Mine to Take by Cynthia Eden Read Free Book Online

around the kitchen, “like you. But I was a pretty well-known dancer.” She’d made prima ballerina status by the time she was twenty-two. Dancing had been her
life.
“Maybe…maybe
you
should have called.”  How many times had she lain in that bed, wishing that she would hear from him?
    She rose and eased away from the table.
From him.
  “I have to get back to the studio. It’s opening in two days, and I’ll need to get it cleaned up.” She couldn’t have her new students stepping on broken glass.
    “It’s already done.”
    Skye looked back at him. He’d risen. “The mirror was replaced,” he said, “the glass cleaned away, and you will
not
be having any more circuit breaker trouble.”
    “You didn’t have to—”
    “I wasn’t family, so they wouldn’t fucking let me in that hospital.”
    Her head shook, an immediate denial because he couldn’t be saying—
    “But I found a way to you.” Trace’s voice was grim and hard. “I had to make sure you were going to be all right.”
    He was lying. He had to be. “You weren’t there. You weren’t in New York.”
    His gaze held hers, and she couldn’t look away as he said, “They had you in ICU.  Your doctor was a guy named Mitch Loxley.”
    Like it would be hard for anyone to figure out her doctor’s name. It would be especially easy for Trace and his limitless resources.
    “The window near your bed looked out over the hospital courtyard. The sun came through that window, rising up fast and hard, and it would hit on your face every morning. I made sure the nurses kept your blinds down because I didn’t want the light to hurt you.”
    Her throat had dried up. A fist seemed to squeeze her heart. “When I opened my eyes, you weren’t there.”
    His thick eyelashes flickered. “I didn’t think you’d want me to be.” 
    Her hands were fists. Her nails sank into her palms. “I don’t understand you, Trace.”
    He smiled then, a cold, hard grin. “I know.”
    “What do you want from me?”
    “Everything.”
    She backed away. “I-I have to get to the studio.” She hadn’t counted on this. On him.  It was all too fast. Too much.
    “I’ll take you there.” 
    “Fine…just…I need to go, now.”
    He came toward her.  Always so sure of himself. So certain. “You don’t need to be afraid of me.  I’m the one who’ll keep you safe.”
    She didn’t know what he was. “When I went to your office the other day, I thought you might just blow me off.” 
    His eyes narrowed at that, and she saw the spark of anger lighten his gaze. “You underestimate yourself…and your value to me.”
    “I don’t understand you,” she whispered once more.  
    He bent his head. His lips feathered over hers in the briefest of caresses. “You will.” 
    ***
    Two guards went into the dance studio with Skye. Trace insisted on that surveillance. She wanted to get inside, she wanted to get her place ready, then she could do just that. But  she would have his men with her every moment.
    Trace sat in the back of his car, his gaze on the building.  Maybe he shouldn’t have told Skye about his trips to the hospital in New York. 
    But the truth would have come out, soon enough.   
    Especially since he planned to take her to New York within just a few hours.  “The plane’s ready?” Trace asked Reese. He’d opted to leave the Jag at home and have Reese do the driving today.  He had plans that he needed to make, and he could multi-task better with Reese at the wheel. 
    “Yes, sir. The pilot’s on stand-by.”
    “Good.” He’d wait until Skye finished her work, then they’d leave.
    No one else might have believed her story, but he wasn’t like the others.  If Skye said that she’d been forced off that road…
    I want to find out what happened in New York.
    And he couldn’t go to the city on his own. Skye was too uncertain of him now.  He’d asked for her trust, and she’d hesitated.
    No, he had to keep her close.
    But he also had to