Page 19 of Tangled Roses

I try so hard to get into the car gracefully, but it becomes a challenge even I can’t rise to. No matter how I twist and turn, the fucking dress rises up and I resort to holding it firmly down at the bottom as I tumble backward into the car. My heels catch on my ankles and my head thumps against the edge of the door, causing me to hiss, “Fuck that hurt.”

Arman just stands there patiently waiting, but I sense the disapproval radiating all around me as I struggle with this one simple act.

If anything, I feel hot and bothered and hate how clumsy I am. This is a disaster and if anything, I really hope he is regretting his decision to involve me in whatever this is.

The fact his men have crowded around the car with their backs to us doesn’t escape me and it dawns on me that there is still a maniac out there who wants to kill me.

The fact I’m doing a good job of that myself is irrelevant and I question Arman’s motives for bringing me out of hiding.

Once I am firmly inside, I buckle myself in and as he joins me, he says nothing at all and just fires up the engine that makes my legs shake.

It roars into life like a sleeping lion woken by a growling stomach, and I am freaking terrified.

“Do you even know how to handle this beast?” I ask nervously and he sighs and says roughly, “I can handle my shit, Gabrielle, have no fear of that.”

As we set off, I notice his men jump into cars in front and behind and we move as a pack.

At first, the silence is oppressive and as usual I try to fill it with useless words.

“So, um, Arman. What do you do for a living, exactly?”

“Business.”

His short reply is as annoying as the man delivering it, and I snap. “Well, obviously, but what fucking business are you in that requires grown men to follow you around, jumping at the click of your fingers?”

To my surprise, he merely chuckles, and that alone causes me to stop and stare.

“You’re laughing.”

I state the obvious and he shrugs. “I am human, Gabrielle.”

“Are you?”

I shake my head. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t give anything away. You’re a closed book, Arman, and it’s difficult to open.”

“For a reason.”

He sounds bored already and says roughly, “Tonight is business. Conversation is not required.”

“What business?”

“Important business, and I need you to act your part.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

I’m unlikely to help with anything due to the mood he’s in and he growls, “Because it may save your life.”

That shuts me up, and I say fearfully, “What if this assassin is there and finishes me off? It’s a possibility, you know.”

“Hardly likely.”

I can sense him rolling his eyes as he speaks slowly.

“Gabrielle. Listen to what I’m telling you because it’s important.”

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