Page 50 of Dust to Dust

Isla was going to be the death of me.

A little after one, I rubbed my blurring eyes and decided to finally call it a day. Normally I didn’t come to the club every night. Dare and I usually alternated, but he was busy trying to get his casino going.

Of course, the club held a new allure for me.

When I came out of the elevator, that allure stood at the end of the hallway. To one ear, Isla cradled her phone, and the other she had her finger in to curb the noise from the club.

“Isla?”

She whirled around at the sound of her name. “Oh, hi.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m just on hold with roadside assistance.”

“What’s wrong with your car?”

“Dead battery. They were supposed to be here an hour ago, but no one has shown up and no one is answering.”

“Hang up.”

Her blue eyes popped wide. “Excuse me?”

“I’ll take you home.”

She shook her head. “It isn’t necessary.”

“Yes, it is.” I jerked my chin at her. “Hang up.”

“It’s too much of an imposition. I can just get an Uber,” she protested.

With a grunt of frustration, I closed the gap between us. Then I eased her phone out of her grip. “I will drive you home, Isla. While we’re en route, I will have our personal mechanic fix your battery. Then I will have it delivered to your house.”

“But Southborough is thirty minutes away.”

“It doesn’t matter if it was five hours away. I’m taking you home.”

“You’re awfully stubborn,” she remarked.

I laughed. “I could say the same for you.”

She grinned. “Whatever.”

After I took her bag from her, I said, “Come on.”

Without another word of protest, Isla fell in step with me. As we walked by the bar to the back exit, Conleth’s eyes bore into me. “Goodnight, boss,” he called.

“Night,” I grumbled.

As we started down the employee hallway, Isla tilted her head up at me. “Do you have to be so grumpy to everyone?”

“I’m not.”

“Uh, yeah, you are.” She jerked her thumb behind her. “Like back there. You sounded like it pained you to have to even acknowledge Conleth.”

I shrugged as we exited the back door. “I’m just acting like myself.” Pinning her with a stare, I added, “You know, a beast.”

Her eyes widened. “Did Caterina tell you I said that?”

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