Chapter 43 Trapped Together
They couldn't leave the Adriatic.
The storm had worsened while they'd been examining the sabotaged generator. Trees were down across the main roads. Power lines sparked in flooded streets. Detective Morrison called to say emergency services weren't responding to non-life-threatening situations until morning.
They were stuck overnight in a building with no power, no heat, and evidence that someone had deliberately tried to trap Harper here.
"The car," Harper said. "We can sit in the car with the heat running."
"We'd run out of gas before morning. And carbon monoxide in an enclosed garage isn't much better than freezing." Sebastian looked around the dark lobby. "We stay inside. Find somewhere central, away from windows. Ride it out together."
Ryan's team had departed before the worst of the storm hit, promising to return at first light. The locksmith had managed to secure the broken window with plywood. But the building still felt exposed, vulnerable.
Sebastian found emergency candles in a supply closet. Harper gathered drop cloths from the construction materials. They set up in Harper's office, the room she'd stayed in during her brief separation. It felt like a lifetime ago instead of just days.
"This is romantic," Harper said, trying for humor as Sebastian arranged candles around the room. "Candlelight, just the two of us, stuck in a building where someone tried to trap me."
"Stop." Sebastian's voice was sharp. "Don't joke about someone trying to hurt you."
Harper fell silent. He was right. Someone had cut those wires knowing she'd be here. Knowing the storm was coming. Planning for her to be trapped overnight in freezing temperatures.
If Sebastian hadn't come when he did, if Ryan's team hadn't been available, if that window had been reinforced like the others, she could have died.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I cope with fear through bad jokes."
Sebastian sat beside her, pulling her close. "I know. But Harper, I need you to understand how serious this is. Someone is still targeting you. Even with everyone in custody, even with all our security measures, someone got close enough to sabotage this building."
"Who's left? We've arrested everyone involved."
"Apparently we missed someone." Sebastian's jaw was tight. "And they're escalating. Cameras were surveillance. This was attempted murder."
Harper felt the weight of that word. Murder. Someone wanted her dead.
"Why me though? Why not you? You're the CEO, the one with power and money."
"Because hurting you destroys me more than any direct attack could." Sebastian's voice was rough. "Whoever's doing this understands that."
They sat in silence, listening to the storm rage outside. Rain hammered the windows. Wind howled through gaps in the construction. The candles flickered, casting dancing shadows on the walls.
"I'm scared," Harper admitted.
"Me too."
"You never admit to being scared."
"I'm always scared where you're concerned. From the moment I realized I actually loved you instead of just needing you for the contract, I've been terrified of losing you." Sebastian took her cold hands. "Every threat, every danger, every close call. It's been killing me slowly."
Harper looked at him in the candlelight, at the exhaustion and fear he usually hid so well. "Then why stay? Why keep fighting for this marriage when it brings nothing but danger?"
"Because you're worth fighting for. Because the alternative is living without you, and I've tasted that these past few days. It's not living. It's just existing." Sebastian pulled her closer. "I'd rather face a thousand threats with you than have safety without you."
Harper felt tears threaten. "That's either very romantic or very codependent."
"Can't it be both?"
She laughed despite everything. Outside, thunder cracked loud enough to shake the building. They both jumped.
"Tell me something," Harper said. "Something I don't know about you. Something real."
Sebastian thought for a moment. "I'm terrified of becoming my father. Not just in business, but in relationships. He went through two wives, pushed away his children, died alone and bitter. I see myself making the same choices sometimes, choosing work over people, control over connection."
"You're not him. You keep showing up. You keep trying."
"Only because of you. Before you, I was exactly on his path. Engaged to Vanessa for strategy, not love. Building walls instead of relationships. You changed that."
"So I saved you from yourself?"
"Something like that." Sebastian traced patterns on her palm. "Your turn. Tell me something real."
Harper considered what truth to share. "I'm jealous of how easily you fit into Jessie's world. Her family, her kids, that normal life. I grew up in this hotel with an aunt who loved me but never quite knew what to do with me. I don't know how to be normal."
"You fit in perfectly at Thanksgiving."
"I was faking it. I always feel like I'm on the outside looking in at people who understand how families are supposed to work."
"Maybe that's what we're building. Our own version of a family that doesn't look like anyone else's."
Harper leaned against him, drawing warmth from his body. The temperature in the office was dropping steadily. Their breath was visible in the candlelight.
"We should try to sleep," Sebastian said. "Conserve energy. Morning will come eventually."
They arranged the drop cloths into a makeshift bed, huddled together for warmth. Harper's teeth chattered despite being pressed against Sebastian's chest.
"Tell me about the Adriatic," Sebastian said. "When you were young. What was it like?"
Harper understood. He was trying to distract her from the cold and fear. "It was magical. The guests were from everywhere. Artists and musicians and people with incredible stories. My aunt would let me help at the front desk sometimes, and I'd listen to them talk about their lives."
"Is that why you wanted to save it? The memories?"
"Partly. But also because it represented something. This idea that beautiful things could last if someone cared enough to maintain them. That history mattered. That we didn't have to tear everything down and build soulless glass towers."
Sebastian was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry I wanted to demolish it. When I made that first offer."
"You didn't know what it meant. You just saw a failing property."
"I saw a liability. Now I see why you fought so hard." Sebastian tightened his arms around her. "This building is part of you. Destroying it would have destroyed a piece of your soul."
They talked through the long night, sharing stories and fears and dreams. The cold was brutal, the storm relentless, but together they created a small circle of warmth and safety in the darkness.
Somewhere around three AM, exhaustion finally claimed them both. Harper drifted into uneasy sleep, still shivering, pressed against Sebastian's chest.
She dreamed of her aunt. Of Margaret Vale walking through the Adriatic in its golden years, the building is full of life and music and laughter. In the dream, Margaret turned to Harper and smiled.
"You saved it," her aunt said. "I'm proud of you."
"Someone's trying to destroy it again," Harper said. "Trying to destroy me."
"Then fight. You're stronger than you know." Margaret's smile was sad. "But Harper, don't forget to live while you're fighting. Don't let fear steal your joy."
Harper woke to pale dawn light filtering through the office windows. Sebastian was already awake, watching her with an expression she couldn't read.
"The storm's passing," he said quietly.
Harper sat up, every muscle stiff from cold and the hard floor. Outside, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. The wind had died down.
They'd survived the night.
But as Sebastian's phone came back to life with a dozen missed calls from Detective Morrison, Harper felt dread settle over her.
Whatever news Morrison had, it wasn't good.
Sebastian listened to his voicemail, his face growing darker with each message. When he finally looked at Harper, his expression was grim.
"Morrison needs to see us immediately. They found something during the overnight investigation of the sabotage."
"What did they find?"
"Security footage from a camera we didn't know existed. Footage of whoever cut those wires." Sebastian's voice was tight. "Harper, it's someone we know. Someone close to us. Someone neither of us suspected."
Harper felt ice flood through her veins. "Who?"
"Morrison wouldn't say over the phone. We need to get to the station now." Sebastian stood, helping her to her feet. "But Harper, whatever we find out today, whatever new nightmare we're facing, we face it together. No more running. No more separation. We're in this as partners."
Harper nodded, too afraid to speak.
Outside, the city was waking up to storm damage and downed trees. Emergency crews worked to clear roads. But Harper barely noticed any of it.
Someone close to them had tried to kill her.
And in less than an hour, she'd know who.