She leaned in to whisper something to Dad, and I imagined her telling him it was his fault, asking him to do something because this would be an embarrassment to the family—but it was too late. Alton was already leading me to the car like a lamb about to be slaughtered, and like the silly animal I was, I let him. The Talacrest 250 GTO was a beautiful machine, expensive being an understatement, and I couldn’t help but nearly swallow my tongue when he opened the door for me.
Now that I’d met the man who owned it, I didn’t doubt the Talacrest was genuine. I stared into the interior of the two-seater and my mind spun. I couldn’t simplyleave, but what choice did I have? Alton smirked when I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye.
“What about my car?” I asked stupidly, glancing at the Charger. The red paint was stark against the blue of the Talacrest, and while my baby’s dents and scratches made her unique, it also looked ugly near the slim lines and perfect condition of Alton’s beauty.
Alton stared at my baby, ginger eyebrows reaching high on his forehead. I could almost read his expression:Why would you want that monstrosity?“What about it?”
“I’m not leaving it here.” Knowing Dad, he’d take it to the junkyard as soon as I left. I raised my chin at Alton. “If I’m doing this, whateverthisis, I want it with me.”
Alton’s mouth twitched and he held out his hand. “Keys?”
I hesitated but reached into the pocket of my pants and passed him the set of keys with a fluffy white keyring hanging off it. “It’s my baby.”
“That’s fine, but while you’re with me you won’t be driving it anywhere. You will only leave the house when I give you permission, and it’ll be with either me or my staff.” He hooked a thumb at the big men standing beside a plain black sedan parked nearby. I’d been so caught up staring at the Talacrest earlier, I must have missed the boring car. He held out the keys and one of the men rushed to take them from him. “Lakatos, here, can drive it to my house.”
Sucking in my bottom lip between my teeth, I nodded, and when Alton ushered me into the passenger side, I had no choice but to slip onto the low seat and move out of the way so he could close the door behind me. The cab felt like a prison and I was locked in with no way to escape. This was my destiny, to be a caged beast for six months—or until he grew so sick of me that he sent me home. That could happen, right?
I felt like there must be more to this than I was grasping, but I couldn’t guess at what.
When Alton slid into the driver’s seat his wide shoulders took up a lot of the space, and I couldn’t help but appreciate his size. The inside of the car was tight to begin with, and we were packed like a can of sardines, and yet my gaze still strayed to the way his white dress shirt followed the strong lines of his shoulders and arms.
Alton turned the ignition key and the Talacrest roared to life. The vibrations made me shiver. I’d always loved the purr of cars, ever since I was six and my uncle Blake took me for a drive in his brand-new Mustang. He loved that car—so much that he died on the Autobahn where he rolled it. I still remembered the way he spoke about her, as though talking about a loved one.
A car is a living, breathing thing, Noah. They fly, they roar, they take to the road with a passion most humans have never felt. We should always treat them with love, and in return they’ll take care of us.
The Mustang clearly never took care of him, but Blake had never been great at driving at high speeds. Alton, on the other hand, handled the Talacrest like someone who’d been driving professionally for years. Between switching gears and controlling the steering wheel, his movements were graceful and calm, and something stirred inside me. I needed to remind myself that this manownedme, like I was nothing more than a prized breeding horse being shipped off to make some babies. Except in this case, he couldn’t get me knocked up.
I snorted at the thought.
“Do you find something funny?” His gaze slid to me and the blatant interest behind his stare made my skin hot.
“No.” I looked out the window, then turned my gaze back on him. “Why me? You could have anyone you want if this says anything about your money.” I caressed the leather of the door, just below the window. “I’m no one special.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said simply as he focused back on the road. “I collect beautiful things.”
“So I’m something for you to collect?” I cocked my head, lips pressed in a thin line. “There are plenty of beautiful people in the world, a lot more good-looking than me.”
“Yes, there are.”
I blinked at him. “Okay? So why not get one of them? I’m sure there are plenty of people who’d love to be owned by you for free.”
Alton made a sound and I couldn’t decipher the meaning behind it. He kept his fingers curled firmly around the steering wheel as we took a sharp turn that had me huffing out a breath of surprise. “Because I want you, Noah Divine. I chose you.”
I sighed. It felt like he was being evasive with his answers and I probably wasn’t going to get what I was looking for. “What do you do?”
“I’m a corporate raider. I buy companies in financial difficulty and either sell them off piece by piece or reorganize them to make a profit.” He turned into a long, winding driveway, and it took me a moment to realize we were still on Vert Island, but on the other side of the suburb to my parents. I’d never been in this area, and it was absolutely luxurious. Bigger estates with decks that led to yachts on the lake, and cars worth more than my parents’ house. The gate we stopped in front of reached a good distance up the full-grown maples growing not too far behind it and was a sturdy wrought iron, with a guardhouse next to it and cameras situated on tall poles.
A guard in a black suit waved at Alton and the gates began to open. Alton drove the car through and along a stone driveway that led to a Versailles-inspired mansion with off-white stone walls and round pillars, massive pale double doors, and arched windows. To the left of the house there appeared to be a hedge labyrinth. Everything about the gargantuan residence shouted money, and a lot more than I’d grown up with.
Alton pulled the car up in front of the doors, and I split my attention between him and the estate. “Welcome to your home for the next six months, Noah.” He opened the door and stepped out, and I had no choice but to follow him. I breathed in the crisp air and stared around the front grounds, which were still beautiful even without the leaves on the trees. Two conspicuous elements were the high fences and security cameras. “Are you hiding from someone?”
Alton laughed, his tone cruel and mocking, as he rounded the front of the car to stand near me. “Protecting myself. Being a corporate raider comes with enemies.”
“I can seewhy.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
He shrugged and there was a heartlessness to it, as though he didn’t care that he’d ripped me from my family and life. I supposed a good man wouldn’t steal from those who’ve failed. He shifted closer and crowded me against the car, his strong cologne tickling my nose as his chest pressed against mine. His touch on my hip made me jump. “Darlin’, I saw you at a party your father threw, and I knew I wanted you then. I was patient and waited until the opportune moment. Your father was the one who made poor business choices, not me. I only came in to fix his mess.”
His breath fluttered over my lips, and I closed my eyes before I realized what I was doing and opened them again. “You didn’t have to take me as collateral.Thatwas your choice. You could have asked me out, like a normal person.”
