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Cheyenne hesitated, but then notched up her chin. She nodded.
Julian unlocked the door and disabled the security system. They entered a large circular foyer that rose four stories in height, pure white and the perfect background to the massive nautical paintings that adorned its walls. The foyer opened into a vast great room, with two golden railed, curving stairways leading to a second floor with many wide hallways, each with rows of polished wood doors. Several rooms could be seen from the foyer, including a dining room with a long cherry wood table, bedrooms that each eclipsed her small apartment and a spacious ballroom fit for a royal wedding.
Julian gestured to the dining room. “Wait for me in there. I’ll be just a minute.”
Cheyenne proceeded to the room, where a fifty-person table was already set with two covered golden place settings and a bottle of wine in a gleaming silver chiller. She sank down on one of the throne-like chairs as Julian spoke to the crew and an older couple she didn’t recognize. After a minute, Julian and the others exchanged goodbyes. Everyone except the actor departed.
“Please tell me you didn’t order a spaceship to take us to the moon,” she teased when he returned. It faded as the door clicked shut behind the people. “Where are they going?”
He sat, picked up his napkin and smoothed it over his lap. “They’ll be back. In the meantime, enjoy.” He lifted the covers from both plates at the same time.
All thoughts of the boat (and everything that wasn’t Julian) departed at the one thing that was close to the star in deliciousness. The culinary masterpiece started with a thick piece of chocolate cake covered with velvety ganache. Creamy cheesecake followed, topped by a thick layer of chocolate fudge. A rich brownie and a drizzling of caramel completed the savory concoction.
Cheyenne picked up her fork, looked between Julian and the dreamy layer cake. Too delicacies, each more delicious forwords. “If you’re trying to soften me up with the best dessert in the universe, it’s not going to work.” She stabbed a piece, somehow managing to get every layer in a single forkful, then took a bite. The rich flavor of dark chocolate exploded in her mouth, complemented perfectly by the sweet cheesecake and creamy caramel.
Julian scooped his own morsal of cake. “Are you sure it’s not working?”
Of course, it wasn’t. And she was going to tell him that as soon as she took another bite. But after that bite, she wasn’t quite ready to talk about it. And it wasn’t polite to leave her piece half finished, so she took another bite. She gave up the pretense as she took one bite after the next until she’d consumed the entire piece, every single crumb. She put down her napkin daintily. “See, it didn’t work.”
He’d already finished his cake. She hadn’t even noticed. “Actually,” he said putting down his napkin. “It worked perfectly.”
“How’s that?”
“Distraction.”
“What?” she asked, but his attention was no longer on her. Instead, he was gazing behind her, at a large glass window that overlooked the water. She pivoted and frowned. With nightfall, she couldn’t see much – just the dim outline of the coast, the water, the boat sailing away.
Wait – what?
“Why you little–” Cheyenne leapt from her seat and lunged to the front door. After a moment of fumbling with the lock, she opened it and ran to the dock as fast as she could.
It didn’t matter.
She stopped at the edge of the pier, her chest heaving, partly with exertion, partly with fury as her only escape cruised away.Julian came up directly behind her. “It’s too late. It’s already gone.”
He was right. The boat, which appeared large seconds ago, was rapidly fading into the darkness, way too far to reach or even hail. She looked upward, taking in deep breaths of the salty air. The stars twinkled, but they couldn’t help her now. “I can’t believe it. You really did it.”
“You actually kidnapped me.”
CHAPTER 14
Julian debated his plan for a long time, even made a pro and con list.
Pros:
Would get an uninterrupted week with Destiny, hopefully enough to discover her true identity.
Would reveal the potential for a permanent relationship.
He might never get another chance to crack the case that was Destiny Dane – or whoever she really was.
Cons:
It was technically kidnapping.
Kidnapping was technically against the law.
One could go to jail for breaking the law (technically).