Chapter Four
Nikki jogged to keep up with his long stride. “Harrison? What did you mean by that?”
He just laughed again. Okay, that really couldn’t be good.
She followed him outside the terminal where a car and driver waited with the door open.
“After you,” Harrison said, holding the door open for her.
She narrowed her eyes a bit trying to figure out what could have possibly been so funny. Finally she sighed and got in the car. If he was trying to trick her into something nefarious, she could always have the driver take her back to the airport. And just in case, she shot off a quick text to her mother letting her know that she’d just accepted a job from Harrison Troy and would be staying on his estate. Not surprisingly, her mother immediately texted back wanting a million details that she didn’t have yet. She told her she’d be in touch but just wanted her to know where she was.
There. So she was going against every rule an unaccompanied woman traveler should follow. Having no concrete plans. Getting into a car with a stranger. Though, not a total stranger, seeing as how they’d sat beside each other the whole flight. And the fact that she’d already had her tongue down his throat. And vice versa. Still, getting in a car with him to drive off to who-knows-where would probably be listed under the definition of what not to do if you’re trying to stay safe.
But Harrison Troy wasn’t any ordinary person. He was a moderately famous billionaire who occasionally graced the covers of the tabloids and who even now was drawing the attention of some fellow airport-goers and their cell phones. There were probably dozens of photos of her with him floating around out there now, and her mother knew where she was and who she was with. So at the very least, if he did turn out to be a serial killer, there was some sort of record of who was responsible.
She wanted to continue to interrogate him on the way to wherever they were going, but he spent the majority of the trip on his phone. She spent the time watching the scenery out the window. She’d never been anywhere outside the United States, so there was plenty to see to keep her occupied.
“Sorry about the car,” Harrison said during a short break in his conversations. “Typically, I would take the helicopter, but it’s being maintenanced right now. We’ll have to make do.”
“Oh, no problem,” she said, as if it was an everyday occurrence for her to have to choose between modes of transportation. Hell, most days she was lucky if she got a ride anywhere rather than having to hoof it. Though riding in a helicopter would have been seriously cool.
“So, where is this castle anyway?”
“Not far from Newcastle Upon Tyne.”
“Haven’t heard of it. How far away is it?”
“Several hours. Now might be a good time to take a nice, long, quiet nap.”
She rolled her eyes. Okay, she might be talking his ear off, but she was excited so he was going to have to live with it. “A few hours away is pretty far up north, isn’t it? How close are you to Scotland?”
He sighed. “About an hour south of the border.”
Since he was already glowering at her, probably anticipating her next question, she resisted the urge to bounce on the seat like a toddler bursting with excitement but asked it anyway. “I didn’t know you were so close! Can we go?”
“We will go as part of the travel tour in a few weeks. But other than that, no.”
She sat back and blew her bangs out of her face with an exasperated puff of air. “Spoil sport.”
His lips twitched but he didn’t comment further on the whole Scottish issue. “Take a nap. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
Before she could ask him any other questions, his phone rang again and she rolled her eyes as he took the call. She must have dozed off at some point while watching the towns morph into rolling hills and small villages, because the next thing she remembered, Harrison was nudging her awake.
“We’re here,” he said, pointing out the window.
She pressed her face up against the glass like a kid at the pet store trying to see the puppies, and sucked in her breath at the sight that met her. They entered through a pair of stone gates and drove up a long winding road for several minutes before the estate came into view. She gasped.
“It’s a castle,” she said, nearly bouncing in her seat with excitement. “Like an honest-to-God castle.”
He chuckled. “I told you it was. Didn’t you believe me?”
“Not really,” she said.
“Then why did you come with me?”
She shrugged. “I had nothing better going on and thought it might be worth the risk on the off-chance you weren’t a pathological liar.”
He shook his head. “You really need to be more discerning in your decisions.”
“You do realize had I been more discerning I would not be in this car right now.”
“Hmm, that is true. Never mind then. Carry on.”
