Page 55 of His Toy
CHAPTER 14
Zaid
On the surveillance footage, Heather hiked carefully through the trees, over stumps and rocks, and through the dirt. She stopped over the hatch leading to the cells. Her hands ran along the handle, touching the metal lock. Then she shrugged and kept onward, every so often glancing around. As she gazed into the trees, her eyes locked on a blue ribbon hung on a branch. She walked sideways along the perimeter, staying within the boundaries.
Would she try to escape? It begged the question if I could trust her, or if she was simply afraid of what I might do to her, if she did try to leave. Did she know she was being tested?
The answers didn’t matter. But what did matter, was that she hadn’t left. She hadn’t even tried. I texted Grant to meet me. As I waited, Heather stomped through the property, dodging the occasional branch. A grin always dancing on her lips. An irresistible urge came over me to hold her against a tree and kiss her. Even in my daydreams, Heather was trapped by me. My hands on her. My rope holding her in place. Our agreement tethering her to me.
An idea crossed my mind. At first, I shook it away, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to dwell on it.
If you love someone, set them free.
Heather should be free. Free to leave the property. Any of it. Free to leave me.
I tried to focus. There were other business matters to attend to, tasks more important than watching someone I trusted hike alone on a screen. But I watched her. It was self-indulgent, watching Heather in her element, wandering in the woods. She was more gorgeous than a sunset, more breath-taking than a view of a paradise seascape. More beautiful than a woman tied up in rope, begging to come. Seeing her like this, lost in her thoughts while hiking in the wilderness, was a moment never to be replaced.
Someone I trusted.
It had slipped my mind at first. I trusted Heather. Then that phrase came back again:if you love someone.
Did I love Heather?
There was no argument that I trusted her. Whether it was out of fear or respect, was to be debated, but I knew she would never betray me.
But love? Love was different.
With these thoughts running through my head, what needed to happen next was clear. Heather needed the freedom to leave the property. With Eric hiding in the Great Pleasures Palace and her knowledge of the situation, she would know how to protect herself. And she needed to protect herself from me.
If you love someone, set them free.
A subtle knock sounded through the room. Grant used his key card and let himself in. He stood with his arms crossed.
“You had something to discuss, sir?”
A declaration was more accurate.
“Later today, Heather will have free rein,” I gestured at the screens in front of us. “She will be permitted to go beyond the property.”
“Sir?”
“If she wants to leave Vegas—” No, that wasn’t right. I started again, “If she wants to go anywhere, she may do so.”
“But the plan, sir, it’s almost here.”
My mother’s death day, the day I would put an end to Eric, was coming, sooner than I’d like. I swallowed, then nodded at Grant.
“Heather may go along with the plan,” I said, “but only if she chooses.”
Letting Heather have total freedom meant putting my design second. It was up to Heather to go through with it. She knew what kind of a monster Eric was, and if she didn’t want to get near him again, I wouldn’t question her. But instinct told me that she was true to her word. It wasn’t about our agreement; it was about making things right for people like her sister.
But she didn’t know the entire truth of the plan.
If she learned about the executions that would take place, if she decided to abandon ship, I wouldn’t be surprised. Leave the ugliness to the monsters. To people like Eric.
People like me.
The image of Heather shaking as she tried to explain what had happened in the Great Pleasures Palace filled my mind.If he had hurt her like that. If Hazel was punished like that poor girl. For stupid mistakes. For any reason, her voice echoed.