Bound to my Enemy novel Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Chapter 67.

Her door is closed when I get there so I knock once and gently, like the very gentle man I am. When there’s no answer, open it anyway only to find her room empty, I check the bathroom next just to find it empty too.

My jaw tightens.

I head downstairs, irritation creeping in despite myself. The kitchen lights are off an there’s sign she’s been here recently

"She’s not stupid," I mutter to myself. "She wouldn’t just disappear again."

I stop in the middle of the hallway and pull my phone from my pocket. The tracking software opens easily when I click on it. Yes yes I might have put a tracking chip in my wife’s while she slept the other day, yes I’m an obsessive, possessive bastard and controlling too, if you want to add that. I didn’t put the chip in her phone for nothing, I need to that she’s safe and where she is all the time. When Thomas had suggested it casually, the other day I thought it was a brilliant idea given her tendency to test my boundaries.

The dot loads and I frown when the location isn’t outside the house.

It’s on the compound, the staff quarters and Margaret’s house to be precise.

I stare at the screen longer than necessary, trying to make it make sense. Elaine has no reason to be there this late, Margaret’s a cook, not a social coordinator.

My grip tightens around the phone.

I start walking to Margaret’s place.

The path to the staff quarters is dimly lit. The night air is cooler here, the smell of grass and soil stronger. As I get closer, I hear it.

Laughter.

Not just one voice. Several high pitched voices.

I slow my steps.

The sound grows clearer as I round the corner. Shadows move across the patio wall, people dancing together.

I stop just short of the open area.

The patio is lit by string light, with light bulbs strung overhead. There are at least three women out there, laughing, spinning around with their arms raised. One of them trips and nearly takes another down with her and there’s more laughter.

And then I see her.

Elaine is sitting on the low step by the door, her knees drawn up slightly with one arm resting behind her. Her hair is loose. She’s smiling.

Aaron is sitting beside her,so close that their shoulders are almost touching. His body is angled toward her, his h good arm resting casually on his knee, his injured one cradled carefully. He says something and she laughs, tilting her head back just a little.

Something ugly twists in my chest.

I don’t move at first, I just stand and watch them.

Aaron leans closer, not touching her, but close enough that I can imagine the heat of him. He says something else. She nods her smile softening.

My jaw clenches hard enough to hurt.

This is exactly what I warned her about. Slipping into comfort and forgetting where she is and most importantly who she belongs to.

I step forward, gravel crunching under my shoe.

Aaron notices first. His body stiffening, he turns his head and his face drains of color when he sees me. He straightens immediately, creating space between them.

Elaine doesn’t notice right away.

She’s still smiling when she turns.

The smile fades the second her eyes land on me.

The laughter around us dies quickly after that and girls go quiet, exchanging looks. No one speaks.

I stop a few feet away, my gaze fixed on Elaine.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

My voice is calm.

She blinks once. Then she stands. "I was helping Margaret earlier."

"At midnight?"

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