Page 13 of Scarlet Embrace

I turned to the woman who was tied up, concerned about her safety. Women and children were off-limits, but there were monsters in this world who didn’t care about the rules.

“No way,” I said, realizing that the woman before me was the same woman from the other day. I turned to Desmond, who was still groaning in pain, and asked him if he was sure that this woman was the spy.

“Yes. She wanted to take pictures, and both Diana and Marcus LaRosa left talking about how they’ve been set up,” Desmond muttered.

I moved closer toward her, realizing that she was passed out. Desmond made it clear that they had only knocked her out, and I was tempted to hit him again because of that. For now, I needed to hold onto her before I could determine exactly what to do. I have my cars back, but I even have more questions as I needed to make sense of what I was dealing with.

Who made that call to the LaRosas? Who rented this warehouse? Who is this lady, and why has she been following me?

“What do you want us to do, boss?” Thomas asked.

I wished I had an answer, but the truth was that I didn’t know what to make of this situation. For now, getting my cars back to the mansion and taking this lady with me was the only option. Taking a good look at her, I realized that someone must have punched her, judging from the bruises on her face.

“Find out who beat her up among them and bring them along. We need to teach these men exactly how to handle women.”

Her waking up would provide me with all the answers I needed, which meant that until I got those answers, I couldn’t risk her getting away from me. In fact, I would need to keep her presence a secret because whoever had employed her would definitely want to silence her. All this while, I thought I was dealing with a simple spy, but it seemed I might have made a huge mistake. In fact, I might be dealing with a mastermind.

CHAPTER 7: ELENA

THE LION’S DEN

Sunlight.

Slowly, I tried to open my eyes. My eyelid felt heavy. I took a look around me, and I realized that the elements of the room were unfamiliar to me. The bed was soft, and the pillow smelled differently. My throat felt parched, my body hurt all over, and I had what seemed to be a killer headache. My attempts to recollect the events of the previous day don’t go well. I was wearing the same clothes I had worn the previous night, which was, in many ways, a relief.

“Where am I?” I asked as I tried to sit up.

The last thing I remembered was going to the warehouse. Yes, the warehouse where I believed Lucas Cruz’s car was kept.

They were kept there. I found the cars.

“Finally, you are awake,” a masculine voice said from the door, and I realized I wasn’t alone. “I was concerned that you might never wake up.”

“Who are you?” I asked slowly as I tried to make out the features of the man who had just spoken.

The man stepped into the room, and I recognized Lucas Cruz. He was wearing a blue suit, and he stood right next to the bed, a frown on his face. This was the second time I’d been in close contact with him, and this time, I was able to focus on his face. Grey eyes, strong jawline, thin lips, and a straight nose. There was no denying the fact that Lucas was quite a handsome man.

What am I thinking?

I shook my head, an action that made my headache even worse. He asked if I was alright, and I demanded to know where I was.

“You are in my mansion. I brought you from the warehouse last night. Do you remember what happened last night?” He asked calmly.

“Yes. Yes, I remember, but why am I here?” I asked him, suspecting foul play. He simply stared at me, his eyes trying to judge me. I hated the fact that I was in the same room with him. “Did you kidnap me? I told people where I was last night, and they’ll be searching for me right now!”

There was no way Roland would know where I was, but I had texted him the location of the warehouse, and by now, he was most likely trying to track me down since I had been out of touch.

“That would be nice. I did not kidnap you, but I brought you here to get answers. Answers that you are the only one who might get them for me,” his tone made it clear that this wasn’t a joke.

I paused for a moment, unsure of what he meant by that. What could I help him with? And why would he even think I might have the answers that he needed?

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I told him as I tried to get out of bed.

The attempt to move made my entire body scream in pain, but I was more focused on getting as far as possible from Lucas. I hated the man’s guts, and I wasn’t going to remain in this mansion, or wherever it was he brought me. Setting my foot on the ground, I yelped in pain as I realized that my ankle was still sprained. Lucas placed his hands on my shoulder to steady me. His touch was quite steady and strangely comforting.

“Leave me the fuck alone,” I said, attempting to displace his hand, but that only made him grip me tightly.

“Listen to me, woman. I don’t like this arrangement any more than you do. In fact, if things were slightly different, you wouldn’t be sleeping in a bed but somewhere cold and dark.”