She laughed and went back to gawking at her surroundings. The castle was situated in the middle of a large clearing and was exactly like what she had always pictured. With its stone towers, rounded archways, and landscaped manicured grounds sprawling out beneath it, it was a fairy tale come to life.
“This is breathtaking,” she said. “If you could live here, why would you ever leave?”
“You’ll find out in short order.”
“You know, you keep saying things like that. It doesn’t inspire much confidence.”
He just grinned again and turned his attention back to his phone.
“So if your family owns a castle, why aren’t you an earl or a knight or something?”
Harrison gave her a wry smile. “Because the illustrious ancestor who first gained possession of the estate was actually the mistress of a younger son of a rather obscure baron. When the relationship had run its course, the lady was rather industriously pensioned off and given the castle as a consolation prize of sorts. While her subsequent descendents,” he said, gesturing at himself, “have had the dubious pleasure of owning this rather modest estate, there was no title to be had.”
“Her ex paid her off with a castle? I think the most I’ve ever gotten from an ex was a few free months of Netflix before he remembered to change his password.”
He chuckled. “It’s more of an oversized manor, really.”
“If you say so,” she muttered. Sure, it wasn’t Buckingham Palace or anything. But there was no doubt the place was definitely a freaking castle. It would make most of those sprawling Beverly Hills mansions look like servants’ quarters.
The car followed the path along to the back side of the estate. The farther they got from the front, the less manicured the property became. Wild growth had been allowed to take over, giving the castle a more sinister and abandoned look. Parts of the stone of the castle walls had fallen away, ivy covered what remained, and scaffolding had been set up in order to make much-needed repairs. She hoped. At the moment, the scaffolding looked like it was only there to shore up the walls and keep the whole thing from toppling over. The back of the property was so completely different from the front she could almost imagine they were two entirely different locations. Or that the front was merely a facade. Like in those Hollywood movie sets where you walk down a street that looks like it’s lined with real buildings and then you step inside one only to realize the fronts were nothing but props held up with two by fours.
The car came to a stop, and she got out, without waiting for Harrison or the driver to open her door. She stood staring at the crumbling building in the twilight sun. Oh, it was still a gorgeous old building, one she’d enjoy visiting on a warm afternoon with a picnic basket before going back to her nice, comfy hotel. Only now it looked more like the ruins of a castle rather than a building someone could actually spend the night in, let alone live in permanently.
“Welcome to Alberth Castle.” Harrison got out and stood beside her. “Well?” he asked. “What do you think of the old place?”
Old was right. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Have you ever seen the movie The Money Pit?”
He laughed, a deep booming belly chuckle that surprised her. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he said, putting his hand on the small of her back to lead her inside. “Come on.”
A couple servants had scurried outside to grab their luggage. Nikki handed hers over feeling both pampered and uncomfortable. Like she should apologize for handing them her bag instead of carrying it herself. She knew it was their job and they probably didn’t mind, but it was still odd.
Before they could go inside a voice echoed from up above. Harrison stopped and closed his eyes.
“What is that?” Nikki asked.
“Nothing, ignore it.”
“Is this place haunted, too? Because that could be kind of cool. As long as the ghost was friendly.”
“It’s not haunted,” Harrison said, his face strained.
“Wooooeeee!” the voice echoed again.
Nikki quirked an eyebrow. “You were saying?” She stepped back to get a better look at what was going on. Up at the top of the castle, standing on the battlements, was what looked like a pale little Yoda figure, stark naked, waving around a white…
“Is that a nightgown?” Nikki asked.
Harrison rubbed his hand over his face and turned to one of the servants. “Go tell my mother Granny has gotten loose again.”
The servant nodded and ran off, and Nikki turned to Harrison. “Granny? That’s your grandmother up there with her nibblets and bits waving in the wind?”
He frowned down at her. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Do that often, does she?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
As they watched, someone, the butler maybe since he was all spiffed up in a tuxedo-looking outfit, came out to round her up. But before he reached her, she let out a loud “Whoop!” and took off running in the other direction. Nikki slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as the whole episode seemed to upset Harrison. But seriously…crumbing castles, naked grannies? What the hell had she just gotten into?