Page 27 of Wretched Heart
For a second, I think we’re going to have some kind of private moment. I yearn for a kiss, or just an embrace, but he simply gestures to the middle seat next to where Mace is now sitting.
“But I don’t mind sitting at the back,” I say. It sounds better than pointing out that I don’t feel comfortable sitting so close to Mace despite his earlier support. The guy is odd.
Hunter nods to the middle space again. “I need you to sit by me,” he says, but not in a romantic ‘I need you near me’ kind of way. I have a sense of foreboding. Maybe my transition from kidnapped bride to overnight fiancée isn’t going to be as smooth as I’d hoped.
I use my newly retrieved purse as a barrier between my thigh and Mace as I slide across. He looks down at it then up at me with distaste. I think he might actually be more interested in the purse than a person made of flesh and blood.
Hunter slides in next to me and slams the door. “We’re ready to go,” he tells Jake.
Jake looks over his shoulder, curiosity pinching his brow. “Did everything go OK?”
Reid snorts a laugh. “Like a dream.”
“Reid, what did I say two minutes ago?” hisses Hunter.
“But I didn’t say anything!”
Jake checks my expression to see if I’ll give anything away, but I glance down at my lap. Through my eyelashes, I watch his gaze switch to Hunter. He cocks his head. “Is there something I should know?”
“It’s better you don’t,” Hunter replies. “Unless you want to dodge questions from Ash too?”
Jake shrugs. “All I need to know is if there’s anything to clean up.”
“Hugo’s still breathing, unfortunately,” retorts Mace.
I twist to look at him, but from his expression, this wasn’t some joke in bad taste. The clean-up Jake was referring to was a body. And he said it like it wasn’t unusual.
I’ve seen their guns, and I’m not so naïve that I didn’t expect there to be some morally grey aspects to their business affairs, but Hunter had said he wasn’t one of the bad guys. Surely only bad guys went around killing people who refused to do business with them.
My unease grows as I remain wedged between two of the Griffin brothers, one of whom I’m about to marry.
Turning to Hunter, I ask, “Was killing my brother a possibility?”
Hunter’s eyes darken as he stares back at me. “For what he did to you? It’s still a possibility.” When he sees the blood draining from my face, he turns to Jake. “Can you just fucking drive?”
“Where are we going?” I ask, not liking that my voice has developed a squeak.
“Home,” Hunter says, then takes another breath. Deciding to offer me a little more information, he adds, “We’re going to need to be hands on for a while, so we’ve acquired a local base for the foreseeable future. We’ll talk more when we get there.”
It’s clear he wants us all to stop talking, but we’ve barelymade it out of the driveway when Mace decides to pick up my purse.
“What the hell…?” I begin, unsure how to end that sentence. Mace is the man whose skill set seems to involved overstepping all kinds of boundaries.
He pulls out the cell phone and hands it to me before continuing to explore the contents of my Hermes purse. When I hear ripping, I go to snatch it off him, but he twists away so I can’t reach.
“Give it back to me now!”
“When I’m done,” he tells me as if I’m an annoying little fly buzzing in his ear.
“He’s checking for a tracker,” Hunter explains. He leans forward in his seat. “And he could have just explained that before going through your things.”
“But it’s a Hermes!” I say as if there’s no way anyone would dare interfere with a high-end designer purse.
Mace hands me back my torn purse. “It’s clean,” he says. “Now unlock your phone.”
“So you can look at it? I don’t think so!”
When I’d picked up my cell, I’d only glanced at the long list of notifications before putting it on mute. The messages were from people who knew I didn’t have my phone, but might be able to access my emails and DMs on social media. I wouldn’t have read them at the time, and I don’t want to read them now. Nor do I want anyone else having insight into how those with power treat me. I’m not that person anymore.
