Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Beside me, I hear Sophie groan, “Oh my god,” and I can’t help grinning.
Mom blinks, confused.
Dad cocks an eyebrow. “Bit early for a consultant in that particular area, isn’t it?”
“He’s kidding,” Sophie says.
I open my mouth to tell them she’s actually my girlfriend, but despite our playful banter just a moment ago, Sophie decides to narc on me.
“Your son has actually kidnapped me a little bit. If you could help me out, I’d like to go home.”
“How do you kidnap someone a little bit?” Mom inquires, sounding merely curious. “Is this another joke?”
I grab Sophie’s waist and tug her close, seeing the need to get out of here quickly. “Yeah, Mom, it’s a joke. Don’t mind her. We’re going up to my room. Sophie’s spending the night.”
“I’m not kidding,” Sophie says. My warning grip on her waist tightens, but she keeps talking. “I really do want to go home.”
“Very funny, baby,” I say, grabbing her arm and turning her in the direction I want to go, my other hand still at her waist. “We’re in love,” I assure them.
“No,” Sophie says, looking back at them. “No, we are not.”
“Beauty, brains, and a tenacious sense of humor,” I say, shaking my head. “Surely, you can see why I’m so taken with her.”
“Your son has been stalking me, and I am not here of my own free will.”
I drag Sophie out of the room, shooting her a look as I do. “Remember when I told you I’d prefer if you didn’t do that?”
“Yes. I paid it as much heed as you do when I tell you I don’t prefer things to happen,” she answers.
Sighing, I pull her closer and haul her toward the stairs.
She’s such a lovely pain in the ass.
She doesn’t say much as I haul her up the stairs, but I can feel the tension in her body when she realizes she’s been this way before. Her alarm grows when we come to the ballroom doors and her gaze darts to me, but I don’t return it.
“I thought we were going to your bedroom.”
I don’t answer, just drag her little ass inside.
Her brow furrows as she looks at the escape room that hasn’t been decommissioned yet.
“What are we doing in here?”
I open the doors and give her a little shove into the first of the four rooms we had to go through the night we met. I step inside with her, but only long enough to grab an axe.
Sophie is confused and doesn’t catch on until a moment too late.
“Silvan, wait!”
Taking the axe with me, I pull the door shut and the lock engages.
“You brought this on yourself,” I tell her.
“You took half the key! I can’t get to the next room. I’ll be stuck in here for an hour!”
“I’ll release you when I come back up. After that little performance downstairs, I have to talk to my parents—alone.”
“Silvan,” she calls, beating on the door.
I take the axe with me and start to make my way back the way we came.
I only make it to the stairs. Mom is heading up, but she stops short when she sees me coming down alone. “Where’s the girl?”
“I put her in the escape room.” I hold up the axe. “She can’t get out.”
Mom shoots me a disapproving look. “Silvan, you can’t kidnap people.”
I ignore that and continue down the stairs. “Dad still in the living room?”
“He’s waiting for you in his study. He’d like to talk to you.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I head to Dad’s study with Mom right on my heels. When we get there, he’s waiting inside, finishing up his cognac in the chair behind his desk.
When I was a kid, I thought he looked so imposing in that red leather chair behind his desk.
I guess he still does, I’m just not a kid anymore.
“You rang,” I say lightly.
“What’s this kidnapping business the girl was going on about?”
Without having to ask if he wants her to, Mom grabs the empty glass and goes to the liquor cabinet to get him a refill. My gaze flickers back to Dad.
I could keep up the story that it’s a joke, but my actually locking her in the escape room upstairs pokes holes in that story, so I decide to tell the truth.
“You don’t have to worry about it,” I assure him. “I have everything under control.”
Mom comes back and slides Dad’s drink in front of him. “But you have kidnapped her?” she asks to clarify.
“A little bit. It won’t be a problem,” I assure them. “She’s malleable, just still resisting a bit right now. I’ll wear her down.”
“This doesn’t sound like a very typical courtship,” Mom says as she sits on Dad’s lap behind the desk.
I shrug. “She’s not a typical girl. She likes me, she just has issues. Like I said, no need to worry about it. I’ll handle it.”