Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (31 page)

He drove out as Ruby
looked back, wondering if she would ever see Hasting Manor
again.

Alec woke up with a
start, his heart pumping loud, and so fast that his chest began to
hurt. His skin was beading with sweat. He brought his hand up and
touched his breastbone. He could feel it; his heart slamming
against his chest. He gritted his teeth, wondering why he felt as
if he just lost something very important to him, like his other
half, or his soul.

He took a deep breath to
calm down. After managing that, he looked over to his right. The
other side of the bed was empty, and his stomach churned with acid.
Dread built up inside his chest, and he stopped breathing for a
split second before his heart started pumping again, fast and
furious.

Leaping off the bed, he
rushed to the bathroom.

“
Ruby?” he called out, in a shaky voice.
God, why did he have the feeling that she was
gone? Why? No, Alec, Ruby is still here. She’s somewhere in the
manor.

“
Ruby?” he called again as
he opened the bathroom door. It was empty. He stood there for a
moment, brooding in the dead silence that echoed in his
ears.

He turned on his heels and
rushed out the door, flying down the grand stairs, and into the
dining room. He spotted Susan at the dining table, having her
breakfast. She glanced up at him and gave him a small smile. He
noted there was something in her eyes; was it pity? But Alec didn’t
have time to register that thought, and when Ruby was nowhere to be
seen, he abruptly left and went into the library, which was also
empty. He came back into the hallway, confused, and totally
lost.

Captain Snow barked at
him. The dog came up to him and wagged his little tail, begging to
be picked up. Alec obliged and the dog started licking his
face.

“
Where is she?” Alec whispered to himself. Then something
flashed into his mind. Last night, just before dinner, he saw Ruby
and Brian talking.
What were
they talking about?
Then,
when he arrived, they stopped.
What were they talking about?
he asked himself.

He came into the dining
room.

“
Morning, Alec, is
everything all right?” Susan asked.

Alec glanced up at his
sister and asked, “Where’s Brian?”

Susan put her cup of tea
down, and Alec noticed that her hands were shaking. He looked up
into her eyes.

“
Shit!” he swore under his
breath as he ran from the room, rushing into the master bedroom,
and then into the walk-in wardrobe. He noticed immediately what was
missing: Ruby’s suitcase was no longer there. Stalking back, he got
his cell phone. He dialed Brian’s number and waited. The phone rang
and rang and rang.

“
Pick up, Brian, pick up,”
he muttered under his breath.

Ring, ring, ring,
ring...

“
Pick up, for fuck’s
sake!” he swore, raking his fingers through his thick
hair.

Ring, ring, ring,
ring...

“
Shit!” He terminated the
call and threw the phone onto the bed before running out of the
room and down the stairs to find Susan.

“
Where is he?” he shouted
the moment he was in the dining room as he confronted his sister.
“Where the hell is Brian?”

Susan nibbled her lower
lip, her hands shaking from nerves. Her brother never shouted at
her before, and she found the first time very intimidating. Ruby
must have really meant a lot to him.

“
Susan? Where the fucking
hell is Brian? Where has he taken Ruby?”

Susan looked up at her
brother, her eyes filled with tears. “Alec, please stop shouting at
me. You’ve never shouted at me before. Brian hasn’t done anything
wrong.”

Alec gritted his teeth.
“Hasn’t done anything wrong? He’s bloody gone and taken Ruby with
him! Tell me, Sue, tell me where he’s taken her.”

“
Does she mean that much
to you, Alec?”

Alec raked his fingers
through his hair in frustration. “Yes. I love her, Sue. I… I… love
her.”

“
I’m sorry, Alec, but I
don’t think she loves you. She doesn’t want to be with you. She’s
gone. She asked Brian to take her back.”

He looked up at his
sister, and his face was so dark, Susan could see the torture
there. A thousand questions rushed in his mind. “Back?”

“
London.”

Suddenly, Alec felt his
body drained of energy. He felt like he lost the battle. Shoulders
slumping, he turned on his heel and walked out the door.

In his room, he sat down on her side of the bed as he
stared into space, his mind reeling with the images of her. She was
everywhere, tormenting him, reminding him of her absence with her
beautiful scent. Then, when he couldn’t handle it any longer, he
broke down. With his knees on the floor and his face in his hands,
he wept. For the first time since his ex-wife left him five years
ago, Master Alec Hasting, multibillionaire, and master of the
Hasting Empire, wept.

* * *

LONDON

“
Are you all right?” Brian
asked, watching her. “Not too tired?

Ruby turned her gaze on
him and shook her head. It was a lie, of course. She was tired. She
brought the cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip. The caffeine
kicked in immediately, going straight to her head.

“
Ruby!”

Ruby straightened when she
heard her name. Looking around, she found her best friend coming
toward her, and immediately stood up with her arms wide
open.

Alexandra McCartney pulled
her into a tight hug. “Hey, how are you? How’s your big OE
going?”

Once Ruby managed to free
herself from her friend’s arms, she said, “Okay. Oh, Lord! Your
tummy is growing. It’s so round.” She touched Alex’s swollen
stomach, marveling at how incredible it was to know another life
was gestating in there. “So how are you? Oh, hi, Jay.”

“
Hey, Ruby,” gorgeous
Jayden McCartney greeted her. He gave her a hug and then asked,
“And who is this?” referring to Brian, who was standing next to
Ruby.

“
Oh, sorry.” Ruby turned
to Brian. “This is Brian. And, Brian, this is Jayden McCartney and
his wife, Alexandra, my best friend.”

Jay extended his hand for
Brian to shake. Brian took it and shook it enthusiastically. With
the formal introductions out of the way, they sat, and Jayden
proceeded to order some drinks for his wife and him.

