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He spoke before I could. "Change of plans. We have to pick up my mother." He looked even less pleased than he already had, which was saying something. He gave me the address.
"Of course, sir," I said politely. The address was practically on the other side of the CBD. Whatever, it was his money. As long as he paid, I'd drive him all day. I mean, drive him around in my vehicle. Even if I was interested in a client, it wouldn't be Mr Grumpy Ass himself.
He thumped back against the seat and put his coffee cup to his lips. He tipped it back to take a drink. It must have been empty because he lowered it, looked at it in disgust and placed it in the cup holder.
I bit back a smile. I shouldn't be amused by someone's misfortune, especially when it involved caffeine.
"Is everything okay, sir—" I started.
"Don't make me late, Lucy," he warned.
"Lexie," I corrected. I closed the privacy screen before he could respond further.
Asshole.
I made a mental note to pay Larry more for putting up with this jerk. A charge I'd happily pass on to Gabriel Ellison. He probably wouldn't even notice the increase.
I peeled away from the curb again and went back into battle. The traffic in this part of the city was horrendous. Manoeuvring a tiny hatchback would be difficult, a limousine was a pain in the ass. Especially when people stopped to gawk as we passed.
I was always amused at the way they tried to look in through the windows, as if they weren't tinted to protect the identity of my passengers. People could fuck in the back seat and no one would ever see. And they had, but you wouldn't get stories about that from me. Ironclad NDAs were very much a thing in this business, but even so, I didn't drive and tell.
Around half an hour later, I drew the limousine to a stop in front of one of the most exclusive apartment buildings in the city. People didn't gawk here, they were used to the comings and goings of the obscenely rich and famous.
Speaking of such, Irena Ellison waited just inside the front doors. She stepped out with her chin raised like she owned the whole world and not just a big chunk of it.
From what I gathered, the Ellison family made their money in real estate, hotels and, more recently, media. They could have owned a fleet of limousines, but Gabriel's father was a friend of my father, so he gave us the business to help out a friend.
I had no illusion Gabriel had any loyalty to me. We'd only met a couple of times and neither of those were recently. On both occasions, I'd done my best to avoid being noticed, but at the end of the day, it was entirely unnecessary. Gabriel only seemed to notice people when it suited him.
I hurried out to open the door for Irena, who ignored me completely as she sat beside her son. I closed the door behind her and wondered if we could get by without their business.
Since we couldn't, I slipped back into my seat. As I clicked my seatbelt, my phone pinged with a text. I glanced at the screen to see a message from my passengers, with the address to take them.
Who said good manners were dead? Since they couldn't see me, I squeezed in an eye roll and texted back to acknowledge the address.
Once again, I pulled out onto the road and headed back in the direction we'd come.
I hummed along to the radio, which I kept down low, and swerved to avoid a bus that pulled out straight in front of me.
"Asshat," I grumbled under my breath.
I liked driving, but it would be a lot easier without other drivers on the road. Unfortunately, none of my vehicles were equipped with James Bond-style rocket launchers to clear the path in front of me. Some days, it was tempting to look up having those added, but I didn't really want to go to jail, so I sucked it up and went on going.
I slowed to let a couple of food delivery riders pass in front of the vehicle. That looked like hard work and I knew they weren't paid what they were worth. They certainly didn't deserve to be hit by a limousine. Not to mention, the paperwork that would follow that would be a pain in the ass.
I found the address the Ellisons texted me, but it took another few minutes to find somewhere to park. Some areas in the city were not limousine friendly. I finally managed to find a spot and slid the vehicle into it. 'Smooth as butta' as Dad used to say.
Starting to feel like a Jack-in-the-Box, I hopped out to open the door.
Without giving me a glance, Irena slid out and stood waiting for her son. "You really need to consider this, Gabe," she was saying. "It's about time you found yourself a wife. Past time." She clicked her tongue.
Gabriel glanced at me, his lips pressed in a tight line. "Can we talk about this later, Mother?" he asked.
I averted my gaze like I wasn't listening to anything they said. Gabriel Ellison's love life was none of my business. He was good-looking, but his head was so far up his ass he probably hadn't seen the sun in years. Not surprising, given his mother, but that was also none of my business.
"We can, and we will." She swept away and headed inside the building.
"I'll escort her inside, then I'll be back," Gabriel said with gritted teeth.
