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Adventurous wasn’t exactly the word that he would have used to describe Caroline Knight.
* * *
Ryland hadsome apprehensions about letting Caroline leave his penthouse suite. She would be out in the open, and anyone would be able to get to her.
But, of course, when he pointed that out, she rolled her shoulders back and gave him a defiant look. “Good.”
“Excuse me?” he snapped.
“Good,” she said again. “If the man in black followed me across an ocean and still threatens me, then you’ll be around. You can see him for yourself and maybe even capture him.”
“Are you asking me to use you asbait?” he roared, enraged by the mere suggestion of it.
“Yes,” she replied coolly. “Why not? It’s not like this man actually tried to kill me.”
“We don’t know that. Besides, putting a dead rat in your bed is a good enough sign. You cannot come with me.”
“Sure I can. I know more about the vases. If I’m not there, you won’t know what to ask. You’ll have to go back and forth.” She shook her head. “No. That is just a bad interviewing process. We’ll go. For all anyone knows, you’re my hired muscle.”
“Meaning?”
“We use the show as a front.”
He considered this for a few seconds. “The show,” he repeated.
“People are way freer with their words and stories when they think it’s aboutthemand not about someone else.”
“Hmm.”
“I know why I’m doing this. This is myjob, and you know I’m good at it.” She grinned like a cat that had the cream. “And you listen to me.Religiously.”
If Ryland could’ve wrung his mother’s neck at that moment, he would have.
FIFTEEN
CAROLINE
All the way down to the parking garage, Ryland quietly seethed beside her.
Maybe, she thought, I’ve pushed him a bit too much. Caroline didn’t understandwhyteasing and taunting Ryland like they were kids on a playground was so much fun. Well. That wasn’t true.
Caroline knew why. But … under no circumstances … would she admit the reason. How could she feelthisattracted to Ryland, a man who ran hot and cold around her?
You know why. The little voice deep inside herself was getting louder. Harder to ignore. She hadkissedhim, for fuck’s sake! She just had to …
“What …” she breathed.
Ryland had opened the car door … for her. Caroline couldn’t remember the last time a man had done that for her. In the era of dating apps, some of the finer details of romance were lost.
But this … this wasn’t a man opening the door to be polite or thoughtful. Nope. Ryland was doing this to taunther.
Caroline chose not to point out the gesture. She slid into the seat with a genuine “Thank you.”
She got his grin as he closed the door. He quickly rounded the car and took his seat behind the wheel. As he turned the key in the ignition, he frowned. He pulled into traffic, his brow deeply furrowed. “Something’s bothering me.”
Her heart thumped in her chest as he went on. “From what I’ve heard of the Bonetti family, they should be really rich ….”
“Should be?” She quickly typed the Bonetti family into her phone’s search engine.
