Again, I had no idea if I would be able to get that book back. I wasn’t even sure I knew where the book was. All I did know was that Chase thought taking it was a good idea, and he deeply regretted it now.
“I can convince him to give it back to you.”
“Good, then you do that and I’ll let you go free.”
“I have something else I want,” I said firmly.
The firm tone of my voice seemed to catch Escabar off guard, but he turned and waited for me to tell him what my demands were.
“Chase stays safe, as well.”
“Now, now, pretty thing. I know you like the guy, but you’d do better to stay here with me. He’s got nothing he can offer you.”
“They’re my terms, either take them or leave them.”
Escabar seemed to think for a very long time, as he walked around the room. I imagined he was trying to decide if Chase looking through his black book was enough cause to murder him. Chase had not done anything with the book yet, and that was a huge benefit. But I didn’t know if Escabar would be willing to go with my terms or not.
“He has to pay me back all the money he owes, with interest! And, give me my black book by the end of this week. If he can’t do both of those things, I’ll get rid of him. His father is the one with the money, I can just go to him to get it.”
“What about your black book? If Chase has hidden it and you kill him, you’ll never get it back.”
“Then, I guess you better convince Chase to give it to me with the money so I don’t have to kill him. You see, little lady, I don’t care about the black book if it’s hidden somewhere. I only care that Chase isn’t handing it off to one of my enemies. If Chase and you are dead, it won’t matter where the hell he hid that book.”
My eyes got wide as Escabar came closer to me. I could tell that he would easily kill Chase and me if he needed to. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in his eyes. My only choice was to convince Chase to give up the black book and to help him convince his father to sign over his company and the assets Chase needed to pay off his debt to Escabar.
I was so angry with Chase for getting me involved in this mess. I had been minding my own business in Liechtenstein and just wanted love. Instead, I got myself smack dab in the middle of some sort of all-out war between two men.
“You have a deal,” I said as I stretched my hand out toward Escabar.
He shook my hand and then gathered his things to leave. I didn’t know what to do. I continued to sit in the chair until he told me to either leave or do something else. I didn’t want to do anything wrong. I wanted to stay on Escabar’s good side.
“I’m leaving with my men. I assume Chase will show up here soon looking for you. It’s your job to make sure my terms are met. If you can’t do this, I’ll have no choice but to kill you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Sit in my living room and wait for him. I have guards outside and surveillance everywhere. Don’t touch anything in my home, and don’t tell Chase the deal we made.”
“Okay,” I said as I walked out to the living room area.
I sat still in the chair as I watched Escabar and his men leave. I wasn’t about to move, and I wasn’t going to do anything that would jeopardize my life or Chase’s. My mind swirled with all that was going on. I knew it was going to be hard to get everything done, but I also knew that Chase would do so to save us both.
I waited for what seemed like hours, but was probably only about twenty minutes, before Chase arrived. He flung through the front door, and I continued to wait for him in the living room.
“Chase, I’m over here,” I yelled out.
“Where is he? Where is Escabar? I’ll kill him.”
“Shhh, Chase, let?
??s just get out of here.”
Chase looked around the room, as if he was expecting to have a fight on his hands. He looked up to the balcony that overlooked the living room, and then he walked around the outer edge of the room.
“Where is he? Why is it so quiet?”
“I think he just took me to prove a point. I’m sorry I left you. I’m sorry I didn’t trust your intuition about those two.”
“Let’s get out of here,” I heard someone else say as he came in from the front door.