
“Didn’t you even ask yourself why? To whom were they reporting?”
“It’s above my pay grade, Estelle.”
“Oh, my God!” I just exploded. My cheeks heated from my anger. “You’re so dead!”
When he went strangely silent, I asked, “Did they also tell you to bring me back home?”
When he couldn’t answer and look me in the eye, that was it. I’m done!
“Get out.”
“Estelle, this is not a good idea. Let me send you home first.”
“Get. Out.”
“It’s not safe for you.”
“What’s not safe for me is you lying to me all this time, betraying me. I can’t trust you anymore.”
“I know you’re angry—”
“You have no idea what I feel right now, Quinn. And you don’t wanna find out. Get. Out.”
“At least let Linden send you home.”
“Go to hell, both of you.”
The moment he was out of the car, I went to the driver’s seat and hit the gas. I wanted to get out of that place, and damn, it shocked me that I was already driving alone.
When I got home, I instantly recognized the car park in the driveway, including the SUV behind it. And I was more surprised to see them in the living room. Could this night be any worse?
“Do you own a Hyperloop train or something?” Pissed off, I settled my eyes on Linden.
“You should not—”
“How did you find my house, Linden? This is private property.”
The two guys, Sax and Kye, looked at each other, telling me there was no way they would tell me.
“I know where you live. I pressed Quinn to tell me where you were going.”
“You mean you track me.”
“It’s not wise for you to drive alone, Estelle,” he insisted, but I didn’t give a damn.
“Why do you care?”
“Because I do.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Now you know I’m alive and well. The door is opened. Tell Quinn never to show his ass up here.”
“He just lost his job.”
“He lied to me. Don’t ever defend—” I shrugged. “You two came out from the same pod. No wonder.”
“Insult me, it’s fine, but he also kept you safe all those times. That gives him a little leniency.” Wow. Now I felt like an ungrateful rich bitch.
“Whatever. Are you done?”
“Yeah. You’ll have a new bodyguard tomorrow.”
I scoffed. “Unbelievable. You couldn’t be any more stereotypical toxic masculinity alpha bullshit. I could provide my own security.”
“I didn’t say you’re incapable of doing it on your own, but you can trust my men. They are highly trained, trustworthy, and don’t worry about their loyalty. It is to their client, not to me. But it’s your choice if you can find someone you think will protect you.” He tipped his head to Sax and Kye.
“Good night, ma’am,” Kye said politely.
“Have a great evening.” Sax left with Kye, leaving me with the big bad wolf in my living room.
“I’ll give Hunter a job. Please contact my office if you want to take him back as your bodyguard with a new resume. Good night.” He walked past me with that confident stride.
“Why?”
He stopped. “I believe everyone is redeemable.”
Crap. He had to say that.
“Congratulations on your engagement, Miss Bladwyn.”
That too.