“So am I.”
She reached for her bag at once, pulling out her phone with tense fingers. “Don’t test me.”
“I’m not.”
I shifted the car into motion and pulled out of the parking space as if there was nothing unusual about any of this.
“My dear little Flare, if you want to see me in handcuffs,” I added, my tone almost careless, “I could arrange that willingly. No need to involve the police.”
She stared at me. For a second, she said nothing.
Then she shook her head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“You’ve said that already.”
“That doesn’t make it less true.”
Her phone stayed in her hand, but she did not dial. She only sat there, breathing hard, her gaze moving from me to the window as the car left the lot.
“Where are you taking me?”
The question came a few minutes into the drive, her voice tight despite the effort she made to keep it even. It was no longer only anger. There was something sharper beneath it now, something she hated showing.
Panic.
I heard it in the pause between her words, saw it in the way her fingers gripped her phone without dialing, in every glance she threw toward the window as if she could map the streets and take back control from the passenger seat.
I did not answer at once. I kept my eyes on the road, letting the silence stretch long enough to get under her skin before I finally spoke.
“You’ll see.”
Her head turned toward me. “That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting right now.”
Her posture shifted as she turned toward me, eyes narrowed with anger.
“Where the hell are you taking me, Hayden?”
This time, I answered. “My place.”
Her reaction came fast. “No. Turn the car around.”
“No.”
“Hayden—”
“You’re not getting out until we talk.”
Her breath caught. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I already did.”
Her hand moved to the door handle and pulled once, only to find it locked. The sound from earlier suddenly made sense to her, and the look she gave me could have cut through glass.
“This is insane,” she snapped. “You can’t take me to your apartment and expect me to sit there while you interrogate me like I owe you answers.”
“I don’t expect you to sit there sweetly.”
