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Dios, he was losing it. He growled under his breath.
Casting a searching glance on his desk, he caught up his car keys. ‘Let’s go.’
She grimaced at the keys. ‘We’re driving? I thought we were going for a walk?’
‘You thought wrong.’
Her eyes sparked green fire. ‘I’d much rather walk—’
‘Your mob has increased threefold in the last hour. There’s no way I’m subjecting you to that. So it’s the car or the penthouse. Your choice.’
He knew his tone didn’t indicate it was much of one, but he didn’t care.
‘Can we walk? Once we’re away from here, I mean?’ she asked.
He clenched his fist around the metal keys, knowing that if he gritted his teeth any harder his jaw would snap, and headed for the door. ‘I’ll think about it.’
Her mouth pursed, but she didn’t protest further. They rode the lift in silence. As they passed the front desk, she greeted the concierge by name and smiled at the hapless fool, who melted into a puddle of adoration. Javier turned away from the nauseating scene, his mood darkening further when he glanced out into the morning sunshine.
She sighed as he handed his keys to the valet to have his car brought up. ‘I’d rather brave it outside on my own if you’re going to be this grouchy.’
He despised the bolt of alarm that went through him. ‘You’d rather contend with that than be with me?’ He jerked his thumb at the mob.
She tilted her head to see past him. He watched her eyes widen. The placards had grown bolder since yesterday. One in particular, from her avid fan, made Javier’s skin crawl.
‘“Essere il mio, anima e corpo,”’ she muttered the words in her mother tongue. ‘Wow, it seems like everyone wants something from me. It doesn’t matter that I don’t wish to give it. Or that I want something else for myself.?
??
‘It that a dig at me?’
A small, sad smile curved her lips and he couldn’t look away from her expression. ‘It’s an inescapable truth,’ she murmured.
‘Don’t worry, querida, I’ve no intention of letting you be owned by anyone else, either in body or in soul,’ he paraphrased the words on the placard.
He expected a quick comeback or at least a demand for him to keep his possessive threats to himself. But a glance showed the shadows were back again. The eyes that met his were subdued, her mouth pinched.
‘Por el amor de Dios,’ he grated. ‘If you need fresh air that badly, come on.’
Sliding his hand around her waist, he guided her through the double doors leading to the underground garage. The valet accepted the tip eagerly, but his gaze stayed on Carla, another victim of her charms.
He hurried her into the sports car, marginally appeased when she came to life, pulling her seat belt across her body to secure it. He shut her door and was rounding the hood when his phone pinged.
Activating the app, Javier read the message once, then again. The piercing disappointment that lanced him was unwelcome evidence that he’d allowed himself to hope his father would talk to him this time. Controlling the need to smash his fist through the nearest wall, he yanked open his door and slid behind the wheel, acknowledging that perhaps the drive had come at an opportune time. He revved the engine mercilessly and earned a furtive glance from his passenger.
‘Can I ask if something’s wrong without getting my head bitten off?’
‘Besides the unexpected and unwanted gift of having my afternoon freer than I wished it to be, no, I don’t wish to discuss what’s wrong.’ He aimed the car at the exit. For his own peace of mind, he didn’t glance at the screaming fans who surged for the car as soon as they spotted their idol. Luckily the mid-morning traffic was clear and he breathed a sigh of relief when the lights turned green. As he put miles between them and his apartment, she relaxed.
‘Was the video conference important?’ she asked after a few minutes.
His laugh was abrasive. ‘Since it’s one I’ve been waiting five long years to have, you could say that.’ He changed lanes, the abrupt move jerking her body against his. Her shoulder bumped his and her scent filled his nostrils. Hunger he didn’t want or completely understand tore through him. His grip tightened on the wheel.
‘Can’t you reschedule it?’
As a touchy subject, it was singularly effective in dousing a little bit of his hunger. ‘When it comes to my father, I find myself in the unique position of being on the back foot.’
He cursed himself the moment the words spilled out.
