I Only Have Eyes For You: BWWM Cowboy/Western Romance (Westbury Ranch Book 3) (8 page)

Chapter Ten

W
ith great effort, she peeled her eyes opened. Paige’s bleary gaze darted around the room, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out where she was. To make matters worse, her head throbbed. Putting a hand on her forehead, she sat but when she tried to get off the bed, the rattle of a chain startled her. Horrified, her gaze took in the shackle that was tied around her ankle and then to the bedpost. “What the hell?”

“Easy, honey. If you pull on it, it will hurt you.”

She whipped her head around to stare at the man who was sitting on the couch. If he hadn’t spoken, she would’ve never known he was in the room.

His face was lean and pale, and there was a quiet quality about him. This man could be in a room full of people and still no one would notice him.

“Who are you?”

“Honey, I know you’re upset with me because I went away for such a long time, but this isn’t the way to treat your husband.”

Wait.

What?

Paige licked her lips. She’d known she was in trouble the moment she woke up in an unfamiliar place, but now she was aware that trouble didn’t begin to describe the mess she was in. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The man smiled. “Don’t be like that, honey. I’m here now, and we’re together. We can do whatever you want, go for a vacation, and have fun. Whatever you want.”

His smile scared her more than his words.

“I’m willing to do anything to make you happy.”

He was insane. He surely was. Her eyes darted to the door. It looked as if she was in a cabin. If she was right, all she needed to do was dash out the door and she would be free. While she did feel a bit dizzy, Paige was sure she would be able to outrun this guy. He looked a little weak, as if he hadn’t eat well in days. “If you want to make me happy then why don’t you unlock this chain? It’s hurting me.”

He frowned. There seemed to be confusion in his eyes. He was struggling with a decision. Then he smiled. “I don’t think so, honey. Not now. You’re not well, and I think you should rest.”

“I—please let me go.” She sobbed. What the hell did he plan to do with her? “Please, I want to go.”

He stood up so fast, she skidded back on the bed. “You’re not going anywhere,” he screamed. “Never. Ever. You’re mine, mine forever. I’ve seen you, honey, and you’ve been with other men. I saw you at the pub. You were happy. Didn’t you miss me?”

“What? When—when did you see me?”

“With that Spanish guy,” he snarled. “You should have waited for me. I love you. I’ve always loved you, and yet when I was gone…you were with another man. You’re my wife, and you shouldn’t have been with another man.” He took a step forward.

Now for the first time, she saw the gleam of madness in his eyes. He wasn’t sane. But he seemed vaguely familiar. She didn’t know why because she could swear they’d never met before.

“That wasn’t right,” he continued. “It made me angry.”

She was trapped in a cabin with a man who wasn’t well. As he lunged forward, an idea struck her. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I shouldn’t have—I was only trying to find you.”

He halted. “What?”

Her mind wasn’t working right, but she had to think of something fast. “I—hired that guy to find you, and we met to talk about you.”

The smile that lit his face told her she’d said something right.

“You hired someone to find me?”

“I didn’t know…I wasn’t sure where you were. So, I thought I should get someone who would—help me look for you,” she said. “He said he would find you, that he had ways to figure out where you’d gone.”

“You wanted to find me?”

Paige nodded. “I did. Yes, I did.”

He stepped forward.

While she cringed inside, Paige kept a smile plastered on her face. She couldn’t afford to mess up now. He raised his hand and while a scream rose to her lips, she forced it down. He only touched her cheek. Fear didn’t begin to describe the emotions that pulsed through her body.

What if she made a mistake?

What if he tried to rape her? Hurt her? What could she do? She was tied to this goddamned bed. There wasn’t much she could do to protect herself.

His fingers traced the line of her cheek down to her chin, and then he withdrew his hand. “You want to eat something?”

Relieved that disaster was averted—at least for a little while, she nodded. “Yes, please. I’m hungry.”

“I have some soup.” He strolled towards the tiny kitchenette and picked up a can of soup. After pouring it into a bowl, he placed it in the microwave and heated it.

