Page 40 of Recruited By the Billionaire

“I know somebody’s telling you it’s an unsafe area when it absolutely is not. So what else could be the reason?”

“A million other things.”

“Okay, Robert. Bury your head in the sand if you want.”

“So you’re calling me a racist?”

“No. Of course not! But I am calling out whomever told you my neighborhood was bad. It most certainly is not.”

“There was a shooting in that neighborhood three nights ago.”

“Wait a minute. There was a shooting not far from here just last night. Do you consider this an unsafe area too?”

Had it been anybody else and Robert would have cussed her ass out. But with Francesca, he liked her spunk. He liked the fact that she spoke up for herself. “Okay, perhaps they made a mistake,” he admitted. “Have you ever considered that option?”

“Funny how they always make mistakes about our neighborhoods. Never about theirs. Always about ours. No, I didn’t consider that option at all.”

Robert exhaled. He wasn’t crazy about her stubbornness, that was for damn sure. “Are you going to move in here or not?” he asked her.

“No,” she responded.

“It’s not just because of your neighborhood.”

“Then why would I give up my perfectly fine apartment and move here?”

Robert almost said it. He almost told her that it was because he wanted to know that she was safe when he was out of town. He wanted to protect her even if she didn’t feel she needed his protection.

He also wanted her nearby. Not all the way across town in an area he had absolutely no familiarity with. It was on the tip of his tongue to just tell her how he truly felt. But he saw the accusatory look on her face. As if he was like those racists she undoubtedly had to deal with all her life. And it angered him.

“Forget it then,” he said. “Let me take your ass home.”

“Please do!” Frankie fired back at him. Who did he think he was? Who did he thinkshewas? Because she knew what time it was too. She wasn’t about to become some mistress he sets up in one of his houses so that he could have easy and unfettered access to her whenever he wanted. No way!

They walked back to his Porsche still fuming, as Robert got in on the driver side and Frankie got in on the passenger side. And he sped off.

But by the time they drove all the way across town to her apartment complex, they both had calmed back down. But when Robert saw all the young men coming and going around that complex, he felt some kind of way. Especially when he noticed how very gorgeous those young men were. He felt even stronger that she had to reconsider.

And when he walked her up to her apartment, and she unlocked her door, he pressed. “Why not, Francesca?” he asked her.

“I’m not the one, Robert,” she said.

Robert frowned. “You're not the one for what?”

“I will not be somekeptwoman that you set up in some house for your sexual convenience. I’m not the one.”

Frankie could see a distressed look come across Robert’s face. “You think I would do something like that to you? Are you serious?”

“You’re the one want me to give up my apartment and come live near you.”

“Yes! So that I could look out for you. So that I could know that you’re safe when I’m out of town. Fucking you was the last thing on my mind!”

Frankie could see the hurt in his eyes. Had she read himthatwrong? Or was hethatgood at manipulation? She was so confused! She’d never met anybody like him. He wasn’t fitting into any of her boxes.

“I was thinking about what’s best for you,” Robert said. “That’s it. I just want the best for you.”

Frankie considered him. “Why?” she asked him.

But Robert was shaking his head. Because he truly had no idea why. “If I knew,” he said to her, “I’d tell you. But I honestly just don’t know why. I just know it’s what I want for you.”

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