Jay and Brian started
chatting, and Alex couldn’t wait to move closer to Ruby. She
whispered into her ear, “So, he’s the English guy, huh?”

Ruby lightly shook her
head, trying not to look at Brian so he wouldn’t know they were
talking about him. Alex raised her brows in surprise.

“
Oh? But he’s good
looking,” Alex whispered.

“
And taken,” Ruby replied
quietly.

Alex sighed. “Damn,
aye?”

Ruby grinned at her
friend.

Their drinks arrived, and
Alex gratefully sipped her hot chocolate. Lately, it seemed she
could not drink enough hot chocolate.

“
We’re here on business,”
Jayden said to Brian.

“
Where are you staying?”
Brian asked.

“
The Anna’s Hotel,” Jay
replied.

“
Ah.” Brian
nodded.

“
We’ve already booked a
room for Ruby. Deluxe suite,” Alex added, turning to her friend. “I
hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t book one next to ours. But yours is
only a couple of doors down from ours.”

“
That’s fine, Alex,” Ruby
chuckled. “I’m sure I’ll survive.”

“
Why that particular
hotel?” Brian asked with restrained interest.

“
The owner is my business
partner,” Jay replied. “He insisted we stay there.” Jay failed to
mention that everything was all paid for by this new business
partner of his, including Ruby’s room.

“
I see,” Brian said under
his breath.

“
So you are coming,
right?” Alex said to Ruby.

Ruby widened her eyes
curiously at her friend.

“
The ball. The charity
ball.”

“
Oh, yeah.” Ruby muttered.
“Totally forgot about that.”

“
But you are coming,
right?”

“
Yeah. I already agreed,
didn’t I?”

“
Yeah, of course you did,”
Alex said, turning to her husband. “Oh, that means we’ll have to go
shopping. I haven’t got my dress. Jay, would you like to come
along, darling?”

“
Are we going this
afternoon?” Ruby asked suddenly. “I’m rather tired. Mind if I stay
in?”

“
Of course, we’ll do it
tomorrow,” Alex said.

“
That means I can’t come
along, sweetheart,” Jay said to his wife. “I have a business
meeting.”

“
Well, yes, of course.
We’ll just go by ourselves.”

“
Remember to take your
BlackBerry with you, sweetheart, as you do tend to get a bit
lost.”

Alex glared at her
husband. It was so unkind of him to mention that in front of Brian.
Of course, she was never good at getting her bearings in another
country, but he just had to bring that up.

“
Don’t worry,” she
retorted in annoyance, her cheeks blushing a becoming pink. “I’ll
use Google maps if I have to. But I’m sure I’ll find my way
about.”

“
There’s one more thing,”
Ruby interjected meekly, and all three looked at her expectantly.
She cast her eyes down, focusing on the cup of her coffee as she
said, “I’ve lost my wallet.”

“
Oh. When? Where?” Alex
asked.

Ruby bit her lip. “I’m not
sure,” she lied.

“
Don’t worry, Ruby, I’ll
take care of it,” Brian said. “How about I take you tomorrow to the
embassy? I have a few friends there. I can pull some
strings.”

Ruby smiled at Brian
gratefully. “Thanks, Brian.”

“
Should we get going
then?” Jay said. “Ruby looks rather worse for the wear.”

“
Yes, please,” Ruby
replied eagerly.

“
I won’t detain you much
longer then,” Brian said. “Ruby, look after yourself,
love?”

Ruby nodded, and Brian
came over and hugged her tightly.

Ruby took the opportunity
to ask him another favor. “Please don’t tell him where I am, okay?
I’ll be leaving soon anyway.”

Brian hesitated for a slight moment, a worried expression
contorting his handsome face. If anything, he knew Alec would stop
at nothing to find her—come hell or high water. Ruby just didn’t
know Alec well enough yet. But Alec was his friend since childhood,
and Brian knew how stubborn and determined he could be. God, if
only Ruby knew that she was actually staying in Alec’s hotel. If
only she knew she was going to
his
charity ball.
Yes, the charity ball, where he and Susan would be. And yes, the
same place Alec would be, hosting.

He nodded, reassuring her
that he would not tell Alec where she was. He knew he didn’t have
to say anything because sooner or later, they’d meet again, and
then what? All hell would break loose, probably.

They parted ways at the
café, and Ruby followed Jayden and Alex to the hotel.

“
There you go,” Alex said,
opening the door for her. “If you want anything, just call room
service. It’s all been paid for.”

Ruby suddenly became
extra-sensitive and wanted to cry. Maybe everything was too much to
handle right now; perhaps that was why.

“
Thanks, Alex,” she
managed to get out.

Alex took her friend into
her arms and hugged her. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you
okay?”

Ruby wiped tears from her
eyes and nodded unconvincingly. “I’m fine. I think I just miss home
very much, that’s all.”

“
There, there,” Alex
chuckled. “You’re usually the one who gives me therapy, not the
other way around.”

Ruby managed to laugh.
That was usually true, but now—

“
Everything will be all
right, Ruby. It’s only a couple more days. You’ll be home soon,”
Alex said reassuringly.

“
Thanks again,” Ruby
muttered, moving back. She looked up at Jayden and managed to give
him a smile. “Thanks so much, Jay. I don’t know how—” She broke
off.

“
You should go and get
some rest. That journey from Edinburgh must have really tired you
out.”

“
Yeah, thanks again,
guys,” Ruby said before she went in, closing the door.

Alex turned to her
husband. He gave her a handsome smile that always made her heart
flutter. She cleared her throat and said, “Something is not
right.”

“
What’s not right,
sweetheart?” Jay asked.

They strolled the short
distance to their own room, and Jayden inserted the key-card into
the lock. He opened the door, and they entered.