“Fine,” I said under my breath. “A spell on the two of us.”
“You cursed us?”
“No, goofy. A good spell. That we’d get along and not argue.” And that we’d fall in love. I could not believe I’d done that. God. What was wrong with me?
“Huh,” he muttered seconds later. “I like that. I guess we’ll see if it works.”
Who was this man? When I looked over at him, he grinned.
“But time to have our eye on the ball. If we can’t leave, we’ll need to find a place to hole up for a few days. You’re responsible for finding someplace suitable.”
“Why, yes, sir.”
“I kind like that. Sir.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
We were closing in on the airport and the knot in my stomach grew much larger. The rush of adrenaline was close to being gone, replaced with a sickly combination of exhaustion and terror.
I didn’t want to fully admit how frightened I was to a man like Donatello, but I was very much on edge, trying my best to keep from breaking down. Yes, the thrill of the car ride had kept me pumped for several minutes after the quiet had settled in.
Yet my nerves were raw.
While I hadn’t heard the shot Donatello had fired into the driver, I’d felt it, even jumping. At this point, my imagination was running wild.
What had occurred inside the beautiful house had also settled in. I’d had a day and a half of happiness. Now, to anyone who didn’t know me and was looking in from the outside, they’d think me a spoiled brat.
Yes, I’d had happiness in my life. I’d also enjoyed love from family and friends. I’d been allowed freedoms few were ever provided because of my parents’ wealth. I’d been given the finest education, designer clothes, and a car for my sixteenth birthday.
And maybe all throughout my formative years I’d continually disregarded how grateful I should feel. Maybe I’d believed that by remaining a good student and a good person, even winning a scholarship to lessen the burden on my parents’ bank account had meant I was giving back. Or certainly when I’d been eager and willing to work for the family business, working my way up from a clerk in the boutique to the buyer for our various stores.
That had been at my parents’ insistence, something they’d required for every child born into the regime. However, that’swhat I’d wanted. To learn the business from the ground up. It had been my goal to bring more legitimacy to the corporation, even using being the apple of my father’s eye to ensure nothing criminal touched Indulgence.
I’d very much wanted my parents, namely my father, to be proud of me. And he had been. At least that’s what he’d told me on the morning of his murder.
He’d called me out of the blue, sharing his feelings. A rarity. Now, if I’d called him, he would have stepped away from what he was doing to ensure I had all the time I needed.
Then he’d had to go and be murdered on me.
I was lamenting over family because Donatello was right. Maybe I’d taken what I had with them for granted and had for years. Had I legitimately been smothered? Absolutely, and more so after my father’s death, but my brothers just wanted to keep me safe.
Maybe now I should finally accept why.
Someone wanted me… kidnapped.
The realization suddenly hit me. I sat up in my seat, gripping the dashboard. “There were five men there because they’d been ordered to take me alive. Right?”
Donatello rolled into the parking lot of the private jet area before glancing over at me. He didn’t want to burst my little bubble.
“You can tell me the truth, Donatello. I’m a big girl. Maybe a stupid one, but a big girl. That man wasn’t going to kill me. Was he?”
“My instinct tells me he was given explicit instructions to keep you alive.”
A lump had formed in my throat hours before. “So I killed an innocent man.”
He laughed. “Make no mistake, sweet Ambrosia, the man was not innocent. What they would have done in the interim even with keeping you alive would most likely be very unpleasant.”
Everyone always tiptoed around me. “I got it. I understand. You don’t need to sugarcoat anything. Okay? I wasn’t thinking about what would happen by being all alone four thousand miles from home. I put myself in terrible danger. Trust me, I get it.”