Spine of Steel

Chapter Sixteen

16. He's Back

"Search the perimeter. Lock and guard all the doors. Check every single room in this house. No one gets in or out without us knowing." Theo barks out orders to any guard he sees, one after the other. His hands are clenched so tight, I can see his veins popping out.

After I told Theo about my father being there, we all rushed over to a room and I explained to them about what I saw.

"Princess, are you sure about what you saw?" Theo asks sternly, using the nickname he gave me.

"I know what I saw, Theo. I don't know if it was just my mind playing with me but it seemed so real." I answer, keeping my voice steady. He grips the edge of the wooden table. He looks at the rest of the guards and lightly jerks his head toward the door. They all leave silently and we wait until they come back 15 minutes later. They have their head down and Theo looks at them expectantly.

"Well?"

"There is no man with that description, Sir." A man with warm brown eyes and an Irish accent says.

"What? There has to be some sort of mistake. I saw him with my own eyes. Check again." I order. Something's not right.

"Miss, we checked the whole place. The grounds, the fountain area, every room and even outside the fences. There is no man with blond hair and dark blue eyes in a blue suit." He explains and I try to find the right words to say the right thing. Something has to be wrong. He has to be somewhere.

I sigh. "Okay. Sorry for troubling all of you and for ruining the wedding. I guess it is just in my head. Goodnight." I silently walk out the door and head straight into my room. I take off the dress and remove my make up. I get into the shower and stay in there for maybe 30 minutes or more. Should I be relieved that he's not here? Or should I stay on guard because I know my eyes weren't just playing with me? He probably left when I saw him. I get out of the shower and put on a black night suit.

I sit on the chair in front of the piano and play a song that I've known by heart. House of Cards by BTS. I begin playing and end up singing as well. It calms me down and as I play, I feel my worries being washed away by the music. But in reality, I know it's gonna come back at some point. 

I hear a knock from my door and I stop playing and get up to open it. In between the door frame is Theodore, now in sweats and a t-shirt. I look up at him as he looks down at me. Our staring contest goes on  a while until he breaks it.

"Are you going to let me in?" He asks, already walking into my room.

"Clearly, there's no point." I say, closing the door behind him. "What do you want?"