I muffle a curse under my breath and head toward the door. With time ticking down, I make it outside just as Chester steps off the elevator.
CHARLOTTE
From across the room, I can see the impression of my handprints on the floor-to-ceiling window. Every inch of my body still hums from our endless night of lovemaking. Each time Zane came, he would demand my eyes. I recognized a vulnerability in his stare, a kind of desperation I can’t explain. He looked at me like I was some sort of mirage that would disappear if he blinked. All I could do was hold on to him and prove through my body that I wasn’t going anywhere, that I was undeniably his.
I wish I could stay home and linger in the memories we made last night, but real life is calling again. I pull on a heavy peacoat and walk toward the long wall of windows, peering down below. The fresh layer of snow makes everything look so crisp and new. A couple walks hand in hand down the street. I can’t help but envy them. I wish I could do those things with Zane. I don’t know how it will ever be possible. I can’t make him choose between me and his career, but I worry that is where this is all heading. As strong as our feelings are, neither of us will be able to hide it from the world for much longer.
Movement in traffic catches my attention. Four dark SUVs and a limousine pull up to the front of the building. The large entourage causes onlookers to gather across the street to watch. Moments like this make me wish I were invisible. Right now, I’d give anything for a normal life out of the spotlight where Zane and I can be together.
I trace my fingertips over one of the handprints on the window.
One day.
As I approach the limousine parked next to the curb, I have the unmistakable feeling of being watched. Hugging my coat to my body, I turn and glance back up at Zane’s window. Although I can’t see anything from this far down, I have a feeling he’s there looking down on me.
“Charlotte! Stop dawdling and get into the car. You’re letting the cold air in.”
I turn away from an invisible Zane, noting the pang in my heart as I do, and step off the curb into the limo. Not even my mother’s condescending tone can ruin my blissful Zane hangover this morning.
Once I settle into the backseat, I realize that my father isn’t in the car. “Is Dad meeting us there?”
My mother shakes her head, keeping her focus on the paperwork in her lap. “He won’t be joining us. Something important has come up. He’s confident you’ll agree that Georgetown is the best choice. The tour is mostly a formality.”
Of course, something has come up. It always does. I thought my father would at least show up, though, since he’s the one forcing me to switch schools in the first place. But over the past twenty years of my life he’s missed virtually every important event—recitals, plays, even my high school graduation. In my father’s work-driven world, politics and business come before anything else, even his only child.
I rest my head back against the leather seat when my phone chimes with a text. It’s from Zane.
I can still taste you on my lips.
My body flushes from the dirty text. I bite down on my lip and send him a reply—one that will definitely gain his full attention.
I can still feel you inside me.
His reply is almost instantaneous.
Good. I want you to think about me every time you move today.
I smile, knowing I will.
Trust me, I’ll be thinking about you all day.
There’s a brief pause and then another message chimes.
Promise me that you will stay close to Chester today.
I frown at the message. I like the playful Zane, not the serious one.
I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.
I’ll always worry about you. You’re mine, Charlotte. Say it.
I cross my legs. Even through text, my body reacts to his possessive tone.
I’m yours. Always yours.
“Here we are.”
I lift my head at my mother’s voice and look out my window.
The gothic stone clock tower of Healy Hall comes into view as we pull through the gates. The large crowd of people gathered on the steps at the front entrance of the building should surprise me, but it doesn’t. This is not the inconspicuous college tour I was hoping for this morning, but it’s the one I should’ve expected. My father can never be bothered, and my mother can never do anything low-key. Everything’s always a goddamn media opportunity.
Plastering a fake smile on my face, I step out of the car and wave in the direction of the clicking cameras. My mother and I pose for a quick picture together on the top of the steps before we’re ushered inside the building.
After a half hour of countless introductions, I am completely overwhelmed. When Chester asks to speak to me, I welcome the opportunity for a break.
“Campus security wants to meet with me to go over a few things. Agent Larson will be taking over my post until I return, okay?”
Masking my disappointment, I nod back at him. “Thanks for letting me know, Chester.”
I resume my place beside my mother, trying not to seem bored out of my mind as more eager faces gather around us for an opportunity to speak with one of us. My stomach plunges when I spot Nate Christiansen’s face in line.
Turning away from my mother, I pull out my phone and shoot Zane a quick text.
Nate is here.
I know he probably won’t see the text until he wakes up, but with Chester not here, I’m anxious.
Zane’s response comes surprisingly quickly.
Stay by Chester.
I fire off a quick response.
He’s in a meeting. Agent Larson is assigned to me.
A painful nudge in my side makes me jump. I turn. My mother’s eyes narrow into slits, the way they do when she’s silently warning me to correct myself. I drop the phone back in my pocket, trying to ignore the constant buzzing against me. Zane has got to be going nuts right now.
Blowing out a long breath, I prepare for Nate’s greeting. Immaculately dressed in a navy sweater and tan pants, he looks completely reformed from last night.
