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“Look, man, what’s this about?” Elliot felt his blood pressure climb. Sweat beaded his forehead. He’d run some numbers before, hadn’t he? Shit! His past was catching up with him. Was it the money he’d taken from his ex-friend’s loan shark business? Shit. What had he done? Who was this man?
“A nice lady named Blue.”
“Blue?” Elliot’s mind went numb. Blue was probably only the sanest chick he’d been with. As much as she didn’t want him. “I got rid…she and I are no longer together.”
“You are to stay away from her. Capisce?”
Elliot loosened the tie around his neck, yet again. His throat was expanding with blood pumping hard through his neck. Sweat started to drip from his face. “Understood.” Whatever.
“Look, man. I don’t know what this is about but I don’t have anything do with her anymore. I don’t even see her since…” he paused. He decided he’d said enough.
Shit! He thought Blue was some kind of loser loner girl. She didn’t even have much family or parents, did she? Where the hell did she know this guy or his boss from? And who the hell was this man working for? He certainly wasn’t someone Elliot wanted to even deal with. The fact that he had timed his arrival at home and knew who the hell he was and where he lived was terrifying.
Very terrifying.
“You have my word on it. I won’t go anywhere near her.”
CHAPTER NINE
Courtney looked around the enormous room as if they had won their very own dream home. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder and her jaw dropped. Zack had just escorted Blue and her younger sister to the west wing of the grand Romero Manor and into one of the rooms where they would take up temporary residence.
Romero Manor was a 22-bedroom luxury mansion that had its own sprawling acreage of land and parks in addition to the 16,000-square-foot winery and estate.
Each wing was basically a self-contained home of its own with its own massive granite-top kitchen, games room, in-home theatre, den and living area that was joined by an incredibly huge ballroom and grand foyer that rivaled Buckingham Palace.
It must have cost a fortune to build this place, Blue thought to herself with delight. How marvellous the design was! She felt as if she were in an art gallery rather than a home with its collection of superb paintings on cream-colored walls and the breathtaking views to the gardens and hills in the tall ceiling-to-floor windows that brought in ample sunlight during the day. It was like a North American castle. The vaulted ceilings had Italian-inspired moulding and beautiful paintings above. The ceiling seemed to go on forever.
The floors were marble, exquisite and expensive. A warm golden hue. Zack seemed so hot yet down-to-earth, approachable. As wealthy and affluent as he was, she would never think he was so approachable seeing that he lived like a crown prince.
Blue was enthralled by the whole place. Intimidated. Yet she tried to act more composed. She’d seen many places while working as a reporter. But none like this up close. It was more like a palace. Blue was sure she would get lost trying to find her way around. It was a good thing the estate was equipped with several kitchens and living areas in each quarter so it would be easy to stick to one area of the mansion.
“You really didn’t have to do this, Zack,” Blue turned to her boss, while Courtney delighted in walking in and out of the huge walk-in closets "wowing" and saying “awesome!” and “cool” as she made her way around. Their suitcases were left in the room for them to sort themselves out later.
So this was how the other half lived.
“It’s the least I can do until we get things sorted out,” Zack said in a low tone, rubbing the stubble on his face. He appeared distracted as if he had the world on his shoulders. The least thing she wanted to do was to add to his troubles. Great. Blue was already becoming a burden to him and she’d only been on the job for a few weeks.
Well, on the plus side, perhaps she could dig into her research while she was there about the winery and estate and gather more background information. After all, she was now officially at work.
“Thank you, Zack. You have no idea what this means to me,” Blue said, stepping outside the room and leaving Courtney to get unpacked. “But how long…how long can we stay here?” she said, her brow raised. It wasn’t really a question. It was more like a statement. How long did he think he could really keep Blue and her sister living in this sheltered palace?
