Bound by Light (5 page)

He didn’t have long to try as his phone
buzzed in his pocket seconds later. “Yes.”

“I can’t find her,” Wallace said.

“What?” Thane asked.

“She’s either some kind of a computer hacker
or someone’s hiding her. She doesn’t really exist.”

“How the hell does she not exist?” Thane
snapped. “Charlotte found her on Facebook in a matter of
seconds.”

“Well, she’s not on Facebook anymore.”

“Shite.” Thane rubbed his forehead.

“I’ll keep looking, but I doubt we’ll find
anything today. I’ll call you as soon as something changes.”

“Right. Thanks.”

Thane hung up with a frown. Grabbing his
drink, he flopped onto the sofa and continued to try to connect
with the elusive Sydney Warren the old-fashioned, non-technical
Cauld Ane way.Thane rubbed his forehead. "ok in a manner of
seconds."

* * *

The next morning, Sydney knocked on her
uncle’s office door and entered when bid. Uncle Cary was a large
man with salt-and-pepper hair and a deep voice that both terrified
and comforted most people, depending on his mood.

“Good morning, love,” he said, and rose to
his feet, hugging Sydney gently. “How did you sleep?”

“Okay.” She sat in the chair opposite his
and smiled. “I think I’m ready for all this yuckiness.”

“It’s not so bad, Sid. I promise. Your
parents organized everything remarkably well, so you have several
options. One of which is to do nothing, at least for the
moment.”

“Ooh, I like that option.”

Her uncle chuckled. “I had a feeling you’d
say that, so I gathered all the information and saved it here.” He
handed her a flash drive and a manila file. “Plus I printed
everything out. Should you have any questions, let me know.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Uncle Cary. Thank
you.”

“Anytime, love. Now, we need to talk about
something else, something you might find a little invasive.”

Sydney settled the file on her lap.
“Okay.”

“I have disabled your social media
accounts.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to be invisible for a
while.” He frowned as he took a deep breath. “Also, I have let Lucy
know and she’s a bit annoyed with me, but you will need to have
security with you anytime you leave the house.”

“Seriously? Why?” Sydney bit her lip. “Am I
in danger?”

“We don’t think so. Right now, it’s a
precaution.”

“A precaution?” she challenged. “Uncle Cary,
tell me. Did something happen?”

“Nothing I can talk about at the moment.
Will you trust me? At least for a little while?”

“Um...I guess.” Sydney had no reason
not
to trust him and it wasn’t like this never happened. She
remembered Lucy complaining about tightened security a few years
ago when her dad was making a big merger. There’d been death
threats and Uncle Cary had hired bodyguards for both Lucy
and
Anson.

He gave her a bolstering smile. “I know it’s
a pain, but you’ll find you forget they’re even there.”

Sydney rolled her eyes. “I’m not so sure
about that.”

“Humor an old man, eh?”

“Do you think it’ll be a permanent
thing?”

“No, love, I don’t. But it’s permanent for
now,” he admitted.

Sydney sighed. “What if I meet some dashing
Brit who sweeps me off my feet? I can’t have some strange man
following me on dates.”

Uncle Cary chuckled. “We’ll cross that
bridge when we get to it.”

“Okay.” She smiled, begrudgingly. “Thank you
for everything, Uncle Cary. I really appreciate it.” Sydney wasn’t
sure that was sincere, but since she was in her uncle’s home, she
would trust him.

“Don’t mention it, sweetheart. You know
you’ve always been like another daughter to me. You are the very
best of my sister, you know. You remind me so much of her.”

Sydney blinked back tears. “Thanks. I often
wished Anson and Lucy were really my brother and sister. You guys
were always so close and I wanted that.”

“We
were
close, but you feel free to
torture Anson just as much as your mother tortured me. Lucy’s far
too nice to him.”

Sydney giggled. “I’ll keep that in
mind.”

“Good.” He rose to his feet. “Lucy mentioned
something about a Thane Allen movie premiere tomorrow night?”

“She did?” Sydney began to think of ways to
commit cousin-cide as she stood. “What did she say?”

“Just that she wanted to go.” Her uncle
cocked his head. “Why?”

Sydney relaxed. “Oh, nothing.”

He hummed in suspicion. “Anyway, I’ve
wrangled a few tickets if you’d like to go.”