“You live here?” she asked.

“It’s…not my place. I borrowed it from a friend for a while, but now that I’ve found you, we can go back home.” The ding of the microwave signaled that the soup was ready. He opened it and carefully placed the bowl on a tray, brought it over and handed it to her.

When he dragged the chair closer to her bed, her pulse raced. She felt trapped. But there wasn’t much she could do. Food would give her some energy and maybe it would help her think of a plan. “What time is it?”

“It’s seven in the morning. We can leave as soon as you’re finished eating.”

“What’s the hurry?”

He gave her an odd look. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been home. We need to go ASAP.”

“Okay.” She blew on the soup. People must already be looking for her. Surely, they wouldn’t just ignore the fact she wasn’t around. Her mother and sisters must have called the police by now. What about Lando? Was he concerned for her or was he happily settled in Amor’s arms? She didn’t want to think about that. Paige took a few careful spoonsful of the bland, colorless soup, mentally keeping her fingers crossed and hoping it wasn’t poisoned. But she brushed the negative thoughts aside. Obviously, the man thought she was his wife, and judging by the way he spoke to her, it seemed as if he thought very fondly of her. Paige willed herself to believe that everything was going to be all right. She might get an opportunity to escape when the man unlocked the chains that tied her to the bed. “You’re right. We should go back.”

She finished the soup and handed him back the bowl. When he put the bowl into the sink, picked up a bunch of keys, and came back, she felt a little hopeful. Was she strong enough to push him and run for the door? Or perhaps she should wait until they were outside? Maybe it would be better if she made a break for it when she was outside these walls. At least, someone might hear her screams and come to help her. Of course, he probably had a car and he could chase her, but what other options did she have? She had absolutely nothing to lose.

How far were they from the ranch?

It was a dicey situation. Paige waited with bated breath as he unlocked the chain.

“Can you stand?”

Could she? Her head still hurt. He must have drugged her, and that’s why he was able to bring her here. Whatever he gave her made her a bit dizzy. She stood on shaky legs. Even though she didn’t want to do it, Paige took the hand he offered. She had to give him the impression she was happily doing this. If he got an inkling of an idea that she would try to escape, he wouldn’t let her out. “I’m fine,” she said. “Where are we going?”

“Home,” he said simply. “That’s where we started our marriage and we’ll do everything right this time around.”

There were a million questions that raced through her mind, but she didn’t want to ask them. If she did something to make him suspicious of her motives, all hell would break loose. She could tell he was unstable. “Okay. I look forward to going there with you.” She hobbled along. He reached out to steady her. Her breath caught in her throat. The chains rattled in his hand. She wanted him to drop them, so she could feel at ease, but he held on to them as they walked to the door. “Don’t you have any bags?”

“Everything is already packed. I was waiting for you to wake up, so we could leave.”

It was a good thing he didn’t take her while she was unconscious. She might have woken up in another state, possibly another country, judging by the way the impossible seem to be possible. “I need to use the bathroom.” Perhaps there was a window she could break out from.

He pointed towards a door. “Over there.”

“I’ll be right back,” she promised as she shuffled through and closed the door.

Damn it.

The window had a grill. She grabbed it and tried to rattle it but it was an effort in futility. She would just have to take her chances outside. Paige peered at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a mess. But she didn’t give a damn about how she looked. After washing her face, she grabbed some paper towels and patted her face dry. “Come on, wake up. I’ve got to get the out of here.” She straightened her shoulders and dragged her feet out.

He was holding a knapsack and the chains.

Did he plan to tie her in the car? No way in hell was she going to give him that chance. Her ankles throbbed where the chains had rubbed against it and left scratches. “I’m ready.”

He opened the door.

Paige didn’t wait for another chance. She scurried out, in spite of the excruciating pain. Swerving around the car, she made her way towards the dirt road that stretched out.

Shit.

Where was she? Just as she turned randomly in one direction, something landed around her ankles and she fell down with a loud scream.

Her gaze took in the rope around her legs.