Nate leans in to give my mother a kiss on the cheek. “You’re looking lovely this morning, Mrs. Daley. It’s so good to see you again.” He then turns his attention to me. “Charlotte, always a pleasure. We missed you the other night after the dinner.”
I nod tightly. “Something came up.”
He grins. “Of course. Well, I hope you’re as excited as I am about the tour.”
I turn to my mother. “Excuse me?”
She smiles broadly. “As a current student, Nate has graciously offered to be the one to give you the full campus tour today. Isn’t that lovely of him to take time out of his schedule to do that for you?”
My eyes widen, but I cling to my composure. “Absolutely lovely.”
Nate extends his arm for me to take. “Shall we get started?”
I hesitate, but I’m not sure how I can get out of this without causing a scene or upsetting my mother. Swallowing down the rising bile in my throat, I loop my arm through his, careful to keep our bodies as far apart as possible. The sooner we can get this over with, the better.
My mother looks at our joined arms and beams. Something tells me she’s already planning our wedding in her head. Stepping forward, she waves her hands to usher us on. “You two have a wonderful time.”
My heart pounds. “You mean, you’re not coming along?”
“I have a very busy day today, Charlotte. I simply don’t have the time. Besides, I’m leaving you in good hands.” She leans in and places a rare kiss on my cheek—which I know is only for show—and smiles at Nate. “Thank you again for doing this, Nate.”
“It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Daley. This gives Charlotte and me the perfect chance to catch up on things.”
Just as I start to pull my arm away, Nate places his hand firmly over mine, preventing me from slipping free from his hold. My whole body is rioting from being in such close proximity to Nate, but I’
ve been raised to smile under duress and endure discomforts with grace. Today, apparently, is no exception.
I allow him to lead me out of the room and through a long hallway lined with closed office doors. The instant we are far enough from the crowd, I yank my arm free from his and halt in my tracks.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing, Nate?”
A smug smile splits his face, revealing his perfect teeth. “Just like your mother said. I’m giving you a tour.”
I shake my head violently. “I don’t know what kind of scheme you and my mother have conjured up, but there’s no way in hell I’m going anywhere with you.”
I glance around, hoping to see Agent Larson, but he’s not here. As a matter of fact, no one is around at all.
Nate prowls closer. “What’s the matter, sweetheart? Looking for someone?”
I open my mouth to scream, but he quickly silences me by covering it with his hand. In one forceful shove, I’m slammed against the wall behind me.
His hand traps the scream in my throat, and with the rest of his body, he pins me painfully between him and the wall. All I can do is tremble and stare back into his evil eyes.
“I told you, Charlotte,” he says, his breath hot on my cheek. “He won’t always be around to protect you.”
ZANE
I pace the floor of my living room as I listen to the endless ringing. My muscles are jumpy and my stomach is somewhere in my throat.
“Come on, come on, baby. Pick up. Please, pick up.”
This is my tenth attempt at calling her. I’ve texted her at least thirty times and still haven’t gotten a single response. Chester isn’t answering his phone either, which only makes matters worse. I now wish I’d filled him in on Nate’s latest threats. Maybe if I’d spent more time doing my job and less time feeding my obsession with Charlotte’s luscious body, I would have.
When the call goes over to her voicemail again, I sling my phone across the room. “Goddamnit!”
Something’s wrong. I’d felt it the moment I watched her get in the back of the limo. I’d been so unsettled by it I hadn’t been able to sleep, though my body sorely needed rest.
I should have trusted my intuition and tagged along with them to the university. At least then I would have been there to keep Christiansen in check.
My phone starts to ring. Stumbling forward, I practically trip over my feet to get to it. Once I see Chester’s name on the screen, I don’t know whether to feel relief or panic.
“Chester? Please tell me you’re back with Charlotte.”
“No, Larson’s with her. I’m still going through a walk-through with campus security. What’s going on?”
“Radio him now and see if she’s okay.”
“What are you talking about? Of course she’s okay.”
“She messaged me earlier that Nate Christiansen was there with her. Since then she hasn’t responded to any of my calls or texts. Please, Chester. Just do a check-in with Larson. Believe me, I want to be wrong about all of this.”
Chester pauses. “Is there something you’re not telling me about her and Christiansen?”
I hesitate, but then I realize nothing can be worse than admitting that I’m sleeping with the First Daughter, which I’ve already done. So I tell him everything as quickly as I can. From the first few times Nate tried to make moves on her, to the time I nearly shoved him through a wall, to his latest intoxicated threat. The more I tell him, the sicker I feel.
Chester’s silent when I finish. He sighs into the phone. “Goddamnit, Parker. You should have told me this sooner.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“Okay. Hold on.”
I listen as Chester speaks in the background. “Larson, can I have an update on the First Daughter’s location?”
There is a brief pause as he waits for an answer through his headpiece. “What? Why are you not with her?”
I tighten my grip on the phone as Chester’s conversation plays out.
“How long has she been gone? Goddamnit. Lock the campus down now. No one gets in or out until we locate her.”
