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Something dark flashed in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. I got the sense he wasn’t used to answering questions. “Max Caruso.” His gaze strayed to Summer before returning to me. “There’s a personal matter I need to discuss with you.”
“Now isn’t a good time. We have a flight to catch.” I could feel my body tensing, ready to spring into action.
Max took a step closer, and Summer tugged at my arm to get away. I held her still while refusing to retreat into the office. I’d known guys like him all my life—the ones who ruled with an iron fist controlled everyone they could through intimidation and power. There was an underlying difference about him, but it was clear that he thought he had the upper hand.
“You’ll make time for me.” Max leaned against the doorframe. “How are your bank accounts?”
I jerked my head to the side, shifted my stance, then slammed the door shut after he entered. Summer tugged again at my arm, and after ushering her to a chair, I let her go. Her reaction to Max was enough to tell me that she knew who he was.
“Who the hell are you?” Max and I faced one another while Summer’s gaze darted between the two of us and the door. I knew she would try to make a run for it at some point. “Where’s my money?”
“After you accompany me to Chicago, I’ll explain everything. Your money will be returned then.” Max shifted, and a holstered gun peeked out. “Pack a bag and meet me at the airport. I have a jet waiting to take us there.”
I crowded him, my intent to harm clear. “You’ll return it now.”
A half grin curved Max’s mouth. “It’s a family matter, and you need to come with me. You have to hear us out.”
If it was a family matter, it must have had something to do with my deadbeat dad—the same one who cut me loose to the state at the age of five. I bet he owed money, and this asshole thought I would give a damn.
Summer stood, eased back, then edged around us. “Excuse me.” Her voice was quiet, but she never took her eyes off Max.
I blocked her path with my arm, taking in the way she looked at him as if he was the bigger threat. “You’ll be coming with.”
“No.” She met my gaze with conviction. “This doesn’t involve me.”
I wasn’t having that conversation in front of Max. “We’ll go to your place and get your things.” I shifted toward Max, leveling him with a cold stare. “We’ll be at the airport, and once we’re there, I want answers.”
“One hour,” Max said then left.
I noted the time on my watch then texted Becca to pack my clothes from my hotel suite and meet me at the airport within the hour. Summer backed away, but I clasped her hand before she got far enough. “Let’s go.”
“I told you. I don’t know anything about your money.”
What else about this fucked-up day would act as another trigger?I bent so that our faces were an inch apart. “Let me make this clear. I know you’re involved somehow, and I won’t let you go until I find out how.” Even if she hadn’t taken my money, Edward had said she was his spy. I needed to find out what she’d done.
Anger flared across her pretty features. Her cheeks flushed, and her pouty lips pressed into a frustrated line. She bared her teeth and growled, “That’s kidnapping.”
“If you prefer, I can call the police and let them deal with you. Or you come with me.”
Challenge lit her warm-brown eyes. “Go ahead and force me to come with to the airport. All I have to do is scream. Homeland security will be all over your ass. Is that what you want?”
That raging spark of attraction I couldn’t kill burned hotter as the part of her I recognized as years on the street broke through her carefully put-together façade. My conviction that she was a part of the theft wavered. But I had to be sure.
“You won’t do it. You’re hiding something. Drawing attention to yourself is the last thing you want.” When a wall slammed over her expression, shutting me out of what made her a survivor, I knew I’d hit the mark. “Let’s go. Time’s ticking.”
I tightened my hand around hers, not mistaking her need to stay under the radar as compliance. If she had a chance, she would run from me, and I had to learn what part she played with the men who plotted against me… and who Max Caruso was.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMER
After Luc dragged me through the ground floor and out the exit, he ushered me into a car his director, Becca, had called to take us to where I’d rented a room. Once the rear passenger door was open, he boxed me in, so I had no choice but to get in. As soon as I was seated, I yanked my hand away from his, furious at being forced to go anywhere with him. He slid in next to me, shut the door, and locked us into the dark interior with the driver in the front seat. He checked his phone then rattled off the address of where I was staying. I wasn’t surprised. He must have gotten it from human resources.
Then he ignored me as he searched for information about Max on Google, and I racked my brain about how I was going to get out of this new situation. It was problematic, but what terrified me most was the online article I’d stumbled across while looking through the morning news on my phone right before Luc had come out of his office. The article was about Edward Cartier, complete with a picture from this morning with me in the background. That picture would broadcast to Ben Amato where I was—not in Georgia but in California.How long until he tracks me down?I didn’t want to leave, but maybe going with Luc would be a good idea, at least until I could run from him either at the airport or once we landed in Chicago, where Ben wouldn’t know my location.
Still, it went against my nature to go along with the overbearing jerk beside me, and I went over escape scenarios. I couldn’t jump out of the car and into oncoming traffic to get away.
Stuck for the time being, I needed some way to release the tension that percolated to the point of exploding inside me. Satisfaction swelled in my chest as I took in the red mark on his cheek from where I’d slapped him. I wanted to do it again. Instead, I dug my heels into the floor of the car and resisted the urge to kick him. All my life, I’d tried to differentiate myself from the way I was raised. Taking from others wasn’t my MO. Lauralee did, but that was her decision.
