Eternal (5 page)

“Come on,” he said, taking me by the hand and
pulling me down the stairs.

“How are we going to get out of here?” I asked.

Langdon stopped on the lobby level, placed his
ear to the door, obviously listening. He must have heard commotion outside the
door. He broke that security mechanism, locking that door as well. Langdon
pulled out his phone….

“Jayden, we are kind of stuck here. The lobby is
covered. The parking garage is covered and the bastards are on the move. I’m
going to take Winter up to the second floor. We will be going out the exterior
fire escape. What's your ETA?” There was a pause then Langdon said, “I'll have
Dave pick us up in the alley.”

“What?” I said.

Langdon was dialing as fast as he hung up.

“Dave, head to the alley,” Langdon said then
flipped his phone shut.

Langdon took my hand and pulled me back up the
stairs to the second floor. He opened up the fire door and looked down the
corridor before we walked to the back window at the end of the long hallway. He
opened up the window, which by the way was no easy task. It was an old
wood-clad window. By the look of it, I would guess it hadn’t been used in
years. Once the window was up, he stepped out onto the exterior fire escape as
if this was nothing, and he exits every building this way.

“How did you get here so quickly?” I asked.

Langdon helped me through the window onto the
landing. He pushed the iron stairs down. When they extended out, I heard them
squeak
and
creak
, hitting the ground below. It sounded like a rusty spring
uncoiling.

“We were on location, filming not too far from
here,” he replied. “Come on.” He tugged at me. “We need to get to the ground.”

Langdon stood at the base of the stairs waiting
for me to get closer to him then he picked me up and sat me one the ground.
Evidently, my pace was much too slow.

A dark blue Mercedes rounded the alley. It
stopped next to us. I looked up. There were at least two photographers hanging
out the second floor window snapping pictures. Langdon pushed me into the
backseat.
 
He followed in behind me.

“Seat belt,” Langdon snapped at me. I strapped myself
in.

I gazed out the window. Shocked. Amazingly,
there were more photographers standing at the end of the sidewalk taking
pictures and even more photographers by the Dumpsters.

“Go,” Langdon said to the driver who then backed
up the entire length of the alley before whipping around the far corner.
Langdon pulled out his phone and made a call. “Jayden.” He paused for a moment.
“Yes, I have her. What’s your location?”

I heard a buzz on the other end.

“All right, met us at the turn off,” Langdon
said. With nothing further, he snapped his phone shut.

I glanced down to see my shaking hands. In a few
moments, the black Mercedes I recognized came up behind us. Both cars came to a
stop.

“Dave,” Landon said to the driver, “I’m taking
Ms. Wells to the other car.” Dave shook his head but said nothing.

Langdon helped me from the car and into the
backseat of the other Mercedes. He quickly entered, sliding beside me.

“What were you thinking?” Jayden asked. He was
looking at me with total disappointment on his face.

I wanted to crawl under the seat with more than
embarrassment. For someone who avoided attention I sure made a spectacle of
myself. I knew there would be pictures of me and Langdon scaling the side of
the building, coming down the fire escape.

“I don’t know. I am so sorry for all of this. I
should not have left the estate,” I admitted, pressing my face into my hands.

Langdon’s phone rang.

“Mr. Cain,” he said as he answered it.

Oh no, I knew I was in huge trouble.

“Yes, sir, I have her now,” Langdon replied.

Langdon was silent. I heard the low buzz of
Cayden’s voice vibrate through Langdon’s phone. Cayden was pissed off, although
I could not tell what it was he was actually saying.

“I don’t know, sir. She was in quite the
predicament, the press was en mass,” Langdon replied.

My gaze flitted toward Jayden. I am sure I
looked wide-eyed and shocked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“No, she is not harmed, a little shaken up but
not harmed,” Langdon said. “Yes, sir. Our ETA twenty minutes.”

This was bad,
extremely bad. Cayden did not ask to speak with me. He must be far too angry to
speak to me right now.

“I am sorry, Langdon. I hope you and Jayden are
not in as much trouble as I am,” I said. “How mad is Cayden?”

“He is very upset,” Langdon said.

“You guys will be okay, right? I didn’t get you
or Jayden in trouble, did I?”

“Jayden and I are fine. You do not need to worry
about us, but you do need to be careful in what you do and where you go.”

I shook my head in agreement. It was quiet for
the rest of the ride back to the estate.

Chapter Two

He Might Just Kill Me

When I walked through the doors, entering into
the foyer of the estate, Zander and Melissa were waiting for me.
Chandler
popped out of
the media room, glared at me with a scowl as if he was mad, shook his head in
obvious disappointment, and walked back the way he had come.

“Winter, are you okay?” Zander asked.

“Yes. I was stupid, and I know it. I really owe
everyone an apology. I am sorry for making such a scene. I feel horrible. It’s
just, I really did not believe anyone would notice me or even care if they did
notice. I was wrong. I should have listened to everyone.”

“I’m glad you are all right,” Melissa said
softly.

“Zander, how mad is Cayden?” I asked.

Zander looked at me for a moment without
speaking then said, “I do not know if I have ever seen him so….” He seemed to
be pondering his words. “Upset.”

“Cayden is here,” Melissa interjected in a quiet
voice.

I glanced down at the floor and shook my head.
“Here?” I echoed quite flatly.

Zander shifted his weight, relaxing a bit before
he said, “Yes, we called off the shoot for today. When you did not answer
Cayden’s phone call, he called here to the estate. Jayden started looking for
you and, of course, he did not find you. Cayden went a little bit nuts hearing
that news. When you called Jayden well…let me just say that was very difficult.
Cayden has been here at the estate for a little while. I believe he is in your
room, waiting for you.”

