Chapter 236

**Evelyn’s POV**

At the hotel, I gripped my suitcase tightly as we walked through the revolving doors.

"Can you just give me a moment to breathe?" I asked, my voice deliberately fragile.

At the front desk, I stepped forward. "I'd like a room, please."

The clerk glanced uncertainly between Dorian and me.

"One room," Dorian clarified.

I turned to him. "I need space, Dorian. My own room."

He stared at me, then nodded to the clerk. "Two adjoining rooms."

When we reached my door, I took the keycard and inserted it with trembling fingers.

"I'll just make sure everything's in order," he said, moving to follow me inside.

I placed my hand against his chest, stopping him. "You can go now. I just want to sleep."

"This place is beneath you," he said with distaste. "Tomorrow James will arrange something more suitable."

"It's fine. I just need to rest."

I thought he would push, would demand entry as he always had before. Instead, he stepped back.

"We'll talk in the morning," he said, then turned and walked to his own room.

I shut the door quickly, leaning against it until I heard his door close. Only then did I allow myself to breathe.

I slid down to the floor, my back against the door, and buried my face in my hands. Hunter's bruised and battered face flashed before my eyes. The oxygen mask. The monitors beeping steadily beside him.

How had my life come to this? Trading one cage for another in hopes of eventually breaking free? But Hunter didn't have time for me to find another way. Every day he lay vulnerable was another day Dorian might decide to finish what he'd started.

I pushed myself up and paced the room. Dorian was too smart, too paranoid to trust me easily. I needed to find the right moment to make him believe I'd returned willingly.

Sleep eluded me that night as I tossed and turned, planning my performance down to the smallest detail. By morning, my eyes were gritty with exhaustion, but my resolve had only strengthened.

\---

In his own room, Dorian sat in darkness, phone pressed to his ear.

"James," he said, his voice low and controlled. "I want Liam Montgomery watched. Every move, every call, every breath. He doesn't come within a mile of Evelyn, understood?"

"Yes, sir. Would you like us to... handle him?"

Dorian's lips curved into a cold smile. "No. I want him alive. I want him to watch as she comes back to me."

"And the other matter?"

"Find out everything she's been doing since she left. Who she's been talking to, where she's been going." His fingers tightened around the phone. "Especially any contact with Hunter Pierce."

\---

Two days later, I was preparing to leave my room when I noticed them—two men in dark suits who'd been lingering in the lobby, now positioned near the elevator. Their eyes tracked me as I walked.

My heart raced as I changed direction, heading for the stairwell instead. I pushed through the door and began climbing quickly, hearing the heavy door open below me seconds later.

On the fourth floor, I saw a group of young people with medical textbooks. I slipped in among them as they headed for the elevator, nodding and smiling as if I belonged.

When the doors opened on the ground floor, I walked quickly toward the front desk.

"Please, there are men following me," I said urgently to the clerk. "I think they want to hurt me. Call security, call the police—"

The young woman behind the desk paled, her eyes darting over my shoulder. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't—"

I turned to see what had frightened her and spotted my pursuers approaching. With a surge of panic, I ran for the main entrance, pushing through the revolving doors into the morning sunlight.

Only to find myself facing Madison Fox.

She stood flanked by two burly men, her face twisting with shock and then vicious delight as she recognized me.

"Well, well. So it's true. You're still alive," she spat.

I backed away, bumping into the men who'd followed me from inside.

"Get her in the car," Madison commanded. "I want her dead. I want her to pay for taking him from me."

I looked around desperately. People walked by, averting their eyes. I lunged toward a passing car, hammering on the window.

"Help me! Please, someone help!"

The driver sped up, leaving me stumbling on the curb. Madison's men closed in, one grabbing my arm roughly.

"No one's going to help you," Madison hissed. "No one cares what happens to a little nobody like you."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

A sleek black car had pulled up to the curb, and Dorian was stepping out, his expression thunderous.

"Take your hands off her," he said quietly to the man gripping my arm. "Unless you'd like to lose them."

The man released me immediately, stepping back.

Madison's confidence faltered. "Dorian, I—"

"You dare touch what's mine?" His voice was soft, deadly. "You think I wouldn't know? Wouldn't find out?"

"She ruined everything," Madison said, her voice rising hysterically. "She took Hunter from me!"

Dorian's security men positioned themselves between Madison's men and us.

"Get in the car, Evelyn," Dorian said, not taking his eyes off Madison.

I didn't hesitate, sliding into the backseat. Moments later, Dorian joined me, the door closing with finality as the car pulled away.

I let myself collapse against him, my body shaking with genuine fear mixed with calculated vulnerability. My face pressed against his chest, I could hear his heart beating steadily.

"Are you going to send me away again?" I whispered.

His arm tightened around me. "No. Not this time."

I pulled back enough to look up at him, letting tears fill my eyes. "If I go back with you... will you protect me from her? From everyone?"

His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing away a tear. "No one will touch you again. I promise you that."

"Then I'll come home," I said softly. "I'll come back to you."

Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes as he drew me back against him. "You can do whatever you want, be whoever you want to be. I'll keep you safe from everything outside."

As we drove toward Blackwood Estate, I rested my head against his shoulder, letting him think I'd surrendered. But in the darkness of his embrace, my eyes hardened with determination.

The game had begun.