“Oh, wow, that sounds fun.”

“We’ll make it a family outing.” Uncle Cary
grinned. “Dinner first?”

“Perfect.”

“Good. I’ll have my assistant set everything
up.”

“Can’t wait.”

Sydney hugged her uncle again and then went
to look for Lucy.

* * *

The next evening, the house was awash with
excitement. Sydney had never been to a movie premiere before and
felt her stomach flutter with nerves as she and Lucy dressed in
cocktail dresses and their favorite heels.

The premiere was being held at the Empire
Cinema in Leicester Square and the family had the choice to walk
the red carpet with the celebrities or enter before they descended.
A resounding agreement was reached to skip the circus and sneak in
early, so they had to be out the door in less than an hour.

“I wonder if he’ll ask you out again,” Lucy
mused.

Sydney ignored the shiver that thought
created. “I doubt we’ll even see him.”

“It’s very possible we’ll sit quite close to
him.”

“No!” Sydney gasped. “Really?”

Lucy giggled. “Really. It’s an intimate
event on celebrity event scales.”

“Why did you do this, Luce? Maybe I should
just stay home.”

“No way. Look at it as a nice family outing
and if we see the famous and gorgeous Thane Allen, then it’s a
bonus.” She raised an eyebrow. “Besides, you’re probably right. We
probably won’t see him...but if we do, I doubt we’ll interact with
him.”

“Exactly.” Sydney took a deep breath and
nodded. “Okay. Cool.”

Lucy laughed. “Why do you get so nervous
around boys, Sid?”

“Um,
hello
, he’s not just a boy,
Luce. He’s Thane Allen, and I was kind of rude before, so I’m half
expecting him to shun me and tell the world what a cow I am.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

Sydney shrugged. “Hopefully, if he sees me,
he’ll just ignore me.”

“There’s the spirit.” Lucy grinned.

“What about you? No Zach tonight?”

Lucy and Zach had been exclusive for just
over a week now and she was still basking in the new love glow.
Sydney had yet to meet him, mostly because he wanted to wait to
meet Lucy’s family until they were “more secure.” Sydney couldn’t
quite decide if she liked that or not, but figured Lucy would make
it happen when she wanted it to happen.

“Dad could only get tickets for the five of
us,” Lucy said.

“He can have mine,” Sydney offered.

“Nice try.” Lucy giggled. “Shall we?”

Sydney shook off her nervousness and grabbed
her jacket and purse. She followed Lucy downstairs and into the
waiting car with the rest of the family.

CHAPTER FOUR

T
HANE ADJUSTED HIS
bowtie and smoothed down his jacket. He was surprisingly excited
about the event tonight, even with the weight of success on his
shoulders. He’d financed the majority of this project and if it
failed, he’d take the hit.

Pam arrived with Niall and Charlotte in tow.
Charlotte wore a corseted modernized version of one of the gowns
she’d worn in the film. It had been her favorite and the deep blue
matched her eyes perfectly.

Thane kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful,
Charlotte.”

“Thank you.” She sighed with a grin. “I feel
like a princess.”

Niall pulled her close and kissed her
temple.

“Where are Max and Grace?” Thane asked.

“They’re going with the band,” Niall said.
“I offered to go with them as well—”

“But I need you with me,” Charlotte rushed
to say.

“Which is why I’m here.” Niall chuckled.
“So, breathe...”

She took a deep breath. “Thank you,
honey.”

“Where’s the baby?” Thane asked.

“With Megan,” Charlotte said.

“Some lovely grandmother, granddaughter
time, then.”

“Exactly.”

“Car’s downstairs,” Pam said as she walked
back into the room.

“Ready?” Thane asked.

Charlotte clapped her hands. “Yes. I’m
nervous and excited all at the same time.”

Thane grinned. “I am as well, lass.”

He and Niall stepped back and let Charlotte
precede them out of the hotel. It took a few minutes to get her and
her dress loaded into the limo, but they made it and headed to the
theater.

* * *

“Mmm, champagne and popcorn,” Sydney murmured
somewhat sarcastically. “My favorite.”

“Champagne with just about anything works
for me,” Lucy added, and took a sip. “Especially when it’s
good.”

