Page 28 of Sweet Revenge
“Not generally speaking.”
He collapsed into silence. A million questions swirled through his head and, for the life of him, he couldn’t think of which one to ask first. She acquired things. So she was a thief. A well-paid one if her car and apartment were any measure. The thing that confused him the most was that somewhere under the shock was pride.
By the time they touched down in Philadelphia, Declan had made up his mind. He drove them out of the airport, and instead of taking the exit toward her hotel, he took the one for the Main Line.
It was just his good luck that she was so busy typing on her phone she didn’t notice where they were until he pulled up to the gate. Her head jerked up when he stopped to wait for it to open.
“This is not my hotel.”
“No, it isn’t.” He pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. “You’re staying here from now on.”
“The hell I am. Take me back to my hotel, Declan. Right now.”
“Nope.”
She reached for the door and bolted from the car, and he did the same, meeting her at the tailgate. If looks could kill, he’d be a pile of ash on the ground with the way her eyes spit fire at him right now.
“You cannot keep me here.”
“You have some mysterious guy after you—and don’t worry, I intend to find out just who the fuck that guy is—and your parents are dead. Murdered, in fact. Now it occurs to me that those two things might be related. Ah,” he added when she crossed her arms over her chest. “It occurred to you too. Well, that’s good. Now I know you haven’t completely lost your mind.”
He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “I’m not finished. Your father and mother were my responsibility, and I failed them. I won’t be making the same mistake twice. So you can either walk your ass inside willingly, or I can carry you. Those are your options. But you aren’t leaving until I can guarantee your safety.”
He watched her brain work trying to decide on her best course of action and had to fight the overwhelming urge to haul her up against him and finally have a taste of her mouth. He imagined she could still give as good as she got.
She drilled her finger into his chest, snapping him back to the moment. “We’re not finished talking about this,” she gritted out before turning and storming up the front walk and into the house, slamming the door behind her with a crack that reverberated off the trees.
Maybe not, but at least he’d won this round.
ChapterFifteen
“And then…and then!” Evie slapped the table with the palm of her hand. “He commanded me to stay there like…like…like some prisoner!”
Evie sat back in her chair with a huff. It had been nearly a week since Declan had all but kidnapped her. He hadn’t exactly locked her in her room, but she had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t his normal routine to work from his office at the house every single day. The fact that he was watching her to make sure she behaved pissed her off even more than his tyrannical decree over where she stayed.
“So why haven’t you left?”
“What?”
Cait peered at Evie over the rim of her coffee mug. “He had your car brought over from the hotel a few days ago, and you’re here, so you’re obviously not a prisoner. So, why haven’t you gotten in your car and left?”
Evie crossed her arms over her chest. “Because…” Damn it all to hell. “Because he would just track me down anyway. Being stalked and dragged back there like prey sounds even less appealing. Can’t imagine why.”
“Hmm.”
“‘Hmm.’ What does that mean? ‘Hmm’?” Evie snapped.
“It means I don’t believe you. You need his help,” Cait continued before Evie could interrupt. “You know it, I know it, and Declan knows it. But he also needs yours. Something he might be less willing to admit,” she murmured.
“And believe me when I say the entire syndicate wants to find out who killed your parents. He’ll throw the full weight of his men behind it if he has to.”
Yet another reason to stay. “It suits him.” Cait raised a brow. “The power, I mean. I always thought it would, but…” Evie shrugged. “It’s different actually seeing him in action.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet. He gets this look in his eye,” Cait gestured to her eyes with two fingers, “same as Finn.”
“What look?”
Cait took a sip of coffee and considered. “Determined rage.”
