Page 34 of Love Me Carefully
He blinked in confusion.Was that pity in her eyes?He hated that most of all. “Sorry,” he grumbled and retreated to the other side of the car. He didn’t need her feeling sorry for him, didn’t want her pity.
Hell, he didn’t know what he wanted from her. She wasn’t exactly what he was looking for in a woman. Mentally reverting back to the little list he still carried in his wallet, he thought pretty didn’t describe her. No, sitting in the driver’s seat after just witnessing a shooting and with her lips swollen from his kiss, she was stunning. And, from the way she was looking at him now, she could never love him, of that he was sure. Surprisingly, that was the most disappointing thing of all.
He almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Here he was in a car, in the middle of the night, comparing a living, breathing woman with the ideal he’d created as a child. Why hadn’t he thought of the list with Tanya? That surely would’ve saved him a lot of money and heartache.
But Leah didn’t seem at all like Tanya. She was honest, for one thing. She didn’t mince any words when she was dealing with him. And her loyalty to her job and her clients impressed him. If she were that loyal to strangers, just imagine how loyal she would be to the man lucky enough to claim her heart.
Spurned by his quickness to be away from her, Leah took offense. “Don’t let it happen again,” she told him before switching the ignition on.
“What am I going to tell my mother?” He’d deal with the confusion over his feelings for Leah later. Tonight he had to think of Rosie.
“I don’t know,” she said briskly. She was agitated and aroused. His reaction to their second kiss had royally pissed her off. The first time they’d been interrupted by the phone, and he’d opted to leave without saying anything about what they’d done. This time she could say something but didn’t really know what to say. “Look, Terrell, I don’t know what you’re going to do about your mother and Donald. All I know is that come tomorrow morning, I’m going to have my secretary draft a letter removing myself as her wedding planner. There’s no way I can continue on this job with so many unanswered questions.”
“Unanswered questions, exactly. There’s so much we still don’t know.”
“Are you crazy? Terrell, what we did tonight was dangerous. People have been killed for stuff like this. The men lying in that alley are proof of that! We need to be getting out of this car and going over to the police station. I’m surprised they haven’t come out here in droves.” She backed up and turned into oncoming traffic.
“I can’t let my mother find out that way. I have to be the one to tell her about Donald. But I shouldn’t have involved you. I’m sorry.”
“You had good intentions, Terrell, but I really think we should go to the police, tell them what we saw.” She was so busy arguing with Terrell that she didn’t see the truck pull out in front of her. And, for the second time that night, she slammed on her brakes to keep from hitting the black SUV. Donald looked up and saw her. His steely eyes glinted at her through the windshield. And when he saw Terrell in the seat beside her, his scowl darkened.
Terrell swore. “Just act like we’ve been out on a date,” he said as he watched Donald get out of his truck and come around to the passenger side of the car.
Nervously he rolled down the window. “Hey Donald, what’s going on, man?” His voice was surprisingly calm, Leah noted.
“Nothing much. What’s going on with you?” Leaning over, Donald looked into the car, recognizing her instantly. “What’s your name again?” He was talking to Leah.
“Um, I’m Leah. Leah Graham,” she told him in a voice that sounded as shaky as she felt.
“Yeah, Leah Graham.” Nodding his head to the other guy, Donald reached for the door handle. “Get out of the car, Terrell.” The wedding planner and his future son-in-law—what were they doing here?
“Nah, man, we’ve been hangin’ out all night, and both of us have to go to work tomorrow. I think we’re gonna just head home.” Clutching the door handle, he prayed for her sake that Donald would let them be. The look on Donald’s face told him differently.
Leah’s door was pulled open. “Don’t be shy, little lady, I won’t hurt you.” The other man was huge, and his thick hand reached in to grab hold of Leah’s arm and pull her out onto the street.
“Be careful, Cable, remember that she’s a woman,” Donald’s irritated voice informed his partner. His grip only intensified when she tried to pull away. Still inside the car, Terrell cursed the drastic change in circumstances and decided he didn’t have much of a choice. He slowly climbed out of the car only to meet Donald’s massive chest head-on.
“Now, why don’t we just go for a little ride?” Taking a step back Donald cleared a path for Terrell to get into the truck.
Terrell hesitated, knowing once they were in the truck they were completely under Donald’s control. Replaying the events that had just taken place in the alley, he knew that definitely wasn’t where he wanted to be. “Donald, she’s tired. Why don’t we drop her off? Then you and I can go wherever you want.”
“I was under the impression that I had answered all your questions, put a rest to your doubts. I guess I was wrong.” Donald shook his head dismally. “Just shut up and get in the truck.”
It wasn’t so much the tone of Donald’s voice as it was the sight of the black gun the other man pulled from his coat that had Terrell finally walking toward the truck.
In the backseat, Terrell reached for Leah’s hand and clasped her fingers. She sat back in the seat, wondering where they were going, almost sure they would be killed. She tried to remain calm. Terrell’s fingers were long and warm and gave a sense of safety. Even though Terrell wasn’t as built as Leon, his long arms sported pretty thick biceps and his chest, as she’d found out this evening, was broad and tight with muscle. Physique aside, she was shocked that his presence alone comforted her, the little that was possible right now.
They drove through the city in a westerly direction. Leah could tell because they weren’t far from the hair salon. When they turned onto a dark, winding road, she held her breath in dismay.
Donald sat silently in the front seat of the truck. Terrell wondered what Donald was thinking. He wondered what he himself had been thinking to get Leah mixed up in any of this. He should’ve just gone to his mother and let her handle her fiancé and his unsavory dealings herself. Better yet, he should’ve minded his own business. Shaking his head, he took that back. The whole purpose in his background check on Donald was to keep his mother from making a big mistake, so if nothing else, he was glad he’d found this out before the marriage. But if he were killed tonight, his mother would never know the person Donald really was. The thought of his mother marrying this man and getting mixed up in the drug underworld was too much for him to stand.
Guilt over dragging Leah into this situation compounded his distress. If she were hurt because of him, he’d never forgive himself. As the truck turned off the main road onto the dark, winding path, he figured that if they were both killed, then he’d probably just burn in hell. Ironically, that paled in comparison to the regret he felt.
He looked from the side window to the back one in an effort to figure out where they were being taken.
Sensing his puzzlement Leah whispered, “It’s Leakin Park.”
Terrell turned to her in the darkness of the back seat. They were surrounded on both sides by tall looming trees. The streetlights were mostly out. Scooting over the soft leather of the seat, he paused only when his body was touching hers. Drawing her close to him, he silently vowed to protect her with his own life if need be.
