Page 29 of Sadie’s Highlander (Highland Protector #1)
CHAPTER 28
“ Y es. Absolutely.” Dwyn nodded, staring out the window as he spoke into the phone. “Very well then. I’d like an update as soon ye confirm the details with Miss Williams. Aye, that’ll be all for now.”
“Well?” Alec felt as though he were about to explode. Heart pounding. Palms sweating. His gut tightened into knots. This sorry business was worse than any battle he’d ever fought. He’d take a sword fight over this sly parrying any day. “What the hell did she say?” Sadie had to accept. There was no other option. This scheme had to work.
Dwyn slid the phone back into his pocket, one side of his mouth lifting in a sly smile as he perched on the edge of the boardroom table. “The only way she’ll accept our offer and come to New York is if her assistant accompanies her and we cover those expenses as well.”
“Her assistant?” Alec frowned. Sadie had always kept to herself and from all he could find out, she’d not grown close to anyone in the small town of Brady. Delilah from the café had said she figured that Sadie thought the whole town was angry with her, and knowing his Sadie, Delilah was probably right. The woman shouldered the blame for everything. “Who the hell is her assistant?”
“Mistress Martha.”
“Mistress Martha?” Alec rolled his eyes. “That conniving old woman. That’s why she assured us she’d get Sadie to ken the agency was real.” Miss Martha had been wanting to return to New York City for years. She’d been there once and fallen in love with the place. She’d even taken to flirting with Dwyn and hinting to him about relaxing over a long weekend with an experienced woman while they enjoyed the town’s sights. Alec tensed even more, the pounding in his temple turning into one hell of an ache. “Ye agreed with the request, aye?”
“Of course.” Dwyn looked at Alec as though he’d just asked if the sun still rose in the east every morning. “Ye think me daft?”
“I dinna ken what I think anymore.” Alec paced back and forth across the room, thumping the top of his and Dwyn’s packed suitcases each time he passed them. “This must work.” He halted after a third pass across the area rug. “If this doesna work, I’ll be stealing the woman and heading deep into the mountains with her until she sees sense. The felony charges can just be damned.”
“This will work,” Dwyn reassured him. “And not only will it bring her back to ye, ’twill provide her a great deal of the healing that she sorely needs. Borgus and Lyles are truly verra interested in her. They read her stories on that website Miss Martha told us about and both were greatly impressed by Sadie’s talent.”
Dwyn’s voice softened as he walked over to the desk, scooped up several scattered papers, and tucked them into his briefcase. “She needs to hear that, Alec. She’s known nothing but cruelty all her life. Ye’ve sensed it in her ways and I saw it when I looked into her history.”
“I want her to ken how much she’s truly cherished.” Alec forced his clenched fists to relax, pulled in a deep breath, and slowly released it. “And I’ll be staying close to her whilst she goes about all we’ve planned for her in the city. I want her to feel m’love—without actually seeing that it’s me until the proper moment, of course.” He couldn’t risk Sadie bolting like a skittish colt—not in New York. Hell’s bells, he’d never find her in that mob of a place.
Dwyn snapped his briefcase shut and added it to the pair of suitcases sitting on the bench. “We’ll do whatever it takes—carefully. A strategic campaign such as this must be plotted with enough skill to ensure not a single one of the battles leading up to the final charge fails.”
“And ye’re certain we must travel in that damn helicopter?” Alec hated that demon of a thing that had to be used whenever traveling in haste was a must. Planes were no better, but at least he didn’t feel as though he was sitting in a glass ball and being dangled from the clouds.
“Get yer bags and stop yer whining.” Dwyn tossed his coat over his arm, strode to the door, then looked back and smiled at the waiting suitcases. “And while yer about it, be a good lad and get mine too. Aye?”