Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
I packed some of my finest evening attire to bring along to France with me, so I pick one from the collection. A trailing black dress, low cut with a side split up to my thigh. I’ll be able to run fine in that, and I’m going to go barefoot, so heels don’t hinder me. I don’t spend long on my makeup – just outline my eyes in my trademark cat flicks, and put on my finest scarlet lipstick. Then I check the time on Heath’s bedside clock. Only ten minutes left for the proposal to get underway.
And for me to get away.
When I leave the bedroom, the place is in total darkness. The guys have switched off all of the lights. Every single one of them. I wonder where they are. Are they close by, in the darkness? Will they be able to hear me make my move? It makes the situation so much more ominous that I freeze by the door, listening for movements, or breaths. But there is nothing. Only silence.
I don’t know the villa well enough yet to dash freely, and I won’t be giving away my location by hitting any light switches. I make my way carefully through to the kitchen, reaching out for the familiar anchor of the breakfast bar to orientate myself. The moonlight is strong outside, but it isn’t reaching me here in the kitchen. I’m in the shadows. I use the opportunity to take some deep breaths as I contemplate my route. What will the guys expect me to do? Race into unknown territory on the outskirts of the villa grounds, or stay close by for an up-close game of hide and seek?
But the real question is… what do I want to do?
My feet answer the question for me, itching to run, run, run. So that is what I do. I dash straight for the door onto the terrace, easing the handle open as quietly as I can before I skirt alongside the loungers with my back against the wall. I follow the angle of the wall at the end, and in the moonlight I see the relaxation room where we had our pamper session. How ironic. This is anything but a pamper session. My heart is thumping, the adrenaline starting to flow, and I enjoy that. The terror. I let my mind race through the chase scenes in Nighttime Whispers – so many victims lost and succumbing to the Count’s fangs in their neck once he reaches his prey.
I sink into the zone. I’m Polly Anna. And I’m on the run.
From the man she loves.
From the men she loves.
Oh fuck, I should never use that term in the plural.
I make a dash for the relaxation room, my breaths already hitching as I reach the other side. The grounds around Heath’s huge villa are flat, with perfect grass and high walls around the outside. I can navigate this. I reach the boundary wall and race along the outskirts, unsure of quite what lies up ahead. My preparation time must be long gone by now – the chase underway – and I speed up, my feet silent as I run. I can hear the sea beyond the wall, and I ache to be in there, wading in and racing through the waves as my two assailants charge after me in floods of water. I’d love the sand beneath my toes, my feet pelting as I sprint, but I can’t go out there. For now, it has to be the grounds.
I feel as though I’m in the middle of nowhere within minutes – the huge villa a block of magnificence, lit up in the moonlight before my eyes. And I realise this was a bullshit move. I have nowhere to hide here. Nothing but open ground.
Crap.
I’ll be fallen prey in no time if I stay here.
I have no choice but to make a run for it. Three, two, one, and I go for it, sprinting with everything I’ve got. It’s a relief when I reach a corner at the rear of the villa. I haven’t been here before, but that’s ok. I can make it around to the other side if I’m calm and steady. I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, dipping down as I pass each window, and leaping past the floor to ceiling panes. The villa really is massive. The circuit feels endless.
I scout around for a glimpse of anything that could hide me, and that’s when I catch sight of one of the guys across the lawn, by the boundary wall. Jesus, how my stomach lurches. From this distance, I don’t know which of the two it is. I stay statue still until they are out of sight, and keep going on my way. I brace myself, prepared to be leapt on at any second, but as I turn another corner, there is nobody there.