Page 53 of Just One More Affair
Oh my God. Her hand rose to her throat, feeling the pulse beating at the base. “Let me come get you.” Somehow she’d talk him into turning himself in, but at least he’d be safe behind the alarm in this apartment.
“No!”
“Please, Danny. I won’t even get out of the car.” The car she didn’t have. But she could take a rideshare and call Jared on the way and ask him to meet her. She’d just have the driver wait until Jared arrived. “Just tell me where you are. I can help you.”
He hesitated and all she heard was the sound of his heavy breathing. Finally, he said, “Fine.” And rattled off an address she memorized.
“Just sit tight. I’m coming.”
Her insides shaking, hands trembling, she put the address into her phone. She didn’t know the area but was aware enough to realize it wasn’t in a safe part of the city, almost near the Bronx.
Tears in her eyes, she dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of leggings and an old sweatshirt she’d brought with her to Jared’s.
Jared.
He was going to kill her, she thought, but would just have to worry about that later. She’d text him as soon as she was in the rideshare and ask him to meet her.
After tying her sneakers, she grabbed her phone, set up a rideshare, unset the alarm, and took the elevator down to the lobby. Shaking but determined, she stepped out before the doors fully opened.
She hadn’t made it to the entryway when she heard her name. She turned to see Jared striding toward her, his suit rumpled after a full day, briefcase in hand, and his brow furrowed as his gaze locked on her.
“Where are you going? And where’s Mia?” he asked, glancing at his watch.
She bit down on her lower lip. “Umm. Her shift ended and I told her it was okay to leave because you’d be back soon and… I swore I wouldn’t leave the alarmed apartment. But—”
His eyes widened. “Then what the hell are you doing downstairs and where are you off to alone?”
She’d never been on the receiving end of his angry tone and she didn’t like or appreciate it. She did, however, understand it.
“I had every intention of messaging you from the Uber and asking you to meet me. My brother’s in trouble,” she said, and reiterated what Dan had told her on the phone. “And I can’t just leave him sitting, waiting to be found. I need to help him! But I wasn’t going to get out of the car until you got there, I swear. Just show up, text him that I’m there, let him get in the vehicle, and we’d leave. And you’d have been there as backup. That’s it.”
“That’s it?”
She nodded.
He ran his hand through his already mussed hair. “That’s it, huh? Do you have any idea how much could go wrong with that plan? You’re a woman alone, counting on a rideshare driver you don’t know to take you to a shitty area of town, while you wait for your drug addict brother who’s being hunted by men willing to kill. Jesus, if I hadn’t run into you…” He pulled her against him, his arms wrapping tightly around her.
She breathed in his familiar scent and closed her eyes, appreciating that strong hug holding her tight. But in the back of her mind, the clock was still ticking on getting her brother to safety. “Will you go with me?” she asked.
He slowly released his hold, letting her step back. “Any chance you’ll let me go instead?”
She shook her head. “He won’t get in the car with you.”
Jared let out a pained sigh. “The cops?”
She shook her head again, this time harder. “No police.”
“Fine.” Grasping her hand, he strode over to the desk, handing his briefcase to the doorman. “Lock this up somewhere safe please? I’ll pick it up on my way back home.
“Cancel the Uber. I want to be the one behind the wheel,” he said, grabbing her hand and heading toward the elevator to the garage where his car was parked.
***
Charlotte was goingto be the death of him, Jared thought, driving toward the address she’d given him and he’d put into his GPS. He didn’t want to make this trip, especially notwithher in the car, but he knew she’d go whether he accompanied her or not. And the latter wasn’t an option.
The deeper he drove into this shitty part of the city, the more his apprehension grew. He wished he’d made Charlotte go back upstairs where he’d have locked her in his apartment. Not that he could have done it, but he sure as hell had wanted to.
He glanced over.
