Page 42 of Sinister Games

Well, that was past her now. She had me to deal with everything, whether she liked it or not.

Harris was standing guard outside. Knowing this might be a sensitive situation, I chose to come here only with him as opposed to bringing along my usual driver. As personal security, no one was more loyal to me. Rescuing a man from being beheaded by the Taliban will do that. That kind of loyalty came in handy for… other jobs as well.

Harris nodded toward the school building. “Any cleanup?”

Tossing a look over my shoulder, I shook my head. “No.” Reaching for the door handle, I instructed, “Keep the divider up and just drive around until I tell you otherwise.”

Harris nodded and circled around the car to the driver’s side. He was always a man of few words. That was also one of the things I liked about him.

Bracing myself for the impact of her anger, I took a deep breath and opened the car door.

Greeted by a litany of curses and shouts, I stepped in and quickly shut and locked the doors.

“Are you crazy? Are you completely insane? Seriously, have you lost your mind?”

After rapping on the roof of the car with my knuckles, I waited till the car began to pull away from the curb before I turned to her.

“Is that my phone?” She snatched it from my hand. “Did you go through my phone?”

“His hand was on your body.”

Elizabeth sighed. “He has a reputation. I was handling it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Look, it’s not the first time some guy’s tried to cop a feel. I was shifting away. Besides, I was smart, I made sure I wore jeans and a sweater in his class.”

I ran a hand over my face, forcing myself to stay calm. “Let me get this straight. You were forewarned of this man’s reputation and instead of avoiding the situation entirely, you thought covering that beautiful ass of yours in denim was an acceptable solution?”

Elizabeth bit her lip. Under another circumstance I would find the gesture incredibly arousing. This was not one of those occasions.

“Well, when you put it that way—”

“What other way should I put it, Elizabeth?”

“I didn’t have a choice. His class is a requirement.”

“Which is why you are withdrawing from that school. I will make other arrangements for your education.”

A heavy silence fell over the interior of the car as the weight of my words sank in.

“I must not have heard you correctly.”

Turning my shoulders, I faced her square on. “Yes. You did.”

Her eyes widened as she snatched at the strap of her bag and pulled on the car door handle, despite the fact we were moving through traffic.

“Unlock this door,” she demanded through clenched teeth.

“No.”

Yanking on the handle again, she raged, “I mean it. I want out of this car. Unlock the door, Richard.”

Her emerald eyes glimmered with anger as a frustrated blush crept up her high cheekbones. She really was beautiful when angry. Like a rare bird flapping its brilliant plumage in an attempt to deter a predator.

It wouldn’t work.

Her pink lips parted as she took in a breath. Interlacing her fingers, she placed them in her lap and looked up at me. She was going to try to reason with me. Adorable.

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