Page 117 of The Prize

“I was in a room with no view and all I had were thoughts of you.” He reached over and took my hand. “It was enough, Zara. Just the thought of you was enough.”

“Tobias.” I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Self-drive on,” he ordered and reclined his seat and closed his eyes. “Sixty-Ninth Street residence.”

The wheel shifted, and cautiously I waited to make sure the car was self-driving. Resting back a little, realizing the strain of the last few hours was lifting, I let the car take us home.

Tobias carried Jade back into our Manhattan residence. Inside his workshop, he set her down on her base to continue charging. I left him there and went upstairs to use the restroom and then wash my hands and face, trying to scrub this day away and wondering if I’d ever shake this dread.

Tobias needed me. After drawing him a hot bath I returned to the workshop.

He was asleep and slumped over his workbench. He was too tired to resist when I grabbed his hand and pulled him out and up the staircase and led him to the bathroom. I helped him strip off his shoes, trousers and underwear, and there came a well of relief that Tobias wasn’t seriously injured and was here with me again. Touching him, being this close meant everything, and every second, every chance to brush my hand over his body felt like an answered prayer.

He climbed into the tub and water whooshed around him as he laid back and rested his head on the edge. His eyelids closed but still came that sweet smile. This wasn’t the time to ask what they’d done to him or what he’d endured at the hands of those men.

Kneeling beside the tub, I leaned over, reached for the body wash and squeezed the rich scented liquid onto a sponge and bathed him, caressing his long limbs, easing up over the bruises and lovingly nurturing him, enamored by his masculine curves that had endured such cruelty. I washed his hair, running my fingers through his already damp locks, and he let out a sigh. He lowered all the way into the bath and let me rinse the soap out of his hair.

Afterward, I dried him with one of the plush towels and got him to sit on the edge of the tub so I could use another towel to dry his hair. He looked up at me and gave another smile of contentment. Taking his hand, I guided him to his bedroom. I peeled back the duvet and helped him climb beneath the sheets. Sitting beside him on the bed, I caressed his dark golden locks to soothe him.

“I told you to leave.” His voice rasped with emotion.

I was sure he was talking about the event at The Plaza, when I’d not only defied him by being there but also not left when he’d warned me to go. Guilt washed over me that because of those decisions I’d almost killed him. “I’m so sorry.” That memory of seeing him beaten up and tethered by a metal cuff to the wall would haunt me forever.

“I don’t care about me.” He brushed a stray hair out of my eyes. “If anything had happened to you...”

“Try to relax.”

“I’m not giving up, Zara,” he whispered.

“What was that?”

“I need you.” He pulled me down beside him and clutched me to his chest.

Snuggling in, I rested my head against him and breathed in the happiness of being back in my man’s arms.

“I have a great idea,” he muttered. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“Go to sleep.” I kissed him.

“Okay, we’ll talk tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Zara, be my wife...”

“Tobias?” I raised my head to look at him but he was already asleep.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

DRENCHEDINTHEdarkness of Tobias’s bedroom, I reached out and my hand brushed over an empty sheet. I sprang up and listened out for him, and then grabbed my wristwatch from the bedside table. It was close to 8:00 p.m., proving I’d slept all day. When I saw the note left on his pillow, a sinking feeling settled as I read it.

Sweetheart, we are close to this being over. I’ll be back soon. Believe in me.

What was he thinking?

Earlier he could hardly walk and now this? My heart pounded as I realized what this was, Tobias asserting his authority and leaving me out of the decision. After the last twenty-four hours I deserved a medal. Things were different now. I was different. I’d experienced too much not to see this resolved.

I shot out of bed and my feet hit the hardwood floor. Surely he wasn’t heading out to recover the paintings? Not after seeing what that family was capable of. I wrapped the sheet around me and padded toward the staircase. Peering over the banister I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Tobias. He was carrying a box through the foyer toward the door.