Chapter 16

Ethan’s POV

I walked up the stairs in a great hurry as the giant clock placed before I moved its hands with great speed. I headed straight to the board room, where I was surprised to find a bunch of men in tight suits.

Upon finding me standing at the door frame, they all got up and acknowledged my presence. I was in a bad position of not paying heed to their reverence, as I just roamed about the table and took a seat.

“There’s still time.” Owen, who flew to London a day ago for some of his work, said to me. “We don’t have to listen to him.”

“It’s my wife you’re talking about,” I said. “I can’t risk anything.”

Owen sighed. “I’m not asking you to risk her safety. Let’s just try to track the call and head over to that area.”

“And you think he’ll just let us catch hold of him even if we got the correct address?” I asked. “That man is well equipped. He is in the business world, Owen, you know how we work.”

I pulled out the folder before me and took hold of a pen.

Owen spoke again. “It’s your company, Ethan. One wrong move and it’s all gone.”

“I don’t care.” I said. “At this point, nothing matters to me.”

“Talk to your father about this before doing it. He has a right to know.” Owen tried again to prevent me from signing the resignation. But today, the odds were not in his favor. Nothing was seeming to appear more important to me than Skylar.

I refused to listen to him and placed the nib of the pen on the paper to sign. Right when my hands were about to end my deal with my own company, my phone rang to the side.

Owen’s light green eyes looked to my side, right after where my forearm was. “You better take that call.”

I set the pen down and took the call. Pressing it to my ears, I forced my voice to maintain the calm. “Yes?”

“Ethan, is that you?” Skylar’s voice rang in my ears.

I stilled for a second. My heart almost sank into the deepest pit of my stomach thinking of the mere possibility of this being one of my hallucinations. But her voice proved me wrong.

“Ethan, this is Skylar!”

“Skylar?” I asked in disbelief.

Owen snapped his head at me. “Put it on speaker.”

I obeyed him and did it. “Skylar, where are you? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Ethan. Just. I’m near the hotel.”

“What, wait.” I frowned in confusion. “Skylar, how did you. I mean, did you just escape-”

“Skylar, this is Agent Owen speaking,” Owen interjected. “Please head inside your hotel room and lock yourself in the room. Make sure no one sees you. We’re on our way.”

“Okay.” she said and cut the call.

“I’m sorry for interjecting but we need to keep her safe first. He can be lingering around somewhere.” Owen said.

I nodded at him and pushed the files away. I walked out with Owen and headed downstairs.

In a matter of fifteen minutes, we reached the hotel.

“I’ll wait in the lobby,” Owen said, and let me meet Skylar first.

I nodded at him and headed upstairs. My breathing was becoming as harsh as I approached our room. I swiftly pushed the door open and entered inside.

Skylar was sitting on the edge of the bed with a tired look on her face. Her face was bruised and untidy with dirt. Rough strands of hair fell before her eyes and dark circles beneath them made her appear like a mess.

Relief flooded over me when she looked up at me and smiled. I didn’t wait for a second to rush to her and envelope her in a warm embrace. She flung her arms and tightly clasped me as I kissed her neck through her hair and crushed her body against mine.

Pulling myself back, I ran a hand over her hair. “Are you alright?”

She grinned at me and rubbed her eyes. “Yes.”

I wiped the dirt from her face and looked back at her. “Did he hurt you?” I asked, looking at the bruise on her forehead.

“No, I’m fine.” She saying, her fingers going for the touch of the bruise. “He didn’t hurt me.”

“I’m so glad you’re fine,” I said, sighing in relief. “You know you didn’t deserve this.”

“Ethan, I’m fine.” She said, sighing. “Don’t blame yourself.”

I gave her a displeased look. “Yes, because you weren’t acting mature, either. Seriously, Skylar. What were you thinking in the morning? How could just bail on me?”

“Hey, I thought you got us to stay in a really good hotel with good security.”

