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He acted crazily around me from the beginning, and I was such an idiot to give the reins to my horny body without questioning him more. I just felt this weird pull toward him, and I thought he sensed it too. I sigh, defeated. The hurt and anger have slightly decreased since he told me I was his. But the betrayal weighs on my chest.
I’m so fucking confused. And I hate the uneasiness between us.
The bike speeds through quiet winding streets for a while and then goes down a very long dirt road with beautiful white flowers flanking it on both sides. He stops in front of a high metal gate set into a thick, impenetrable-looking wall that surrounds the property. The black, round eyes of the bear statue sitting on top of it look ominous under the afternoon’s last dusky rays.
“Take off your helmet,” Raph says through the intercom. He tucks his under his arm, a cool breeze ruffling his black hair as the silence surrounds us.
Just now, I notice the black panel on the wall. Raph leans toward it and lets a green light scan his face.
“Welcome home, Raph.”
I know that sultry voice.
“Serena,” Raph says in greeting.
“Please give me the name of the person next to you,” she adds. Oh, she means me. Wow, this place is like the headquarters of a spy agency with all the super advanced technological security systems. My apartment has a single bolt. I probably should add an alarm after what happened at the morgue.
“Say your name, babe.” Hearing the endearment relaxes me and irritates me.
“Michael Caldwell,” I slowly utter, feeling like an idiot.
“Serena, add him to the list of people with total clearance.”
“Sure. I need a face scan.”
“Lean close to the screen. Like that. She’s memorizing your features, so that you can come here even without me,” he explains. The fact that Raph wants me to be part of his life erasessomeof my doubts.
“Done. Welcome, Michael.”
“Thanks, Serena. I guess I’ll see you in a few minutes,” I tell her.
“I’m sorry. That won’t be possible since I’m an AI assistant, but you can ask Rami to show you the interactive processing algorithms I use to learn from data.”
“What? Really?” She has such a human voice, without any of those robotic inflections. “I guess Rami is more an Iron Man than a gym rat,” I mumble.
“Hmm. I like the nickname,” she says. “Gym rat.”
“Feel free to use it with Rami, Serena.” And I hope she’ll do it in front of me.
“Thank you, I will.”
I can see the half-smile on Raph’s face.
“She’s very cordial,” I utter without an ounce of regret.
“You’ll fit in just fine with the others.”
Does he mean his family? Meg’s family. I still can’t believe it. What are the odds?
Chapter 10
MICHAEL
Raph’s bike takes us down the driveway. And damn, the imposing three story white house with huge, rounded grey columns is a showstopper. It also has a large porch, with a round balcony on the second floor, and an elaborate door and windows with dark shutters. When we enter the garage, I’m almost sorry I can’t keep studying the odd piece of architecture. There’s a few cars inside the large, every-red-blooded-man’s dream garage. I can’t distinguish one from another, but they all look expensive.
Raph parks his bike next to a huge Jeep and kills the switch. The engine dies and I immediately miss the soft purr between my thighs. I slide down, stumbling just a little this time. Raph flips the kickstand down and settles back against the seat. He takes my helmet from my hands, hooking it on the handlebar before turning his body to face me.
“I can see you’re upset.”
