I headed toward the door, hands clenched at my sides, biting back the long list of curses I had resting on the tip of my tongue.
“You are mine, Steele. Don’t think for one second that will change just because of one woman. And don’t you dare think for one second that I have forgotten about your previous transgressions. Continue to disobey me and I will be forced to act.”
It took nearly my whole focus to keep walking. First, out of her office, then out of the club. All without losing my temper with the woman.
I had to keep in mind that she was alpha, and she had a lot of people who were loyal to her. More so than I ever was. I might have wanted to be free of her, but not at the expense of my own safety by creating more enemies.
And I meant what I had said about finding a way. I wouldn’t rest until I did. One way or another, I was going to be free of her. Even if I had to die trying.
21
CASSIDY
Before I realized it, the afternoon had bled into early evening. I was getting hungry and was shocked that I had spent most of the afternoon with Maxine.
“I should get going before too long,” I said.
Maxine smiled. “I probably need to go wrap up the closing for my store too. But you hang out here and see if your escort is coming back.”
I nodded as my lips stretched into a smile. “You saw him, huh?”
“Honey, he’s hard not to look at,” she said.
I chuckled. “Go do what you need to. I’ll be down as soon as I get ahold of him.”
“Sure,” she said and disappeared into the building.
I pulled out my phone and sent Steele a text. “Hey, I’m ready to head back. Want me to wait for you?”
I stared up at the clouds that passed overhead while Maxine was in her shop, closing up for the day. My eyes started to feel heavy, and I smiled as the warmth from all the tea bled to every nerve in my body, keeping me warm even though the breeze was chilly.
Several minutes passed and I hadn’t heard anything back from Steele yet. So, I decided to send him another.
“I’m probably just going to take a bath followed by a nap if you would rather not be bothered on escorting me.”
I frowned at my phone. I wondered what he was doing. I hoped Xander hadn’t done anything stupid. He probably would have come after me first, though. Then again, I wasn’t even positive on that.
Still, I found it odd he wasn’t responding.
Oh well. I wasn’t going to hang around all night long waiting on him. The sooner I could get back to the hotel, the sooner I could get my bath and nap done.
I stood up and then sent one last text to Steele. “All right, I’m heading back to the hotel now.”
After several minutes, I didn’t get a response and shrugged to myself. If he had an issue with me heading back on my own, then I was sure I would have heard back from him. Especially after so much time had passed.
With a quick goodbye to Maxine, I headed back to the hotel.
I had just stepped off the elevator to the floor that led to my room and was busy digging my card out of my purse when someone grabbed my arm and flung me against the wall. My head slapped against the hard surface so hard that I was knocked senseless for a few seconds. Stars filled my vision and my heart instantly started to race.
I was forced to turn around and face my attacker. As soon as the dizzy spell faded, my eyes met Charlotte’s, but it took a minute to register that she was the one who pushed me into the wall. She leaned against me, pressing her arm across my chest, anger filling her eyes as they bored into mine.
“Who in the hell do you think you are?” she spat out. All semblance of the exotic accent she had was gone.
“What happened to your accent?” I asked.
“What happened to keeping your hands to yourself?” she retorted.
I glared at her and wondered what else had been nothing more than a lie. “What are you talking about?”