With an enraged expression, he lunged towards her.

She tried to skid back.

Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “You bitch.”

She raised her hands in a defensive gesture. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

A vein throbbed on his forehead, his lips peeled back to reveal yellow teeth. “Did you forget I know how to lasso? You forgot everything about me, huh?” He was enraged. There wasn’t any glimmer of reason in his eyes. His hand gripped her arm.

She could feel the bruises forming on her skin. It hurt, but she bit back the scream that rose to her lips. “I’m not your wife.”

“Shut up. You’ve haven’t learned your lesson yet, eh? When we get back home, I’m going to tie you to the bed.” He pushed his face just a few inches from Paige’s, making it possible for her to avoid his foul-smelling breath. “You’re mine. Mine. Mine. You hear me?”

Paige opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn’t form any words. Good grief, she’d lost the ability to speak, so all she could do was nod. If she did as he said, she wouldn’t see her family again. The man was crazy. She was sure he would kill her if he were truly angry. As he dragged her towards the car, she resisted and tried to free her arm from his grip. He cuffed her on the side of her head. She screamed. She wobbled on her feet—the blow made her dizzy.

He opened the door and pushed her inside. “You were better off sleeping,” he said as he struggled to keep her on the seat. “Don’t test my patience, woman! I’ll put you to sleep again.”

If he drugged her again, she would be out like a light and then she might wake up tied to a bed in another room from which she wouldn’t ever be able to get out. As he tried to loop the rope around her legs to keep her in place, she grabbed his ears and twisted. Hard.

He yelled.

Paige brought up her knee and hit him on the nose. The satisfying sound of his bone breaking revved her. Pushing him aside, she dragged herself out of the car and ran, despite the rope that was still tangled around her ankle. He grabbed it and she nearly fell. Rather than pull the rope, she twisted around and freed her leg.

“I’ll kill you!” he screamed. Blood poured from his nostrils. “I’ll kill you!”

He would. If he caught her this time, he would do something horrible. She could sense that rage in him. Paige turned and scuttled away. At least that was her intention.

Thump.

She crashed into something hard and solid.

Chapter Eleven

H
e grabbed her arm and shoved her behind him. “Are you okay,
mi querida
?” Lando asked even though his gaze remained fixed on the man who had kidnapped Paige.

Her attacker picked up the rope and swung it around. There was murder in his eyes.

“He’s mad,” she whispered. “We should just run.”

“We’re not running,” he said.

The guy ran towards them. He swung the rope.

“Duck,” Lando said.

Paige bent quickly and stumbled to the ground.

Lando didn’t. Rather than avoid the rope, he grabbed it in his hands and pulled it towards him.

Unbalanced, their attacker stumbled forward.

Lando punched him in the face.

The solid blow made him totter backwards. He collapsed on the ground and didn’t move.

Paige stood groggily on her feet.

“Are you all right?” Lando enveloped her in a hug.

She wrapped her arms around his waist.

He was taken aback by her display of warmth. Oh, it felt so good to hold her. He inhaled the scent of her.

Then she stiffened in his arms and shifted away from him.

He dropped his arms to his sides.
Amor.
She must have remembered their tiff about the woman who meant very little to him.

Shit.

Just like that, the wall was back between them.

She was in one piece, and that was all that mattered. Horror-struck as he was that she went through such a terrible ordeal, Lando couldn’t help but be happy she wasn’t hurt. He dug into his pocket for his phone and dialed the police. He kept a wary eye on their knocked out assailant as well as on Paige who sat in his car, with her head leaning on the headrest and eyes closed. He groaned inwardly when he took in the dark circles around her eyes. As much as he wanted to reach out to her, pamper her, check to see if she had any other injuries and assure her that everything would be okay, he kept his distance, recognizing that given her mood and the ordeal she just went through, now wouldn’t be the right time.

Not long after, the police arrived in three vehicles. They got the man to his feet, read him his rights, and cuffed him. They loaded him into a marked car and whisked him off to the station. The others stayed behind with Lando and Paige and questioned them to record their preliminary statements.

