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I wait for a sarcastic remark or some other sass, but she gazes at my hand and doesn’t say a word as she engages her seat belt.
Desperate to change the vibe, I turn to Sabio and Giana. “Ms. Clarke is a pro at slipping her security.” I say it loud enough for Lexie to hear every word. “I won’t tell you how to do your job, but personally, I wouldn’t even allow her to use the bathroom with the door shut.”
Her jaw falls open. “You’re—”
Distraction successful.
I lean into the car and hold two fingers to her mouth to shush her. “If you don’t want me to place the call to London, then I strongly suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.”
She wants to say more, because she always wants to say more, but she’s not a stranger to this life, and she knows better than to push me too far.
“When will you be home?”
“When I’m done here. I expect it will take awhile.”
“I’ll wait up so we can talk about calling my father.”
My dick twitches when it hears I’ll wait up.
I don’t know what I’d been thinking, but she can’t stay at my apartment—it’s a bad idea. A very bad idea.
“On your way up to the residences,” I tell the guards, “stop at the security office and get the key to Valentina Cruz’s apartment. Ms. Clarke will spend the night there.”
“Valentina doesn’t know I’m in Porto,” she murmurs, looking almost sheepish.
There have been times when I was sure Valentina and Alexis didn’t piss without consulting each other. That’s how close they are. But Lexie is in Porto and Valentina doesn’t know? It’s either bullshit, or she’s hiding something bigger than that she skipped out on her security.
“Valentina rarely uses that apartment anymore, and I know for a fact she’s not there tonight. Also, I need your phone.”
“My phone? I don’t think so.”
If she were anyone else, I’d walk away and let the guards deal with it. But I won’t embarrass her that way, as much as she deserves to be taught a lesson. I also don’t want anyone’s hands on her. “Don’t make me take it from you,” I say, just for her ears.
“Am I your prisoner?” she huffs in response.
Not my prisoner, but she’s not free to leave, at least not until I figure out how she got involved with these animals, and until I know she’s safe.
“My prisoner? Don’t be ridiculous. We need to be sure that your friends didn’t put anything on the phone that would allow you or your communications to be tracked.”
“They didn’t,” she replies testily, without giving it a thought.
“That’s what Francesca said too. But my people found a tracking device on her phone.”
Lexie’s hands tremble slightly as she fishes her phone from the purse and hands it to me. “Will you stop by later?” Her voice is a strained whisper.
“Much later. You don’t need to wait up. We can talk in the morning.” When my head is clear and you don’t have that uncharacteristic vulnerability about you that I can’t resist.
“Let me know when you arrive at the apartment,” I tell Sabio and Giana. “Dr. Arruda will be up. That’s it. No one else in or out.” With that I turn away, and my attention shifts to the bastards who are waiting for me in the storage shack. I want some answers before I turn those fuckers over.
“Rafael?”
I stop and turn to the beautiful woman who captured my attention when she was nineteen, with her smart mouth and the promise of sin, rousing something inside that I’d never felt before—or since. I didn’t act on it then. That didn’t happen until much later, after a long celebratory day and enough booze to make me stupid. Under a moonlit sky in a vineyard awash in fairy lights, I surrendered to the siren’s call. I’ve been paying ever since.
Lexie’s makeup has faded, and those adorable freckles on her nose make her seem younger. She looks tired—maybe even a bit fragile. My chest tightens.
“Thank you for showing up for me tonight.”
I lean into the SUV and sweep my thumb across her cheek. “Always. Now be a good girl and obey the guards.”