I gave her an annoyed look. “You’re safe until you're within the hotel. You were abducted when you went beyond their guarded limits.”

“I-”

“Shut up,” I said to her, pressing my palm to her mouth. “You’re not fighting with me on this.”

“You started it!” She accused me.

“Well, you-”

A knock came on the door which cut me mid-sentence. I sighed and looked back at Skylar’s angry face. I got up and headed to the door.

“Yes?” I asked the housekeeper once he appeared before me.

“You have a visitor, Mr. Parker,” he said.

I frowned. “Owen said he’d give us our time.”

“No,” he shook his head. “Nicholas Summers is here to meet his sister.”

***

It was a dull afternoon in London. The snowflakes poured down in dots and painted the road along. Strong winds blew across the city, carrying the snow within it and pasting it to the roofs of the houses. The snowfall wasn’t intense, but the cool air around compelled us to select a coffee place to settle down at.

The four of us, Skylar, Nick, Owen, and I sat down around the table, holding our coffee mugs to ourselves. Skylar drew patterns on her Starbucks cup and Owen, and I exchanged looks of confusion. Although Nick came here to meet his sister after knowing that she was abducted by one of my business rivals, he didn’t make any sign of showing affection toward her.

They were not even sharing a seat.

“I thought I requested for some alone time with Skylar,” Nick said, taking a sip from his cup.

I shrugged. “We’ll head over to the next table for as long as you want.”

He gave me a displeased look. “Can’t you guys leave us for once?”

“It’s not safe. “Owen said. “We’ll move to the table at the other end.”

We got up from our place and took our coffee to the other table. Once we settled down, my eyes roamed across the room to find the Summers’ talking. I sighed and shook my head.

“At least there’s something good that came out of this,” I mumbled.

“That, and something else too,” Owen said. “How does it feel to know that Jake rescued your wife?”

I released a harsh breath. “Honestly, awful,” I said. “It sucks to know that he could track her down with his influence while we didn’t even try!”

“Don’t blame me, I did suggest looking for clues before jumping to the resigning part.” He said.

“I didn’t want to risk anything,” I said. “But why would Jake show any interest in her at all?”

Owen gave me a skeptical look.

“What do you think?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it’s his way of taking revenge or-”

“He doesn’t want revenge, Ethan.” Owen pointed out. “At least, not from Skylar.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “I think he’s obsessed with her.”

“What?” I said. “Why would you even think of that?”

“Well, he doesn’t want to kill her, so he probably doesn’t hate her. Moreover, he went to rescue her, which means he definitely cares about her. And men like him aren’t capable of love so it’s just an obsession.”

I thought for a while. “Do you think that’s a sign of danger?”

“For you, yes. You never know when he’ll sweep her off her feet.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m serious.”

He gave me a lazy shrug. “It’s definitely something to worry about.”

I sighed and leaned back. “Do you think we should head back to LA?”

“That’s the safest option for now. Both of them are lingering in this city and you guys don’t have any security around. I would provide it if you want but LA is still a better option. It’s not like you’ll enjoy here anyways.”

I nodded. “That’s right. We’ll catch the next flight home.”

“Good,” Owen said, and his eyes flew towards Skylar’s table. “Do you think we should tell her about it?”

“I think she already figured the fact that Jake wants her.”

“Not that,” Owen said. “About you going back to LA in the middle of your honeymoon.”

I shook my head. “She’d kill me if I told her I’m afraid for her.”

“Then maybe you could blame your job demands?”

I shook my head again. “Won’t work.”

“How about getting her hurt friend’s hurt?”

I smiled at his idea. “I could make up a story."

“And just compel her away to go to LA?”

“Sounds like a plan.” He said.

“It’s settled then,” I said. “How about interrupting them now?”

We got up from our place and headed over to their table. They stopped their conversation and looked at us.

“We aren’t done,” Nick said.

“Oh, but we have bad news,” I said with fake grief. “And we need to go back home.”

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