An hour later, they followed Paige and Lando back to the ranch.

As they talked to the police, Lando watched Paige while she sat on the couch. He was glad he trusted his instincts and didn’t drop the chase.

“How did you know she was there?” a burly police officer asked.

When he thought about the events that led him there, Lando couldn’t believe he’d gotten so lucky to find her. It was a shot in the dark and it paid off. “I didn’t,” he replied. “All I knew was that someone took her by force. That much was obvious. I didn’t know what to do, but then I decided to go to the supermarket. It’s right around the corner from the bar, and I asked the sales people if they saw someone new in the area. I thought, if a stranger came into town, he would have had to buy groceries, and I couldn’t imagine someone from the community abducting her.”

“It could have been a passing lunatic who was just driving through the town,” the cop stated.

Lando nodded in agreement. “It could have been. Luckily for us, it wasn’t. They told me about a shifty looking guy they saw every other day or so. One of them thought he had a silver car, and he once saw him near the river. The clerk said there were a couple of cabins there used by people who come down only for summer. I figured it was easy for someone to break into one of the cabins and hide something…or someone there.” Lando shook his head. “I—it was all pure instinct. I just went with the flow.” He glanced once more at Paige who was avidly listening to his story. She met his gaze. “The first cabin was empty, but I found them at the fourth cabin, and the rest you have heard from Paige.”

“Who is he?” she asked.

The police officer shifted on his feet. “We think he’s an escaped mental patient. His wife died in a car crash two years ago. He was driving drunk. Since then, he has been there, and…it’s too early to say, but from what you’ve told us and from the information we got from the mental hospital, he seemed to think you were his wife.”

Lando didn’t know what to make of that information. If the man was an ordinary criminal, he could have hated him, but this guy was actually insane. “You’re going to send him back there.”

“We don’t know yet, but we’ll definitely recommend he be moved to another institution because he made a successful escape from this one. He must have seen you in town and targeted you.”

Lando saw Paige’s eyes widen, as if comprehension had finally dawned on her. She cast a horrified gaze in his direction. “Lando…” She seemed to breathe his name. “That night—at the dance—it was h-him.” Her face crumpled in tears. “That man—h-he saw us, Lando.”

Lando rushed over and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her taking in some deep breaths as she struggled to compose herself. His woman was strong and brave, so it was obvious to him that her ordeal was taking its toll on her.

She raised her head from his shoulder and looked directly at the officers. “He saw me—us,” she said. “It had to be him.” She glanced at Lando, her eyes pleading with him to believe her. “You wanted to go check him out, remember? And I told you everything was all right.”

There was silence. No one quite knew what to say to her.

Lando nodded at her, then cleared his throat and addressed the officers, “Anything else?”

“Not right now. If there’s anything else, we’ll let you know. Thanks for your effort. I doubt we would have found her in time if you hadn’t take it upon yourself to search for her.”

Lando didn’t respond. What could he say to that?

“Thank you, officers,” Paige said.

As the police left, he sat on the chair opposite her.

Jackie bustled in. “More coffee? Paige?”

“No, mom. I’m fine.”

“After what you have been through…” She shook her head and then walked over to kiss her daughter. “I’m just glad you’re okay, and I’m super glad that you, Lando, found her right on time.”

“I was lucky to find her.”

She hugged him. “There’s no such thing as blind luck. You made an effort to find my child and I’ll never forget that. Thank you.”

“It’s okay, Jackie.”

“I’m going to whip up some lunch. We’ll eat together. Everyone is dropping work and joining us. It’s a celebration for your safe return.”

Paige smiled as her mother hustled out from the room. “Food’s a big comfort at times like this.”

“You want to rest?”

“I want to take a shower, definitely.” She stood. “I guess—umm…”

He could see the various emotions in her eyes. If they didn’t talk now, it would become even more difficult later. He stood. “You’re angry with me?”

“How can I be? You saved my life.”

