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She glanced away, but to my surprise, she answered, “Too nervous to eat.”
I figured she had spent most of the time plotting to break into my office.
“Come on,” I told her, pushing away from the wall. “There’s a mean burger joint just around the corner. We should go get something from there.”
Her face was ruffled by her confusion, and even Ferro seemed baffled by this turn of events. I had to gesture with my head again toward the road to have the men help her up. She brushed them off the minute she was up on her feet, eyeing them suspiciously.
“It’s fine,” I said. “They won’t hurt you. They’ll just follow behind you so you don’t do anything stupid. And you’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”
She held my gaze for a few seconds and then shook her head slowly. I nearly smiled. I didn’t believe her for a second. I knew that the second she found an opening or hope for escape, she would take it.
Still, whatever trouble she could drum up, my men were more than capable of handling it, so I turned and headed out, expecting her to follow right behind me.
I wondered if she would start yelling when we walked out into the street or if she would call for help. If that happened, I would just pick her up, get her in the car, and give an excuse detailing how my wife was being difficult today. It might raise some alarms and cause someone to call the police, but I would deal with it if it got to that point.
Besides, I didn’t think she would do anything.
She was smart enough to know that everyone would instantly write her off as crazy.
Also, she might already suspect there was some truth in what I was saying. Because if the Moranos were truly in cahoots with the police, then she was screwed.
The minute she stopped being useful to the cops, they would feed her to the sharks.
When we got to the car, I moved to open the car door for her. She glared at me as she entered, and she looked so adorable doing it that I couldn’t help but tweak her nose. Frowning, she smacked my hand away, and I chuckled.
Ferro met my gaze and gave me a look like I was crazy. I suppose he had never seen me this cheerful when taking a hostage before.
I got into the car beside her and noticed that she stuck herself to the opposite door as if to keep every part of her body from touching mine and as far away as possible. She also had her hands crossed over her chest indignantly and was staring stoically out the window.
“Cold?” I asked when I saw goosebumps appear on her skin.
She didn’t respond to me until I nudged her in the rib.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped.
“Then answer my questions,” I responded smoothly. “Are you cold?”
She didn’t look at me, but she shrugged.
I sighed and then gestured to Ferro through the rearview mirror to turn up the heat.
He did, and I took out my phone, scrolling through it to see if Ansel had sent me all the information I needed.
He did, and I checked each of them, assuring myself of the validity. I mean, I didn’t need to since it was Ansel, but it was a habitual thing. I didn’t trust easily.
The ride was mostly silent as we drove to the place.
It was a humble mom-and-pop joint, and when we walked in, the server flashed me a wide smile.
“Hi there,” she greeted, fluttering her eyelashes. “Nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you too, beautiful,” I responded, and the girl blushed as she showed us to our seats. I pulled out a chair for Emily, and she glared at me as she reluctantly took a seat.
Then, I gestured for Ferro and Doper to sit at the other table, giving us some privacy. When I turned back to Emily, she was frowning at the server after she brought us some water and took our orders.
“Something wrong?” I inquired.
She glanced back at me and shook her head, but I could see the redness on her cheeks.
