It was killing her not to look for him. He was probably in the guesthouse…if he was there at all.
Gwen told herself she didn’t care. She was on a mission.
An independent mission.
“Did Samantha tell you I was coming?”
“She did. Will you be staying for lunch?” Mary asked with hope on her face.
“Bored, Mary?”
“To tears. I can hardly wait for them to come home.”
They walked together down the massive hall to the kitchen. The kitchen and breakfast room opened to a great room with huge floor to ceiling windows. Beyond the swimming pool and patios was a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean.
“I’d be happy to stay for lunch so long as you’ll join me.”
Mary raised her eyebrows. “Wonderful. Any requests?”
“Anything that isn’t prepared in a microwave would be super.” Learning how to cook hadn’t been part of Gwen’s upbringing. Since moving to the States, she’d had to learn to fend for herself, and that meant plenty of ready-made microwavable meals.
“Coming right up.”
“Wonderful. I’ll be in my brother’s study if you need me.”
Mary smiled as she wrapped an apron around her thick waist. Gwen heard her humming as she left the room.
Blake’s study was a painted in dark masculine colors with built-in bookcases and a desk that sat center stage. Brown leather chairs flanked the desk, with a couch and wet bar on one end of the room. Considering how much Blake despised their father she found it entertaining how the space reminded her of the larger study in Albany where their father used to spend all his time. The very same one Blake now used when in Europe. He ran his shipping business from both continents and did so quite successfully.
Not that he needed to any longer. Their father left his estate to Blake once he married and had an heir. Gwen and her mother were given small stipends on which to live. Small by their standards, large by anyone who hadn’t lived in a country manor all her life with jets at her disposal and a clothing allowance that could feed small countries. Blake didn’t feel the division of funds was fair so he added to her trust fund, not that she asked him to. Gwen knew her brother loved her. When he transferred the money into her accounts, she realized how much he’d sacrificed to obtain their father’s millions. She also realized how different her father and brother had been.
Living in the small Tarzana house was a choice. One Gwen really did enjoy. But now that she knew Neil wasn’t going to watch her every move, she needed to make certain she was safe.
Gwen crossed to where her brother hid his walk-in safe. The paneling on the wall looked like the others in the room, but when she placed her finger on a digital reader, the wall moved and a steel door stood in its place. A palm scanner opened the next door and she was inside.
Only four people had access to the safe: Blake, Sam, Neil, and herself. Gwen kept some of her own jewelry and funds in the secure space but that wasn’t why Blake gave her access. At twenty-four feet by twenty feet, and impermeable from the outside, it doubled as a safe room. When Blake and Samantha took a private vacation, Gwen stayed with her nephew and Sam’s disabled sister Jordan. Blake wanted to be sure that if there was ever a problem his family would be protected.
Gwen walked into the room and opened a drawer.
Inside, four handguns of different shapes and sizes sat next to open boxes of ammunition.
All she had to do was figure out which one suited her best.
She lifted the gun that looked like one that Eliza owned.
Always treat it like it’s loaded. Eliza’s words drifted in Gwen’s mind.
She checked the chamber, found it empty, and noticed the clip sitting beside it.
“What are you doing in here?” Neil’s booming voice made her jump. She turned toward him, gun in hand.
She noticed his gun in his hand and pointed toward the floor. “Good Lord, Neil, you scared me half to death.”
He reached behind his back, holstered his gun, and stepped into the room. “Answer the question.”
The sheer size of the man dwarfed the space. She turned away from him, doing her best to ignore his presence.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” She picked up the clip, tested its weight.
“That’s not a toy.”
“I’m quite aware of that.”
“What do you need with it?”
“Nothing. Probably. But between Eliza and Samantha’s advice, I’ve decided I should have something at the house should I ever need it.” Samantha had agreed with Eliza’s advice when they’d last spoken on the phone.
“You’ll likely shoot off your own foot.” He moved closer.
“Thank you for your vote of confidence but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” After putting the gun and clip down, she lifted a revolver. She’d only held Eliza’s revolver once and couldn’t remember how to check the chamber. She wasn’t about to ask the man who just mocked her.
“Have you even held a gun before?”
She put the revolver back, skipped over the second larger revolver, and lifted another gun that was similar to the first. “Eliza taught me, remember?”
Neil grunted. “None of these are what Eliza carries.”
“These look the same.”
“Different calibers, different mechanisms.”
He stood next to her now, close enough that she felt the heat of his body.
She closed her eyes. I really have to stop torturing myself with this man.