Just a shame I wouldn’t be able to resist Lucian Morelli if he ever came for me again.
I hated myself more than ever as I realized I was praying that he did.
17 Lucian
Slipping the tracker inside Elaine’s purse was a bad decision. She was preoccupying me through every minute. I should’ve been satisfied with having her whereabouts at my fingertips, but I wasn’t. I wanted to be hunting her. Taunting her. Scaring her until she hurt.
I told my chauffeur to keep his mouth shut as to where our journeys were taking me, on pain of death. I didn’t need to convince him; he knew I was serious in my threats. Once he was aware of the severity of my demands, he was mine. Twenty-four hours a day, until I told him otherwise.
I knew I’d need him.
I’d been stalking Elaine from the moment she stepped outside the auction that night, tempting myself with fantasies of her pain and fear. I hadn’t so much as ventured close to the Morelli Holdings headquarters on that Thursday morning, staring up at her apartment block like a fool, just outside of her security radar while my chauffeur tried to sleep in the front seat.
The fool had finally moved on Thursday evening, leaving her place to dash to the waiting limousine and head off for her Roosevelt social function. My own chauffeur had been moving in seconds, screeching tires as we pulled away. I’d followed her from her city apartment through to Bishop’s Landing, keeping her in my sight until she’d pulled left into her uncle’s driveway – the asshole called Crane I’d heard plenty of rumors about over the years. By all accounts, her mother relied on her brother for some of the more nefarious parts of her business. Maybe Elaine’s attendance was a token social event to coast along on top of a more lucrative one.
I should’ve been straight out of the vicinity, done and dusted, but I wasn’t. I’d bailed on my own family social night at the casino, telling the others I had more important shit to be attending to. That was the truth.
She was my important shit to be attending to.
I didn’t even recognize my own mind as I kept on obsessing over the stupid princess in her stupid world, but I couldn’t step away from it. Couldn’t come to my fucking senses enough to write her off as worthless and leave it the fuck alone.
I’d been hovering around the streets for hours, driving in circles with my exhausted chauffeur until her tracker finally told me she was leaving Crane’s place. I’d caught up with her car on the main Bishop’s Landing drag, following her back into the city just to watch her dash from the car through to her apartment building.
One thing the pretty fool couldn’t hide – she was moving damn fast wherever she went. It brought a smile to my face. There was no doubt in my mind that she knew she was being followed. Instinct – she knew she was being chased by a monster.
My lack of attendance at the Morelli HQ on Friday morning was an alien event to everyone. I had CEOs calling my cell on constant loop. I barked out instructions, barely more than one-liner answers to complex situations, but I didn’t care. I didn’t have time for any of them, not a fucking peep of it.
Trenton was trying to chase me down for approval of another cross-border arms deal, but I didn’t have time for him either. I couldn’t give a shit who was delivering what and when. It was when he called me late that morning for a final okay that I found myself asking a whole load more from him in return. Much more than should ever have been on my radar.
“I want to know what’s happening between Elaine Constantine and the Power brothers,” I told him. “I want to know what the fuck she owes them and what the fuck they are planning to do about it.”
Trenton paused. “Sorry, what? You want me to go digging on the Powers about Elaine Constantine?”
I hissed out a breath. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
I could hear the confusion in his voice. “Yeah, but. I just . . . if I track them down, they’re gonna know it’s coming from you.”
He was right. I knew he was right. Every scrap of common sense in my head was screaming out about my insanity, but still, I didn’t back down.
“I want everything. I want to know everything,” I insisted, and he sighed.
I knew he thought I was as crazy as I did, but he knew better than to challenge me again. Sure thing, boss was the answer he gave me, and with that he was gone.
Friday morning was a bore and a slow burn. Elaine didn’t move until the sun was up high in the sky, walking on foot through NYC with her cousin Harriet.
I was a true damn stalker as I ditched my chauffeur in a city parking lot and followed her through the streets. I kept my distance, far enough behind that she didn’t stand any chance of catching my face, but again, her instincts were still pricking strong. So many times she cast a glance behind her, wide eyes searching for her hunter. So many times I dipped away out of her view.
It was when she was getting a dress fitting at one of the premier boutiques in the city that I finally opted to poke her fear some more. I stepped up to the window, just close enough that she’d catch a glimpse of me. Then I waited. Waited until she stopped in the middle of a twirl, an instant halt which had the stylists as surprised as she was. My pretty blonde minx blinked and took a step forward, her shock so palpable that I could taste it on the