I grab my keys and head for the door.
“Do it now. We have reason to believe she could be in trouble,” he continues, his voice muffled by the rustling of his movements.
Everything feeds my panic, and I can only think one thing. I have to get to her. I’m already getting in my car when Chester comes back on to speak to me.
“Parker, she’s with Nate. Her mother arranged a private tour with him and bailed on them. She told Larson to stand down and give them privacy. They’re locking down the campus now to look for them.”
“Goddamnit.”
My tires squeal as I pull out of the garage and onto the busy street. I weave in and out of traffic as scenarios start to play out in my head. The tour, the meeting. It was all too coincidental.
“Chester, how long did you know about this security meeting that you were in today?”
“They approached me this morning. Why?”
In that moment, all the pieces click. “Motherfucker!” I slam my hands down on the steering wheel. “Nate planned all of this, Chester. I guarantee you he’s already taken her off the premises. He wouldn’t have gone through this much trouble if he was going to keep her there. Have them check the surveillance videos of people leaving. I’m on my way there now.”
“We’ll find her, Parker. Charley’s a smart girl. She’s going to be all right.”
“I hope you’re right, Chester.”
I hang up and press down harder on the accelerator.
“Hang on, baby. I’m coming for you.”
CHARLOTTE
Once Nate pulls into his parent’s driveway, I know he’s brought me here to settle the score.
“You’re never going to get away with this, Nate. Any minute now Chester will realize what’s going on. When he does, he will turn this city upside down looking for me. This is kidnapping. Do you realize that? Even your father can’t get you out of this one.”
“Kidnapping?” He throws his head back and laughs. “Do you honestly believe anyone is going to believe I kidnapped you? Your mother is practically salivating at the idea of you and I being together. Even the ice queen isn’t immune to my charm.”
“You might have her fooled, but Chester knows you’ve threatened me,” I lie.
He puts the car in park. “I’m afraid Chester is going to be preoccupied for a while. By the time he’s finished, you and I will be long done with our little visit.”
I grip the edges of the seat so he can’t see me trembling. “You think you’re just going to rape me and get away with it? If you lay a hand on me, you’ll be destroyed.”
He shakes his head. “No one’s going to believe you, Charlotte. Especially after everyone sees all the dirt I have on you.”
He reaches behind the seat and retrieves a large yellow envelope and drops it on my lap. “Have a look at those and tell me what you think.”
I stare down in shocked silence. With shaky hands, I unfasten the metal clips on the end of the envelope and tilt it on its side. A large stack of photos slide out into my lap. The photos are numerous…and explicit. The first ones show me bent over Nate’s bed. He must have secretly taken them the night of his party.
“I must say that the video is even better than the pictures. Of course, I conveniently edited out the part where your boyfriend interrupted us.”
I swallow hard. “Zane will tell them the truth about everything. His word and mine are better than yours.”
“Is he also going to tell them how he fucked you in the bathroom at the party last night?”
I clench my jaw and attempt to school my features. “You were drunk last night, Nate. You have no idea what you saw. Katherine had gotten sick in that bathroom. Zane and I were only trying to help her.”
He smirks at me and points at the stack of glossy photos in my lap. “You might want to keep looking through those. I saved the best for last.”
I slid
e my shaking hand over the pile and freeze once I see the last group of photographs. Picture after picture is of me and Zane naked in front of my living room window. Judging from the angle, they look as though they’d been taken directly across the street from my apartment. But this was from this morning. How does he have these?
“A little word to the wise. If you want to keep your relationship a secret, you might not want to fuck your boyfriend in front of an open window.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You were spying on us?”
“Technically, no. That would be the guy I hired to follow you. And I must say, Charlotte, you gave him some winning shots. Who knew you were such a naughty girl?” I flinch when he touches the side of my face with his finger.
“I’m tired of playing games, Nate. If you’re trying to blackmail me into sleeping with you, it isn’t going to work.”
“Oh, but you’re missing the point. I’m not blackmailing you. Blackmailing means you have a choice in the outcome.” He pulls a pistol from under his seat and rests it in his lap. “And right now, I’m afraid you’re all out of choices.”
ZANE
I answer my phone on the first ring. “Chester, please tell me you’ve found her.”
“I just had Christiansen’s phone pinged for a location. He’s at his parents’ residence here in Georgetown.”
Changing lanes, I take the upcoming exit. The Christiansens’ house on Cherry Lane is less than a mile away from here.
“I’m just a couple of minutes from there. Are they sending units for backup?”
“Listen to me, Parker. The White House isn’t considering this a kidnapping.”
“What are you talking about? You and I both know she didn’t leave with him of her own free will.”
He sighs, and even through the phone I can sense his frustration. “I have pleaded with her mother, but she refuses to believe her daughter is in any sort of danger.”
“Fuck her mother. There’s no way in hell I’m standing down on this.”
Misadventures of the First Daughter (Misadventures Book 5) Page 12