Lando shook his head. “It’s not that. About Amor.”

She raised a hand to her head and then dropped it. “Let’s not talk about this now.”

“We need to talk,” he said. “I want to know…need to know if you love me or if I was just a way for you to pass time?”

“Pass time?” Her eyes flashed fire. “You were the one who was killing time until your ex landed in town.”

He shook his head and opened his mouth to tell her the truth.

Jackie came back in. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Paige you have to get some rest. Come on upstairs.”

Lando let out a heavy sigh as both women went upstairs. Damnit, he needed to clear this up.

****

The next day, Paige ran into Amor right outside the farmhouse. It looked like the woman was waiting for her because she hadn’t seen her around much until now. Paige heard that she was hanging out with Lando, but it appeared Amor kept her distance from Paige.

“Hope your stay is going well?” she managed to say in a calm voice.

“
Si
. It is.” The other woman ran a hand through her hair that looked sleek and silky. It appeared as if she’d recently blow dried it and then applied an inch of makeup on her face.

All Paige ever did was put on a dash of lip gloss. And as for her hair…she barely had any, much preferring a boyish haircut. If Amor was an indication of Lando’s taste, Paige was a far cry from it. “I should go. Running late.”

Amor moved swiftly and blocked her path. “I wanted to apologize to you.”

“For what?”

“It seemed I interrupted…how I shall put it…your romance with Lando.”

Had he talked to her about Paige? Her blood boiled at the thought but she kept a firm lid on her temper. This had nothing to do with her. He wasn’t hers, never was and she would do well to remember it. “It was nothing. We just—barely dated a few times.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Lando and I…we belong together. It was really a misunderstanding that led to our breakup, and now that we have found each other again, we’re happy.”

Her heart broke into a million pieces. Paige was surprised Amor didn’t hear the sound of it. With an effort, she clung to the last vestiges of her control. “Nice.”

“Soon, he’ll go back to the place where he belongs.”

He’d said that this was home. Had he lied? Or did he just want to get as far away from Amor’s memories as possible? Paige wanted to break something. She wanted to shout and scream that it wasn’t fair. When she started dating him, she didn’t want to fall in love, but she did. And now when she lost her heart to him, he was going to leave her, but there wasn’t anything she could do. He made his choice, and she was the one who would have to live with it. “I’m glad everything’s working out for you guys.” Paige strutted past Amor before she had a chance to say anything else.

She had chores to do, but right now she couldn’t think, couldn’t focus. Her entire being was concentrated on keeping her sanity together. She simply couldn’t allow herself to fall apart. Being the kind of woman that she was, she refused the urgings of the doctor and her family to take things lightly for the next few days, and she would be damned if she allowed Amor to get to her.

Paige hurried to the stable. Her horse, Lightning, stood there. At the sight of her, it swished its tail.

She put on the saddle and leapt onto its back.

“Paige. Wait a minute.”

She didn’t turn to look. It was Lando. She had nothing to say to him anymore. Paige bolted out of the stable. She rode towards the far side of the ranch. Everything else would have to wait. Right now, she was hurting and she needed to be alone. If he wanted to say goodbye, he would have to wait. She would make an effort to let go of him with dignity, but she needed some time to get her feelings back into a measure of control first. If she didn’t do so, she might act out and embarrass herself.

Paige never experienced true heartbreak before—and if this was how it felt, she never wanted to go through it again. All she wanted to do was curl up in a corner and cry until there were no more feelings left in her heart. Every cell in her body ached to stop the pain that coursed through her. If she’d known it would cause her so much agony to let him go, she wouldn’t have gone out with him in the first damn place, but she made her mistake and now she would have to pay for it.

Paige didn’t know how long it would take for her to get over Lando. It might take weeks or months. Maybe she could go somewhere else while he was still here. When he went back to Spain with Amor, she would come back to her house to lick her wounds in private.

Yeah, that was a good plan and she intended to carry it through as soon as she was back, but right now, she was eager to be on her horse, alone on the ranch. She never wanted to see Lando again.