Seeing she wasn’t getting anything more from him, her thoughts drifted back to the safehouse. Specifically to the moment she barged into his bedroom and asked if he had her panties.
Heat crept through her at the memory of seeing him shirtless. The man had the body of a god. Too bad he had the personality of a toad.
She studied him for a moment longer. Dark hair. Strong jaw. Massive shoulders. The kind of man who looked like he could singlehandedly carry a refrigerator.
He glanced in the mirror and back at the road again, a scowl settling over his face.
“Are you always this grumpy? Maybe you need to try those boxer briefs with the ball hammock. Seems like you need more support.”
His jaw worked but he didn’t look at her. For some reason…that disappointed her.
“Seems like you spend time thinking about things that aren’t your business.”
“Maybe they’d improve your attitude.” She wasn’t going to take his bad mood to heart. Life was too short to let some man with broody glares upset her.
“Nothing can improve my attitude.”
“Good point.”
For a second, she thought she saw the corner of his mouth twitch, then it disappeared so quickly she couldn’t be sure.
Rome checked the rearview mirror. Then checked it again.
She glanced in the side mirror and saw a black SUV that remained several car lengths behind them.
“Is that black SUV following us?”
“That’s our escort.”
She blinked. “We have an escort?” Her stomach sank. Through the dead body and the safehouse, and even Jolie telling her to go with Rome because she’d be safe, Stina didn’t want to believe anything could bethatbad.
But having a black SUV escort them to a Naval base was definitely skidding into bad territory.
She settled deeper into her seat and tried to think of who wanted to hurt her enough to warrant a guard she never knew about. Maybe—
A vehicle shot through the intersection from the right going fast.
Way too fast.
Stina barely had time to register it before it slammed directly into the escort SUV.
She screamed.
Metal exploded with a shriek. Glass shattered.
She threw her hands over her head as if their vehicle had taken the hit. “Oh my god!”
Twisting in her seat to stare through the back window, she watched the escort vehicle spin out of control.
She screamed as the SUV bounced across the road, parts flying everywhere and smoke boiling from the hood. “Rome!”
“I saw it.” His voice was terrifyingly calm.
Then his entire demeanor changed. The man beside her vanished. In his place sat something far more dangerous.
“Tighten your seatbelt.” The command cracked like a whip.
With shaking hands, Stina obeyed as Rome hammered the gas.