“Zander, why did you call off the shoot? That
cost you money and further delays.”

He raised both eyebrows as though my question
was ridiculous. “We were all worried about you, and there was no way Cayden
could continue. You better go show him you are all right.”

I shook my head in agreement. “Okay.”

My hand was shaking like a leaf when I reached
out for the doorknob to my room. The knob was warmer than my hand when I
touched it. I was freezing cold, probably due to the fact my blood seemed to
stop pumping from fear I hurt Cayden. I tried to steady my hand. No use. I’d
been shaken up by the event, but this shaking was fear I had disappointed
Cayden at the very least.

I took a deep breath and turned the knob. Cayden
stood at the balcony doors, his back to me. He ran his left hand though his
hair, anxious
.

“Cayden,” I said in a whisper, not sure I could
find the strength for my whole voice.

I threw my bag and my coat. They hit the ground
at my feet. Cayden’s shoulders seemed to stiffen before he became motionless.
The palms of my hands felt clammy, so I swiped them down my hips, using my
jeans to remove the dank sensation from my skin. I wondered if Cayden would
turn around, then slowly he turned. The cowardly part of me wanted to back out
of the room, while the more logical grown-up side knew I needed to stay. Face
the music, so to speak, but when Cayden looked at me I saw the appearance of a
destroying angel. Beauty and ferocity, the only words to explain his demeanor.

Cayden’s lips were pressed together in a hard
straight line. Jaw clenched. It looked as though he was biting down on steel
and would spit bullets. Cayden’s dark eyebrows pushed together in an angry brow
creasing configuration. The expression seemed livid. I watched as the dark
blue-gray color of Cayden’s eyes flashed before he closed them. He pinched the
top bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. He didn’t move. I
experienced the beating of my heart in my throat. Each beat counting down the
time in excruciating slow motion. Cayden finally seemed to take a breath as he
dropped his hand and gazed down at the floor.

“Winter,” he said. I saw the effort it took him
to speak with me. His body tensed as though he was trying hard to hold back
waves of anger. “Do you have any idea what you have done to me tonight?”

“I am so sorry, Cayden. Please, you need to
understand how horrible I feel. There is no excuse for what I did. I know I
should not have done it. I don’t know what I was thinking, I was stupid.” My
words were coming out in a rush.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No.”

“You do realize your little stunt just about
killed me.” Cayden paused, still not looking at me. The tone in his voice was
edgy and eerie. “I thought I was going to lose my mind when Jayden told me you
were not here at the estate, and no one knew where you were. I was completely
distraught until I heard you were finally with Langdon.” He seemed to exhale.
“I owe the studio some new equipment due to my little anger outburst.”

“You destroyed some equipment?”

“A table, a chair, some miscellaneous video
equipment, and a spotlight or two,” he said through clinched jaw.

I was scared. Scared of what I had done to him,
of why he would act this way. I knew he would be mad, but I did not quite
expect this. Cayden was beyond angry, and it was all because of me. I started
to cry, feeling the tears roll over my cheeks.

“Cayden, please, I am so sorry. If I could take
back what I did tonight, I would. I don’t want to hurt you or make things any
harder for you....”

“Winter, all I care about is you, your safety,
and tonight you put yourself at risk. Why did you do that?”

I proceeded to walk forward. It was obvious
Cayden was not going to move nor was he going to look at me. It seemed like the
space between us was extensive. It took me a while to reach him. I reached out
and placed my shaking hand to Cayden’s chest.

“Please, babe, look at me,” I asked.

His blue-eyed gaze shot to my face, pain more
than evident. The anger had changed to remorse, complete and total sadness.
“You are shaking, and you are crying,” he said. “Please do not cry.” And he
pulled me into his arms.

I placed my cheek to his chest and wrapped my
fingers into the material of his shirt. “I’m shaking because you are scaring
me,” I confessed.

Cayden’s voice was broken in this moment. “I
never want to scare you. Do not be afraid of me, baby. You know I would never
hurt you. I love you. Don’t be scared, I am trying to calm myself down but I
would never, never do anything to hurt you no matter how angry I get. I am only
angry because you scared me. I cannot lose you, Winter. I can never lose you.”

“I’m not scared of you, Cayden. And I am not
afraid of you hurting me. I am afraid because I have hurt you, caused you such
pain, disappointed you. I should not have snuck out, not gone into the city. I
was stupid. I see how much I have hurt you. To see how angry I made you scares
me. I know you are beyond mad at me. Can you forgive me?”

Cayden clutched me closer, tighter into his
arms. “Winter, you are the most important person in my life. I can't stand the
idea of someone hurting you, frightening you, trying to get too close to you.
Please promise me you will never go out alone again.”

“I promise,” I whispered. “Can you forgive me
for all of this trouble?”

“You never have to ask for my forgiveness. I
understand how difficult it is not be able to go do the things you want to do.
I know you were hoping to still be inconspicuous enough to be able to go out. I
am sorry for what I have done to you. I am sorry if you feel locked up.
Everything in your life has changed because of me and not all are changes for
the best.”

“Stop,” I said. “You will not apologize for this
mess. It’s all on me. I love you, and I can promise you nothing like this will
ever happen again.”

Cayden picked me up into his arms and carried me
to the bed. He sat down, pulled me onto his lap, and cradled me against him. I
put my cheek on his shoulder and completely melted into his arms. His fingers
brushed though my hair from crown to ends.

“Winter, you are my life. I cannot live without
you. There would be no point to this life without you. If anything ever
happened to you….” He held me closer, tighter. “Know I cannot bare you being at
risk. There are people out there who would hurt you.”