Colin x Penelope (COMPLETE)

Chapter 9- What do you want?

That night Colin could barely sleep.

Penelope. His Penelope. Was in the hands of some psychopaths and he was helpless to do anything. How could he fall asleep in his bed without her safely in his arms?

This was all his fault. If he hadn't pushed it...if he hadn't yelled at her or said what he said, she could still be here with him. Colin looked at the clock, it read 3:00 am. As much as it pained him to think about it, he knew he had to go to sleep, if there was a slight chance things could go wrong later that day, he needed to be fully rested. He felt asleep as the seconds clock ticked ever so slowly past the 12.

Meanwhile, Penelope was laying on a hard floor. She was cold, scared, and concerned. The scariest thing out of all of this was the fact that she was blindefolded throughout all of it. Having one of the senses being taken away from you adds a whole new layer of fear.

Before she drifted off to sleep she overheard two voices behind her. "I'm meeting the husband tomorrow, if I don't return in the estimated time window, you know what to do".

"Are you sure about this Louis?"

"Edward we're in too deep now, don't you trust me?"

"Yes of course, it's just that, the situation has-"

"Keep your cool Edward and just follow the plan and nothing will go wrong here. We have the upper hand. Mr. Bridgerton quite frankly has no choice in the matter"

Penelope was confused and concerned, she just hoped that Colin would save her before one of them would do what ever they mentioned they would do.

When Colin awoke he swiftly took a shower and got dressed. He made his way downstairs and through the dining room.

"Good Morning Colin! Are you ready to resume the search for Penelope after breakfast?" his mother asked.

He stopped in his tracks, he could not under any circumstances have his mother or any of his siblings looking for Penelope. He couldn't risk it.

"Oh uh, actually we can call off the search" Colin said, sitting down at the table to look less suspicious. He checked his watch and it read 9:00 am, so he had time.

"What? Why on earth would we do that?" Eloise asked.

"Because, she's not missing. She's...at our country house. The one that we were staying at before we came back"

"Well then why would she leave her clip...?"

"She was in a rush you see..."

"It's strange, the mysterious hate letters have stopped sending, I knew that it wouldn't last forever"

"Yes, yes, of course" Colin said, clearly not paying attention.

"I can't believe Penelope would leave without saying goodbye. Maybe I should take a visit down to the country and-"

"NO!" Colin shouted standing up.

"Colin! What has gotten into you?" his mother scolded him

"I'm terribly sorry sister, I did not mean to raise my voice, it's just that..." Colin thought quickly, "Penelope needed some time on her own, and she wrote me a letter explaining that she did not want to be disturbed...under any circumstances" Colin said sitting down again.

"Ah, I see then" Eloise said confused.

"Colin you are acting very strange" Violet said.

"Sorry mother, I just did not have a good sleep last night" Colin said, sipping a cup of tea.

"It's probably because you just miss Penelope, don't worry, you'll see her soon" Violet responded.

"Yes, Mother, I do miss her, a lot"

TIME JUMP

Colin sat restlessly on the bench between the lamp post and clock, though he tried his best to look relaxed.

He looked up at the clock next to him, 11:55. Yes, he was early, but it was better than being late.

"Ah, you must be the infamous Colin Bridgerton" a voice said sliding next to him.

Out of instinct Colin turned to him and put him in a chokehold. "WHERE. IS. MY. WIFE." Colin said in a deadly voice.

"Easy Mr. Bridgerton. You wouldn't want any...trouble, would you?" the man said, implying to everyone around them.

Colin reluctantly let go of this mans neck and clenched his fists, because he needed someway of getting his anger out.

"Now that's more like it. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Louis and that is all you need to know" Louis said reaching his hand out.

Colin did not take it.

"Very well. Now let me be honest, I'm surprised you're even here" Louis said.

"What? Why would I not be here? You didn't hurt her did you?" Colin said frantically.

"Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Bridgerton, me and my brother are men of our words"

"Than why did you think I wouldn't show up?"

"It's not us who thought you wouldn't come, it was your wife. She said that you and her got into quite the argument before...well...the situation we're in unfolded itself"

"Don't you dare say her name. Now I'm going to make this very clear. I love my wife and I will do anything to get her back safely, anything. So what do you want?" Colin said sternly.

"Simple. Money. A lot of it. Let me propose a deal, a trade off if you will. 5 million pounds in cash. Midnight tonight. Come to this address. If you bring anyone else, the deals off and your wife is dead. Now, if you leave and follow me, the deal is also off" Louis said and got up.

Colin looked down at the address in his hands. This was his only chance to get her back.