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“You don’t have anything less flashy?”
“What exactly do you mean by less flashy?”
Hearing the genuine confusion in his tone made me want to laugh. “I mean, don’t you have a Honda or something?”
“A—no. Get in the fucking car, Rhiannon.”
I did laugh this time. He’d gone from confused to offended in point five seconds. “Don’t look so disgusted. I drive a Civic, remember?”
“Drove, and I’m sorry about that. It will never happen again.”
“Wow, you’ve always had an inflated ego, but I never realized how pompous you are.”
“You mispronounced confident, Dolcezza.”
Having no idea what that meant, I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly made my way over to his fancy Bugatti.
“I don’t think confidence has anything to do with the kind of car you drive.”
“No, but money and power do.”
“Oh, does it?” I questioned with rhetoric sarcasm, easing my way into the bucket seat.
“I haven’t spent years cleaning blood off of my shoes so that I can turn around and drive a fucking Accord.”
I hated how logical that sounded. If I spent half my life taking people out and helping build an empire, I would want to drive something nice too.
He shut my door and then went around to claim the driver’s seat. Once he was seated, he reached over and opened the glove compartment. I pressed myself into the seat to try and keep a semblance of space between us, catching a stronger whiff of his alluring cologne. He pulled out two solid black cases lined with gold trim, dropping one onto my lap.
Sitting fully back on his side of the car, he removed a pair of masculine shades and slid them on. As soon as he returned the now-empty case to the glove compartment, he wasted no time shifting his super-car into drive. The engine was so quiet I hadn’t realized it was already running. As we slowly coasted down the long drive, both SUVs followed behind us.
“This doesn’t ever get old, being followed?”
“You’ll get used to it.”
Well, that implied I would be sticking around for a while. It was better to change the subject entirely.
“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going now?”
“Somewhere I’ve been wanting to bring you for a very long time.”
That wasn’t a comforting response. No one seemed inclined to give me the actual destination.
When silence returned and began to grate on my nerves, I reached out and began messing with the radio.
“Do we need to go over passenger rules?”
“All you need to do is focus on the road, Judas.”
As he turned right outside his fancy gates, I swore I saw someone with a gun entering the guard shack in my peripheral. I’d failed to notice the small brick box the night before. It sat back a little way from the gate itself, the window tinted with a thick pane of glass.
I wasn’t remotely surprised by this either. I’d be questioning Judas’ IQ if he didn’t have additional safety measures aside from the security system on the house.
He got comfortable and looked over at me, steering without watching the road.
“Can you please pay attention?”
“Don’t worry, I’m an excellent multi-tasker.”
There was a strong innuendo in there. “Good. Maybe you’ll earn a solid five stars then.”
His lips twitched as he fought back a smile. I found an old-school station on the radio and turned the volume up before I settled back into my seat. I put on the sunglasses he’d given me and turned to look at the passing scenery. I didn’t know where I’d been flown to, and I had no idea what kind of place he was taking me now.
When he mentioned that we’d be gone until nightfall, I figured wherever we were heading was a good distance away.
I was somewhat right.
We’d been in the car together for approximately twenty-five minutes with little conversation flowing between us. Judas had his attention trained on the highway ahead, his shaded expression obscuring his thoughts.
He eventually turned the radio all the way down, but now the quiet was a welcome reprieve. I used this time to subtly study his side profile and attempt to sort my thoughts. Judas wanted me here for a reason. I knew that much was true. Were his intentions to really put a ring on it and go about his life after tying it to mine?
That part was hard for me to believe. I wasn’t going to downplay or overhype myself. I knew everything I brought to the table and exactly what I was lacking. This vicious, beautiful man had to have plenty of other options. Was our past truly as ingrained in him as it was in me?
“What is going to happen with my apartment? Diego and my job?”
He glanced over at me, and despite not being able to see one another’s eyes, the spark between us threatened to fully ignite.
“It’s being handled.”
“Oh, my god. You still aren’t capable of answering a simple question.”