Lucy’s parents and brother were on the
opposite side of the cinema lobby speaking with an acquaintance of
her father’s, so Lucy had pulled Sydney over to the refreshments.
Neither of them were particularly interested in the fascinating
conversation of finance and the world economy.

“When do we get to sit down?” Sydney stepped
from one foot to the other. “My feet are starting to scream at
me.”

“Mine as well. I can’t imagine it will be
long now. It’s almost seven.”

Before Lucy could get the words completely
out of her mouth, the roar of the crowd outside grew and Sydney
figured the stars were arriving. They’d gone through thirty minutes
of the lesser known actors of the film, but now was the moment the
crowd outside had been waiting for. “Let’s go somewhere else,”
Sydney whispered.

“Where?”

“It doesn’t matter. We can join your
parents. I just don’t necessarily want to be in the way.”

Lucy shook her head. “We have a chance to be
within spitting distance of both Fallen Crown
and
Thane
Allen. I’d very much like to be in the way.”

“I had no idea you had llama
tendencies.”

Lucy giggled. “Nice.”

Sydney smiled and stepped behind Lucy in an
effort to hide... hard to do when she was almost two inches taller
than her cousin. Her hands were shaking, so she set her drink down
on the counter and linked her fingers together in front of her.

She couldn’t help but get caught up in the
excitement as the band members filed in, and when Max MacMillan
arrived, she felt her heart race and found herself star struck. He
had one of the most amazing voices in the world and was drop-dead
gorgeous to boot. His wife was stunning as well with her dark hair
swept into an ornate up-do. Although he took time to sign
autographs and speak with fans inside, he was never far from her.
It was very sweet.

Lucy giggled and craned her head to look at
Sydney. “Here comes Thane.”

Sydney bent her knees and peeked over Lucy’s
shoulder, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, but was still
unable to stop herself from watching him walk in. Truly, the man
was beautiful with the soft stubble over his jaw and his thick,
dark strawberry-blond hair. She wanted to run her hands through
it.

He was speaking with his costar, Charlotte,
and her husband, Niall, the drummer for Fallen Crown, and Sydney
felt the sudden need to escape.

“I’m going to the restroom,” she whispered,
and dashed away from the crowd. Lucy followed and they spent a few
minutes pretending to fix their already perfect makeup. Sydney
hoped it was long enough in order to sneak in just before the movie
started.

Lucy checked her watch. “Two minutes, love.
We should really get in there.”

Sydney nodded and squared her shoulders,
leading Lucy from the bathroom. They walked toward the theater and
as they stepped through the door, Sydney stalled.

“I wondered if I’d see you again,” Thane
whispered. He was standing just inside, leaning against the wall.
He pushed away with a smile. “You’re difficult to find, Sydney
Warren.”

Sydney chewed on her bottom lip,
dumbstruck.

“I’m Lucy.” Lucy stuck her hand out and
Thane shook it.

“You’re the cousin?” Thane asked.

“I am,” she said. “It’s lovely to meet
you.”

“Lovely to meet you too, lass.”

Sydney stood frozen to her spot on the
carpet, unable to form a coherent sentence as her cousin and crush
carried on a pleasant conversation.

“Sid?” Lucy squeezed her arm.

“Hmmm?” she mumbled.

“I’m going to find the fam. I’m sure Thane
can make sure you find a seat?” Lucy made it both a statement and a
question, which didn’t really help Sydney’s nerves.

“I’d be happy to,” Thane said.

“I should come with you,” Sydney managed to
say.

“No, love, you stay,” Lucy argued. “I’ll
save you a seat.”

“But the movie’s going to start.”

“It won’t start until I sit down,” Thane
said.

“Have a little fun, cuz,” Lucy whispered,
and kissed her cheek before walking away and out of her sight.

Sydney bit her lip again and stared at the
movie star. Good Lord, he was gorgeous, especially up close.

“Hi,” he said, and smiled.

“Hi.” She took a deep breath. “How did you
know I’d be here?”

“I didn’t,” he said. “But I saw you rush
away when I came in, so I waited. Will you sit with me
tonight?”

“What?” She let out a quiet gasp. “I
couldn’t.”

“Why not?” he challenged.

“Because you’re the star of the movie and
I’m a nobody. What will people think?”

He chuckled. “I’ve never much cared about
what other people think, lass. It’s served me well in life. At
least so far.”