“Stop moving.” His command is barked loudly into my ear. My heart rate won’t slow as I try to see past the fog of panic.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to talk.” He still holds me and I try to compose myself.
“I have a deal for you. It’s about Lucas.”
I’m nodding. I want his hands off me.
“If I let you go, you better not scream.”
I’m nodding again, but he doesn’t release me. I jerk and he pulls tighter. Moving us further into the maze. I kick out, but he’s expecting the blow and blocks it easily.
“Would you stop?” His warning is hissed in my ear. I wouldn’t have expected his strength.
He releases me abruptly and I stumble forward only to have him grip my arm. I yank it back and he blocks the way out. I’m considering running into the maze, but that’s the panic talking.
“What do you want?”
He touches his face. “Just to talk.” He looks at the blood on his hand. I don’t feel guilty at all.
“So you sent Mark to trick me?” He keeps his legs wide so he can shift left or right if I try to get past. Kicking him between the legs was an option. I just needed to wait for the moment of distraction.
“Would you have come if you knew I was here?”
“Maybe.” I lie and he hunches forward in that creepy way and half laughs.
“What do you want?” My heart is pumping too fast. I need to calm down. So far he hasn't hurt me.
“I have a proposition for you.” He stands up fully now.
“Where are your glasses?” I don’t know why it is bothering me so much. Was he trying to look like Lucas? My stomach churns. He never could.
He takes them out of his pocket and slides them on. “Is that better?”
No. It would be better if I wasn’t here.
“Lucas has something belonging to me in his room, I need you to get it.”
I’m ready to laugh. Was he crazy?
I shrug. “Why would you think...”
He cuts me off. “I saw you going in and coming out of his room. So let’s not pretend you don’t have special access to my brother.”
“You’ve got the wrong girl.” I take a step towards him, my body repels the minute he moves and tilts his head.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” But I will–is left hanging in the air.
“Hear me out.” He speaks through gritted teeth.
I stop moving.
“If you get me the box that I need, I will get you something in return.”
He was crazy if he thought he could give me anything. “Okay,” I say, just wanting this to end.
His roar has me backing into the hedge. “Don’t lie to me!” He grips his hair and I’m nodding like the lunatic he is. Oh, God.
“You have to hear the whole deal.”
I’m sorry. I’ll listen.”
My words seem to work, he releases his hair and pushes his glasses up on his nose. “Lucas is going to marry Sandra. The contracts are signed. I can get rid of Sandra if you get me the box.”
I feel physically sick. “Like, kill her?”
“Is that what you want?” he seems sincere and that makes this worse.
“No, thank you.” A weakness enters my legs as he takes a step towards me.
“She is standing in the way of your future with Lucas. Do you understand?”
I’m afraid to say yes, because I don’t. But I don’t want to prolong this.
“No. I don’t.” I’m waiting for the backlash.
“Good. You’re listening.” He nods and bends his head again. “My father and her father have agreed on the marriage from the start. There is no contest. Her father has the most money.”
Bile rises in my throat. No.
“I’ve read the files.” He sounds bored now. “I’ve read yours and know you have no money. Your father left your mother in a right mess.”
I tighten my fists. How dare he mention my father, but I also wonder if Henry is telling the truth? I know money wasn’t plentiful with us.
“Does Lucas know?” My throat feels dry.
Henry smiles and it chases all the warmth from my bones. “Yes.”
He holds up his hands. “But, in his defense, it was all done without him. But he is aware of it.”
“Why would I want to get rid of Sandra now?” My blood roars in my ears. If what he is saying is true, it means that Lucas led me down the garden path.
“Or Lucas?” he smiles again and a coldness seeps into my skin.
“You are offering to kill your own brother?”
He is more twisted than I expected. “I don’t care. Just get me the box.”
My heart is still beating too fast and I keep my hand over it.
“What do you want if not Sandra or my brother?”
I swallow the saliva that’s pooling in my mouth. Could I really get him this box?
“What’s in the box?”
He smiles again. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“If I say no?”
He’s staring at me and not answering, so that’s not good at all.
“I’ll try,” I say.
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to hear you will try, it’s a yes or a no.”
“I don’t even know where to look. What you are asking isn’t reasonable.” You're not reasonable.
“I know where it is.” He’s looking hopeful now.
“Where?” I feel sick.
He smiles and bends his head. “In the back of his wardrobe.”
I nod.
His eyes widen as he straightens. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” I whisper as If I had a choice.
I take a step to leave.
“If you lie to me, I’ll hurt your friends. The one called Hannah looks like she would break easily.”
I can’t back down, I’m so close to him now. “Don’t threaten my friends. I’ll get you the box.”
I would attempt to find it, but maybe having it would give me power over Henry. I would see what is inside it.
“What do you want in return?”
Nothing. There is no deal. “I’ll think about it.” My anger has given me strength and he believes me.
“I’m happy doing business with you.” He reaches out his hand and I walk past it. He doesn’t stop me, but his laughter follows me out of the maze.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ELLA
I glance back over my shoulder at the maze, but Henry is no longer in sight. Folding my arms across my chest, I make my way back to the house and the safety of my room. It is the only place that feels normal right now. I try not to think about Lucas actually marrying Sandra. I know she was put forward as the favorite, but to me it was all in theory not actually signed on paper. I remind myself that Henry could be lying. It would have been more beneficial if he was lying. That way I would have tried to save Lucas. Now he painted Lucas in a bad light. I check the foyer for Mark, but only George is there. He’s coming out of the drawing room and peeks up at me. His smile is instant. “Lady Ella.”
I like him. “George.” I don’t linger but make my way up the stairs. I need to tell Hannah and Jessie so I can make sense of what Henry had said. Too much of me is believing him right now. I twist my hands together as I enter an empty room. I’m ready to leave and go back down stairs. They must be in the drawing room. A piece of paper is on my bed, an A4 size, so it’s hard to miss. I recognize Hannah’s writing straight away.