“I want what I was promised.”

“I never made a promise to you.”

“You think you love him, but you don’t know him. You know me.”

“You’re not the guy I spent time with, Vincent.”

“I’m the guy from your birthday party, Harper. I’m the guy you fell in love with.” He slowly moves his hands up towards my face and cups them around my cheeks. “I deserve the same chance you gave James. That’s all I’m asking for. Be fair, Harper. You don’t know me yet. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want my chance.”

Chapter Fifteen

Harper

He won’t let go of my face and I can’t stop looking into his beautiful green eyes.

Why? Why does he have to look like the man I love?

“Just a chance, Harper. That’s all I’m asking. I’ll make a deal with you, OK? I won’t push you. I’ll give you some space and some privacy. I’ll give you freedom in the house. I will even give you a phone to call the man you think you love.”

I take in a deep breath at that offer.

“I know you want to talk to James. I understand. If you give me a few days with no fighting and no rebellion, then I will let you call him.”

“Why not now?” I know I’m pushing it, but what kind of killer would I be if I didn’t?

Vincent sighs, but he doesn’t immediately say no and that gives me hope. “If I let you call James now, you’ll be good for me? You’ll give me a chance?” He stares down into me. His hands soften against my cheeks.

“Right now?”

“A real chance.”

“OK,” I say warily. Is Vincent for real? Or is this some kind of trick? “If you let me call him, I’ll give you a chance.”

“One call. Twenty seconds. You can’t tell James you’re with me, where you are, or what we’re doing. You can’t be upset. It’s one call just to hear his voice. And if he doesn’t answer, he might be dead. If he doesn’t answer, you will assume he is dead. You will drop it and focus on your life here with me. I’ll give you one act of trust on my part if you make this promise to me. Because I’m certain of one thing, Miss Tate. He’s not the man you are meant to be with. That’s me. So go ahead. Call him.”

Vincent reaches into his jacket and pulls out a phone. He swipes his fingers across the screen to wake it up and then presses an app on the home screen. “This reroutes the call so it looks like it’s coming from another number.”

I press in the numbers and listen to it ring.

“Harper…”

I take a deep breath to stop myself from crying so Vincent isn’t tempted to end the call if James thinks I’m upset.

“Harper? You there?”

I swallow hard and nod. “They said you were dead!”

He laughs. “Fuck. I’m fine. They’re amateurs. It’s you I’m worried about.”

“Why did you drop me off, James? I don’t understand what I did wrong.”

He hesitates. “You have to trust me, baby. Do you trust me?”

A tear slips down my cheek but Vincent reaches out to swipe it away. “Yeah.” I breathe through my pent-up sobs. “I do. I can’t talk. I just wanted you to know I love—”

I get the three beeps that tell me the call has been dropped and I look down at the screen as the app flashes a no-signal icon at me. “We got cut off.”

“I’m sorry,” Vincent says. “I’m sorry it was short. But do you feel better now?”

I give his phone back and turn away. When he reaches for my hand I let my fingers slip into his because I’m lost all of a sudden.

James.

Just hearing his voice shakes me up. He does that to me. He shakes my foundation and rocks me to the core. He can calm me down and light me up in the same breath. He’s the only person on this planet I need right now. He’s the only person on this planet who makes sense.

And when I look up into the green eyes of the man who says I belong to him, I get lost in them. My world spins. My reality is shattered. The muscles in my legs get weak and then my knees buckle and I’m falling. Falling into the arms of the man who wants me to be his.

Why does he have to look just like him?

“I’ve got you, Harper.”

But the wrong man scoops me up and cradles me in his arms. The wrong man whispers comforting reassurances in my ear. The wrong man sits down on an outdoor couch and holds me tight until I stop shaking.

“It’s the drugs. Just relax and let it wear off.”

I push off him until he lets me go and then I get to my feet. “I’m fine,” I say, refusing to meet his gaze. “I just need to settle in.”

“You’re not fine, Miss Tate. But I agree. The sooner you can settle in, the better off you’ll be.” Vincent gets up and leads me into the home through a massive set of French doors. We end up in a living room. Or maybe it’s a ballroom. It’s so big it makes me dizzy when I look up at the ceiling. We’re entering through the back of the house, so we’re facing the back of the stairs. Up above is a long balcony that spans the entire length of the room. There are two hallways on either side of the stairs, both on the upper and lower floors. Like this house has wings to it.

“Come, I’ll take you to your room. Do you need me to carry you? Or can you manage the stairs?”

What a ridiculous question, I think as I follow him to the stairs. But I’m only halfway up before my pace slows from exhaustion.

“You need to take it slow, Harper. You’ve been drugged too many times in the last several days.” And then he scoops me up in his arms and takes the remaining steps with ease.

He sets me on my feet again when we get to the top and retakes my hand to lead me off to the left. We walk to the very end of the wing and stop in front of a set of double doors. “This is my room,” he says as he opens the door and waves me in. “You can stay in here and I’ll sleep in my office.”

I look back down the hallway. “Why can’t I have my own room?”

“Because this is your room, lionfish.”

“Don’t call me that,” I growl. “And I don’t want to stay in your room. It’s uncomfortable.”

“We can change it tomorrow. But all your things are in here. So for tonight, this is your room.”