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Morana had just seen a man be murdered, just shot a man herself, but it was now that she felt violated, now that her eyes moistened.
But she couldn't shiver, couldn't cry, couldn't show an inch of vulnerability.
He stood behind her.
Morana steeled her spine and cleared her face.
"Surely you have another car I can borrow?" she asked in a completely natural tone.
"Yes, but the storm outside is not feasible for driving."
That made Morana turn, her eyes locking with his blue ones, a streak of dirt across his one cheek where he'd tussled on the floor.
"You're worried about my safety?" she asked, disbelief thick in her voice.
He raised his eyebrows. "I'm worried about my car."
Of course. She could relate to worrying about the car. She nodded. "I'll just call a cab then."
His brows furrowed slightly. "Cabs don't come to this area."
Of course, they didn't. Morana looked at the water pouring at the entrance to the parking lot with a vengeance, her gut in knots and she bit her lip, trying to figure a way out. She couldn't call her father, or everything would be a disaster. Driving any of the cars was out of option because the visibility would be zero and the distance was long. Cabs were out. What option did she even have left?
Her heart hammered as realization dawned. She didn't.
Her gaze flew up to collide with his. His blue, blue eyes arrested hers, the intensity in them searing through her, humming in her blood as her pulse pounded in her ears.
He tilted his head to a side, almost considering her before he spoke, and her heart jumped out of her chest.
"Looks like you're staying, Ms. Vitalio."
Moments.
Surprising, surreal moments.
Had someone told her a few weeks ago that she would be spending a night alone in the penthouse of the Outfit's blood son, she would have smacked them over the head. But then, had someone told her that she would ever infiltrate the Maroni household, she wouldn't have believed it either. Or the confounding fact that he would save her life while claiming her death for himself.
Surreal.
Morana walked towards the elevator in a daze, unable to believe, to actually believe, that she was going to spend a night away from home in the apartment of Tristan Caine. These things did not happen to her. And yet, there she was, walking with sure steps that betrayed nothing of her inner turmoil, her mind alert of the man striding beside her. Although how a man that big could move so gracefully was beyond her. But she'd seen him scale the walls of her house with that grace. She'd seen him tilt his bike and fight men bigger than him with that grace. And that she could appreciate it irked her.
Her eyes wandered to her car, her destroyed car in the periphery, and her heart clenched again, rage coursing through her body on the heels of pain, the need for vengeance against whoever had dared violate her burning through her. Whoever it was would get it. Big time.
She saw his hand from the corner of her eyes, pressing a code on a keypad beside the second elevator, telling her it was private.
His eyes glanced at her briefly, and Morana glanced back, with absolutely no idea of any of his thoughts. How reluctant was he to her into his space? She'd have been very reluctant. But then he'd invaded her bedroom the other night, so fair was fair.
The elevator pinged, the steel doors sliding back, revealing a spacious area that could probably accommodate ten people. Tristan Caine, the absolute gentleman that he was, entered first with smooth steps and turned around to look at her, no chivalry anywhere whatsoever.
Curious but alert, taking a deep breath, Morana stepped after him and entered. Once she was in, he pushed the only button on the dial, entering another set of codes, and the doors slid closed.
The doors slid closed, and the sight made her fist her hands for control.
They were mirrored.
Their eyes locked in the reflection, her heart pounding for some crazy reason, as the elevator began to move up.
He stood in the corner, leaning against the elevator wall, his ankles crossed and arms folded over his chest, his eyes watchful on her, seeming curious, lacking their normal hateful vibes. Morana raised her eyebrows and didn't move a muscle, her ears throbbing with the rush of blood, her entire body buzzing.
