Billionaire's Accidental Wife

Chapter 5 They made it to Chelsea’s apartment in just under thirty minutes, thanks to clear late-night roadways and the seven hundred horses at work inside the Ferrari’s massive engine. Even before Chelsea pointed him in the right direction, Dave turned onto a narrow two-lane and headed to the beautiful and obviously expensive neighbourhood. Unlike Chelsea, however, he had no family of his own, just Catherine and her family.

For a long time, he thought he’d found a place to belong when he began hanging out with his sister’s pals, Jane and Chelsea. He had belonged… until he fell in love with Chelsea. Yes, Catherine had informed her that, even though Chelsea was her friend, she was known to have numerous unsuccessful relationships and never took her last relationship seriously. But he never listened, and even Chelsea’s coworker thought he was unsuitable for her.

Chelsea deserves someone better. Even now, Dave would not argue that. But as he looked over at her and saw her exquisite face turn ashen with fear as they approached the long paved drive that led to the homestead at the bottom of the mountain, he felt a wave of possessiveness and protectiveness-that he couldn’t deny. He, too, felt guilty. For leaving her in the manner he did, for giving her the impression that he didn’t care. For not being present to assure that she never experienced any sorrow, heartache, or fear. Everything he could see now was playing across her features, because of him. But he did it to keep her safe, to keep her away from his own trouble.

Chelsea sucked in a sharp breath when she spotted the ominous-looking, empty three black SUVs parked halfway up the drive to the rambling neighbourhood. “Oh, no. Dave, we’re too late.”

He clamped his molars tight, holding back the curse that leapt to his tongue. She was right. It didn’t look good.

A plan formed in his head-a risky one, but the best option he had.

He didn’t dare ditch the car with Chelsea inside it and damned if he was going to let her out of his sight for as much as a second. “Slide down as far as you can,” he told her. “Don’t move, Chelsea. Not unless I tell you to.”

“What are your plans?”She shot him an anxious glance but did as he instructed.

He swept off his black knit skullcap and tossed it aside. Instead of keeping his cautious pace up the meandering drive, Dave gunned the engine, letting the tyres chew up the dirt and dust as he roared all the way to the homestead.

Up ahead in the dark, a pair of mob thugs in black suits were prowling the perimeter of the building and surrounding grounds. Shit. They were both carrying semiautomatic pistols and looked short on patience. Maybe that was a good thing as far as Chelsea’s family members were concerned.

Dave threw the Ferrari into the park but left the engine running. Since his attire could raise questions he didn’t want to answer, he would have to employ his unique brand of obfuscation to get past the other males’ suspicion.

He then took a pair of dark tactical gear from his backpack that was almost identical to what the mob wore, “Dave? What are you doing?”

a black suit and covered his face with the same dark mask. Then he pulled his gun and climbed

goateed man out front. “Where the fuck are the other guys?” The henchman scowled. “What other guys? As far as I know, I and Jay were the only one

building. “What the fuck’s taking you so long, man? You find that bitch and her brat back there?” Luigi shook his head as he started jogging over to meet them. “Not yet. They must’ve cleared out before we got here.” Dave grunted. “Good.” He fired a round into

Christie and your nephew aren’t here, and the two men dispatched to

the grass beside the house. “However, Christie would not have known to flee.” There wouldn’t have been time to get very far, especially with a small kid in tow.” She looked up at him, worried and hopeful in her gentle brown eyes. “However, I believe I know where they are.” Dave held out his hand to assist her from the car. Gathering up the long skirt of her golden dress, she ran past the dead mobs with Dave at

oldest in the collection. Most of them were covered in a fine layer of dust. She pulled a sliding wooden ladder toward her, climbed up and reached for one of the highest bottles in the old rack. Instead of pulling the aged bottle of Aglianico out, she twisted it clockwise. It wasn’t a bottle. It was a lever to a

glance over her shoulder at him. “I had

by the arm. “Stay close to me, Chelsea. If anything happens to you,

before nodding. They entered the dimly lit, vast room. Large oak barrels, paper supply shelves, and massive, hand-hewn wooden tables gave the impression that the secret chamber was nothing more than a workroom. Chelsea reached inside to flip on a light switch. “Christie?” She spoke quietly. “Are

Then, from the shadows, a small, attractive

ran to each other, embracing in the midst of Christie’s sobbing and Chelsea’s hushed assurances

they waited here was another minute they risked being detected. They were lucky that only two of Hermano’s thugs had been sent to the vineyard. That didn’t mean more wouldn’t be deployed to sniff about and make sure the job was done right. It would be a disaster if there were

he was

all too soon it would be dawn. They were too far afield to make the trip back to London, which meant

the situation. He’d already ignored more than one call from base demanding the

him on the other end. “Having

been a

shit? Was that before or after you jeopardized the

it right now. “Her name’s Chelsea. I had to

about,”