My eyes flutter open. “Okay.” I wrap my arms around his neck. Sebastian is freshly showered and decked out in golf clothes. He smells delicious.

“What time is it?” I frown.

“Early. Go back to sleep.”

“Okay.” I smile, and with another soft kiss, he leaves me.

I hear the garage opening and closing before he drives away.

I’m not sure how long I doze for after he leaves, but I don’t fall back into a deep sleep. Once awake, I pick up my phone and scroll through aimlessly. I hear a click in the distance.

Bentley sits up as if hearing something, too. He walks to the door, his ears pricked.

I hear something downstairs.

Is somebody in the house?

I’m heading toward the door when I hear another sound. Fuck… what is that?

I see a small security screen iPad attached to the wall near the door of Sebastian’s bedroom. I’ve never noticed it before. There are little pictures of each room in the house and right on the bottom left screen I see movement.

What?

I lean into get a better look. I watch the figure—they’re dressed in full black with a balaclava on—walking down the hall before they go into the office.

I hold my breath as the person pulls off the balaclava, and my eyes widen in horror.

Helena, Sebastian’s ex-wife is in the house.

What the fuck is she doing here?

My heart races as I watch the screen. What the hell is she doing here?

She opens the top drawer of his desk and rattles around it, obviously looking for something.

Fuck.

I grab my phone and dial Sebastian’s number, but it just rings and rings.

“Pick up,” I whisper.

The call ends, and I dial the number again. It rings out again.

I watch on as Helena begins to go through the drawers.

I can’t even go down there because I don’t want her to see me.

I imagine her face when she finds me here, and the assumptions she’d make.

Oh shit.

“What the hell is she looking for?” I grip my head in a panic.

She moves to the filing cabinet and pulls on the drawers. They’re all locked.

She searches through the desk drawers, eventually pulling out a small set of keys.

Oh, no, you don’t. I don’t know what you’re looking for but you’re not fucking getting it. Especially not on my watch.

That’s it!

After I tiptoe over to the double doors and sneak out onto the balcony, I dial 999.

“Hello, what service do you require? Fire, ambulance, or police.”

“Hi,” I whisper. “Police.”

“Putting you through.”

The phone rings, and someone picks up, “Hello Police.”

“Hi, there is an intruder in my house,” I whisper.

“Where are you?” the man asks calmly.

“I’m outside on the upstairs balcony, and the intruder is downstairs. I’m watching them on the security cameras.”

“Do they know you’re there?”

“No, I don’t think so. Please send someone quickly. I have no idea what they are doing.”

“What’s your address?”

I quickly tell him the address.

“A car will be there shortly. Stay where you are. Is anyone else in the house?”

“No.” My heart is hammering in my chest. “The house belongs to Sebastian Garcia but he isn’t home.”

“The politician?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

A thought comes to me. What if Sebastian comes home and he finds her in his office looking through his things? He’ll go mental, and who knows what she is capable of.

“Oh my God, please hurry,” I whisper.

“Stay on the line.”

“No, I’ve got to watch her on the security cameras inside. Hurry!” I hang up and turn my phone on silent. I quietly open the doors and sneak back inside, just in time to see her wrestle with the keys. She turns back to the desk, and Bentley walks in. She kicks her foot out to get rid of him, and I see red.

Don’t mess with the dog, bitch.

He approaches her again and she kicks him. Something snaps inside me.

Fury is running through my veins, and before I know it, I’m standing at the office door.

“What are you doing?” I snap.

She’s now going through the filing cabinet. She looks up and falters.

“Who are you?” she asks,

I’m your worst fucking nightmare.

“Wait.” She frowns, trying to work out where she knows me from.

“I’m the cleaner. Get out.”

She narrows her eyes, not believing me for a moment.

Shit, I don’t actually want her to get out. I need to keep her here until the police turn up.

“I asked you what you were doing,” I growl.

“Who are you?” She sneers.

I cross my arms over my chest. “It doesn’t matter who I am. What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I came to visit my dog.” She pushes something behind her back.

“Liar.”

Uneasiness falls over me. What does she have in her hand? Is it a letter opener?

She wouldn’t…

Is she dangerous?

Shit.

“What’s behind your back?” I demand to know.

“Nothing.”

The sound of sirens roaring up the street takes over, and as I look toward the window to see the police, she makes a run for it. I chase her at full speed, out of the office and up the hall. As we run into the kitchen, my toe catches on the rug and I fly headfirst into the granite countertop.

Searing pain tears through my skull. My vision blurs, and I fall to the floor. I hear the front door bust open in the distance.

Muffled voices.

Panic.

Pain.

Darkness.

21

Sebastian

The echo of the club connecting with the ball can be heard as it echoes around us.

Julian raises his eyebrow, smirking, happy with his shot.

“Fuck you,” I mutter in disgust.

I go through the clubs in my golf bag, sizing up the distance I have to hit the ball to. Hmm, which one?

I decide on the nine iron, I take it out and clean the head.

Spencer pulls his towel out to do the same, and he winces. He holds the hand towel to his nose and pulls it away in disgust. “Fuck, this stinks like shit.”