Chapter Twenty-Two
Nick
Iwant to see her before this all begins. I need time alone with her.
I need to know she’s okay.
Harrison walks into the room and gives me a slight nod. “They’ve agreed to let you see her for a short time in the office. I gave them my word that you wouldn’t try anything.”
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want,” I say, but knowing that I’d honor Harrison’s word, and it’s not like I can enter their winery with guns blazing anyway. Not if I don’t want to risk any harm toward Lyriope.
Harrison clearly knows that, because he doesn’t say anything more before he leads me into the office where Lyriope is waiting.
She is more gorgeous than anyone on this planet, holding herself with a sophistication that far surpasses any other woman I’ve ever known. She still doesn’t know the power she has, and the power she exudes, but the woman is captivating in the most perfect way. My heart aches to hold her to me again, but I worry if I do, I’ll never let her go again.
This last thought is like a punch to the gut.
I might have to let her go.
I might not win this auction.
I may not be the victor in this war.
Deep pockets and power may outbid me. I don’t want it to happen, but it’s a possibility.
Desperately wanting to be near her, I slowly approach, needing to rest my eyes on Lyriope’s again. As I near her, though, I observe certain differences from the woman I had left with Cora. The woman I have become obsessed with has a strength about her, one visible in the pride she holds herself with as she sits in a chair waiting. This woman isn’t a broken bird, in need of rescuing. She appears confident. In control. Simply waiting for what’s to come next. She is far from the damsel in distress I had been expecting to walk in on. No tears, no quivering ball of goo I have to pick off of the floor and promise she’ll always be safe.
No, Lyriope is composed.
I smile as I see this. Good for her. Hold those shoulders up and never reveal your fear. My motherfucking queen is finally starting to get it.
But as I get closer, and as our eyes lock, I instantly see the truth and notice Lyriope’s deep brown eyes—so dark and hollow. Her eyes—the sadness in them like a quicksand sucking me into her despair. Her pale skin seeming paler than I remember it to be. The pouty pinkness of her lips causing an almost painful ache for the mere taste of her again. And I would have in that instant if she didn’t shake her head.
“I wish you hadn’t come,” she stammers, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m constantly getting you in this disaster of my life.”
The composed woman I observed mere seconds ago is revealing her true feelings.
To me.
Only to me, but a part of me doesn’t want me to see this pain.
She’s scared. And why shouldn’t she be? I’m fucking scared. She’s just mastered the ability to hide it like I can. But now it is just us. Just the two of us. We can let down our shields and that’s exactly what she’s doing.
“Of course, I’m going to come.” I take another step closer. “I should have never left you with Cora.”
She opens her mouth as if she’s going to say something. Closes it and then stands from her chair.
“Cora said the Sidorovs stormed into the house and took you,” I say. “I didn’t leave you with enough security. I’m sorry. I thought you’d be safe with her and where you were. I let down my guard.”
“Where’s Cora now?” she asks.
“Still at the villa. She’s worried about you.”
Lyriope gives me a soft grin, but I know her well enough to see right through it. She’s holding something back. “Is that so?”
Closing the distance, my hand comes up cautiously to her face, my fingers brushing against a faint bruise on her cheek, and I find myself wondering where the woman I had known—the woman I would risk everything for—has gone.
She seems distant. No… she is distant.