Breaking the kiss, I leaned back and gazed down at her. Her eyes were hazy, and she stared up at me with an adorably dumbstruck expression.
“Ummm, that was nice,” she murmured with a small giggle.
I sighed, stroking my thumb along her cheek. “I need to tell you something.”
Her brow furrowed in immediate concern. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
“No,” I said, then amended, “not exactly. Unfortunately, something’s come up with the company, and I have to go back to the city.”
Her eyes widened. “You do? Why? Can’t you handle things from here?”
I shook my head. “That’s not possible, it seems. My presence is being demanded, and a major deal is on the line that we can’t let fall through. I’m leaving first thing in the morning.”
Her fingers flexed and her hold on me tightened. “What about Ralph?”
“I’m not worried about him doing anything to me,” I grumbled. “He’s not that much of an idiot.”
“We’ll come with you,” she said.
“No,” I replied sharply. I gentled my tone before continuing. “It’s too dangerous. You and Megan will stay here. You’ll be safe, and I’ll be back within a day or two. I promise.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment and seemed to consider my words carefully. At length, she finally nodded.
“All right,” she murmured. “I suppose you’re right. This is the safest place we can be right now. Still, I don’t like the idea of you being away from us. Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I’m not ready to share you with anyone else yet. Even your company.”
Her words had my heart racing. I smirked, feeling excited and arrogant, and used my finger to tilt her chin up, so my lips could hover over hers.
“I rather like this greedy side of you,” I said with a soft chuckle. “I like the thought of you wanting to keep me all to yourself.”
She pursed her lips together and narrowed her eyes. “Forget I said that. Your ego doesn’t need any more of a boost.”
Laughing, I closed the bit of distance left between us and kissed her again. I moved my hand to cup the back of her head as my lips slanted over hers. She whimpered, and heat shot through me. I grew hard for her, and my desire burned through me like a bonfire.
“How long will Megan sleep?” I asked with a breathless gasp against her mouth.
“Usually an hour,” she whispered back, her tone dripping with lust.
I reached down and cupped her backside, so I could lift her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I started toward her own bedroom.
“Then we better not waste a minute of it,” I growled, shoving the door open and carrying her inside, so I could lose myself in her body while I still had the chance.
Chapter 53
Cyrus
“You listen to Sadie while I’m gone, all right. Be a good girl.”
Megan nodded, her big eyes wide as she stared up at me. Morning had come far too quickly, and I was getting ready to hit the road back to the city. Sadie and Megan were standing in the driveway next to my car to tell me goodbye. Megan was still in her pajamas, and Sadie wore a pair of yoga pants and a tank top I desperately wanted to rip off her. She gazed at me with a worried expression, but I could tell she was trying not to let her anxiety show in front of Megan.
“Will you come back soon, Uncle Cyrus?” Megan asked, reaching up to grab my hand. “I don’t want you to go.”
I gave her a tender smile and lowered myself, so I was squatting in front of her.
I patted her head and said, “I’ll only be gone a day or two. I promise, you won’t even notice I’m gone.”
She stuck out her bottom lip. “Yes, I will.”
I chuckled and nodded. “All right, maybe you will because you’re a very smart girl. You’ll have Sadie, though. You two will keep each other company while I’m gone, okay?”
“Okay,” she mumbled.
She was being clingy, and I could understand why. Though being in the country had been good for her and she’d seemed to shake off the worst of her fear from the incident in the city, I didn’t for one moment believe she was completely over the trauma of that night. Having both Sadie and myself around was likely a huge comfort to her, and she didn’t like the idea of being without one of us.
“I need you to take care of the place while I’m gone, all right?” I told her. “You and Sadie are in charge while I’m gone.”
Megan perked up a bit at that.
“Okay,” she said, her tone serious.
Smiling, I nodded and straightened. I looked up and met Sadie’s gaze again. She was staring at me in complete adoration. It stole my breath, and it took all my willpower not to reach out for her right then and there. The only thing that held me back was remembering that Megan didn’t know about us yet, and I didn’t want to step over that line without discussing it with Sadie first.
“All right,” I said, swallowing back a lump in my throat. “I should get going.”
Sadie nodded. “Yeah…you’ll want to avoid the worst of the traffic.”
We stared at each other, tension sizzling between us. There was more I wanted to say to her, but again, Megan’s presence had me biting my tongue.
“I’ll call you once I get to the city,” I said. “And I’ll keep you posted on when I’ll be back.”
“Okay,” Sadie replied. She clasped and unclasped her hands in front of her. I wanted to kiss her goodbye so badly, but I forced myself to turn away from her and climb into my car. I watched Sadie take Megan’s hand and guide her away from the car as I started the engine and began driving away from the house. I couldn’t help but glance up at my rearview mirror to catch sight of them several times before I finally reached the end of the driveway and pulled out onto the road.
***
The drive back to New York was long and uneventful. I tried not to think of Sadie the entire time, and I failed miserably. I also couldn’t get Megan’s sad, little face out of my head and hoped that she wasn’t too anxious with me away.
As I turned down the street that the townhouse was located on, my cell rang. I answered it through the car.
“Hello?” I said without bothering to check who it was.
“Cyrus, we have a situation.”
I instantly recognized Caleb’s voice, and my whole body went rigid with tension.
“What is it?” I demanded to know. “Ralph?”
“We picked up on his trail,” Caleb answered. “However, it looks like he’s left the city.”
“What?” I bellowed. “Where did he go?”
“We’re not sure…” Caleb said with a long, heavy breath. “But it looks like he might have gone north.”
North.
The country estate.
The realization slammed through me so hard, I stomped on the car brake. A car behind me honked angrily, but I ignored them as I hit the accelerator again and raced down the street.
“He’s going to the estate,” I shouted.
“I’m informing the men stationed there now,” Caleb told me.
“I’m heading back,” I replied through gritted teeth. “Ralph’s got a head start, but I’m not going to let him get anywhere near Megan.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
I hung up the call and focused on getting out of the city as fast as I could. My heart slammed in my chest, and I felt like I was going to throw up. At the same time, rage burned through me. I was going to kill him. If he touched a single hair on Megan’s head, or did anything to threaten Sadie, I’d end him with my own two hands.