Page 18 of Hunted

She didn’t trust him. And she didn’t want him getting a close look at that key until she was ready to run.

But now wasn’t the time. He was faster than her, stronger. Just bolting in the middle of nowhere wasn’t an option. He’d chase her down in short order. She had to be smarter than him. Give herself time to put distance between them. So she was going to slip away while he was sleeping. He had to sleep, didn’t he?

She’d been thinking, and realized that she’d spent her whole life taking care of her father, forgiving him for not caring for her in return, excusing him because of his greatness, and waiting the entire time for his approval. And he’d died without giving it. Not once. She wasn’t a gullible child anymore. She knew there were great men who loved. He just wasn’t one of them.

If she could just do this one last thing, if she could save the legacy that had meant so much to so many, then she would have fulfilled her mother’s wishes. And somehow she thought she’d be able to let go, after that. She could stop existing all curled up inside herself, and get up and stretch and step outside. She could start living again.

Outsmarting Romano, though, was going to be challenging.

“Our room awaits,” he announced as he got out.

She stopped shivering, crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you mean, our room?”

He didn’t stop walking. Just paused in front of a door, inserted the key and opened it with a flourish. “I don’t trust you any more than you trust me, Lexi. Wouldn’t surprise me if you were planning to take the key and go to the bank alone. In which case you’d get killed, Mr. White would get the formula, and the maniacal world leader with the most cash on hand would use it to wipe out countless people. What happens once a virus is set loose on the world, Dr. Stoltz?”

She blinked slowly, getting out of the car and going to the door as he unlocked it. “Under the right conditions, it would multiply. Reproduce. Continue to mutate.”

“Exactly. And I’d lose my chance to get …” He came to an awkward stop, shifted his eyes to hers and said, “Paid. And it’s gonna be a big check. Biggest one ever.”

So he was only in this for the money. She didn’t know why she was disappointed, but she was. Bitterly.

Well, he’d guessed right. She was leaving. And she’d be heading in the opposite direction of the city, where both sets of her pursuers would expect her to be going.

It would have been easier with separate rooms. Maybe she could talk him into it.

“I’m not sleeping with you.” She blurted the sentence before fully composing it in her mind. “I mean, I’m not?—”

“Two beds, Lexi. I promise to stay in mine if you promise to stay in yours. Okay?”

“No, it’s not okay.”

“Well, if you’re afraid you won’t be able to stay in yours, that’s okay, too. I mean, I’m as red-blooded as the next guy?—”

He broke off when her hand came flying up. She froze just before her palm connected with his face, and she stared at her hand, blinking in shock. My God, she’d almost slapped him. That wasn’t like her. It wasn’t anything like her. What was happening to her?

And what in the world was the matter with him? He hadn’t flinched, hadn’t drawn back, hadn’t tried to stop her.

“Chicken,” he said.

“What?”

“Nothing. I rented one room. I’m not renting another one. Deal with it.”

He held the door open, waved her inside, and she went in. She was too tired to argue with him. He came in behind her, closed the door and locked it. Then he tossed the key onto the nearest bed, followed by his jacket. Then he laid down beside his stuff, face up. “I could use a nap.”

“Yeah, except I’m starving and dehydrated. Even prisoners get bread and water.”

“Nag, nag, nag.”

She almost smiled, just caught it in time.

“Well? Come on, I said nag. Go ahead. Let me have it.”

She closed her eyes, shook her head. She didn’t understand this guy at all. “Fine. You drag me out of my home, without even a chance to pack?—”

“There were killers coming up the stairs at the time.”

“I had to leave my poor cat. And who knows what those maniacs have done to Jax by now?”

---