“I love Italian. Are you ready to go now?”
“Yeah, come on.”
I grab my briefcase and purse, and together we walk out through the office and into the elevator.
“Do you mind if I call home first?” he asks. “I need to change.” He gestures at his shirt, which has a big streak of dirt on it where he rolled on the floor with Kai.
I suppress a shiver at the thought of how he’d charged into the office and taken Kai down without a second thought. “Not at all, especially as it means I get to see where you live.”
He purses his lips. “Now I’m not sure whether I tidied up before I left.”
“Good. I get to see all your secrets.”
He snorts and takes my hand as the doors slide open. “Yeah, because I have so many things to hide from you.”
We go into the car park and over to my Range Rover. Automatically, I hold the keys out to him. He looks at them, then lifts his gaze to mine. “Technically, my work here is done.”
I lower my hand slowly. “Does that mean you won’t be my CPO anymore?” I get a funny feeling in my stomach at the thought of him not being around. I’ve grown used to having him at my side all the time.
“Again, even if it was decided that you still need one, technically a CPO shouldn’t be involved with their principal.”
We study each other quietly for a moment.
“How does it feel to finally be free?” he asks. I think he’s teasing me.
“I’m glad there’s no obvious threat anymore,” I reply slowly. “And I don’t think I need a CPO permanently. But… if I were to request that you continue to accompany me if I leave the office, what would you say?”
A beautiful smile spreads across his handsome features. “Well, I aim to please.”
“Mm.” I hand him the keys and open the passenger door. “I plan to test that later.”
He grins. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh jeez. You continue to say that and we’re going to be just fine.”
Both laughing, we get into the car. He starts the engine, and before long he’s heading out onto the main road.
We chat while he drives, talking about the day. He tells me about the debrief he had with Ella, and how he worked out that Kai was the stalker.
“I’m still shocked,” I say, looking out of the window. “I liked him. I used to give him the slip, and then when he turned up, I’d tease him for being too slow, and he’d always smile. I thought we got on well. Maybe too well, in his head.”
“I don’t know,” Luke says, slowing and turning into a car park. “It’s hard to say why he did what he did.” He slots the car into a space and turns off the engine. Then he turns in his seat to face me. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all this.”
“It’s okay,” I say, although I know it’s going to take a while for me to recover. “I keep thinking about something though. Can I ask you a question?”
“Fire away.”
“I can’t shake the feeling that he liked my refusal to follow the rules. That he enjoyed the challenge of controlling me, just like Dom.”
“It’s possible.”
“Why aren’t you like that? I don’t feel the same energy from you. I don’t feel that you want to control me the same way they did.”
He thinks about it for a moment. “For me, people are like birds. They aren’t meant to be kept in cages. I think they shouldhave their freedom. And then, if you treat them right, they come home to you at the end of the day because they want to.” He smiles.
It’s such a lovely thing to say that my throat tightens with emotion, and for a moment I can’t speak.
“Come on,” he says softly. “It’ll only take me a minute to get changed and then we can walk to the Italian. I’m starving.”
