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‘I’m not pretending it didn’t happen; I’m admitting it shouldn’t have.’
‘I—’
‘Get down!’
It was the tone as much as the terse instruction that made her stomach clench. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Just do it. There’s a blanket there, cover yourself with it and duck down.’ The odd instruction was delivered in a light, calm tone, but when she leaned forward and saw what he had already seen, she didn’t feel very calm at all.
Ahead of them the road was filled with crowds of people. Some had banners and some carried dustbin lids, which they were banging.
He wound down the window and the suggestion of noise became a loud, discordant din.
‘They sound mad.’ Fear fluttered in her belly.
‘They are a mob.’ And it was the nature of the beast, anger and unpredictability, the pack-animal mentality, that could make the whole group do things that as individuals they would never dream of doing.
‘I don’t like this,’ she said, once again gnawing at her plump lower lip, a nervous habit she’d never managed to break.
‘I would be more concerned if you did. Duck down and pull the cover over your head.’
If he had faced this situation alone he would not have broken a sweat, not because he was brave or fearless, but because he had been in far worse situations, and as far as he could see the only thing he stood to lose was a car.
But he wasn’t alone, and knowing that Chloe’s safety was his responsibility changed everything. He had talked his way out of much worse situations, but with Chloe here he wasn’t prepared to take even a calculated risk.
‘No, I’m not hiding and leaving you exposed,’ she stated, but her fists were clenched tightly.
‘Why does beautiful so often go with stupid?’ He sighed.
Her wrathful gaze met his in the mirror and he smiled. If she was angry, at least she wasn’t afraid. ‘Relax, agape mou, I will not let anything hurt you.’
She believed him, although it seemed that she ought to be more concerned about her mental well-being than her physical! She caught his arm and he paused, his eyes going from her fingers curled into the fabric, to her face. ‘You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?’
‘Could you be more specific?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know...like fight them.’
He let out a loud throaty laugh. ‘Me against fifty, sixty people? I don’t much like those odds, but I’m sorry if I disappoint you in the hero stakes.’
‘I promise you I never thought you were a hero.’
One corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin and there was something about him...a combustible quality that made her think it would have been a brave person who bet against him, even if the odds were stacked against him.
‘But I do think you’re capable of doing something stupid.’
‘Like they say, a good general chooses his field of battle. I am not good or a general but the concept holds true.’
‘Are you going to drive on through them?’ she asked nervously.
Nik had been going to reverse, but a glance in the rear-view mirror made it clear this was a now-or-never choice. The street on one side—he adjusted the mirror and silently corrected himself—on both sides of the road were full of people streaming towards the main artery road. It was hard to be accurate but he suspected that their options would close in seconds, not minutes.
‘Hold on, this might be a little bumpy.’
She connected with his eyes and made a shocking discovery. ‘You are enjoying this, aren’t—?’ She let out a shriek and closed her eyes as the car went into sudden reverse, travelling at what felt like the speed of light. It continued backwards even when it hit obstacles, objects in the road flung down by rioters.
The banner-waving maniacs followed initially, but they quickly fell away and by the time the car reached the gaggle of police cars the protestors were nowhere in sight.
‘Wait here.’
