I was free!
God, I actually made it. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Angelo appear at the entrance. So he wasn’t as sharp as my father thought. For one crazy second I felt a strange sense of loss or disappointment. That it had been so easy to elude him. I’d imagined him to be more resourceful, more lethal, at least better at his job. I congratulated myself.
What the hell is the matter with me? He is nothing to me.
I turned the sweeping bend in the tree-lined driveway and the house disappeared out of sight. No way would he be able to catch up now. By the time he got into a car and came after me, I would already have merged with the traffic.
As I came up to the tall cast iron gates of the house I didn’t slow down. I knew the gates were monitored day and night, but before anyone realized they were supposed to stop me, I would be long gone. I pressed the button on the remote that would pull the gates open for me.
One last time, I turned around to make sure he wasn’t following me and he was nowhere to be found. It was such a great feeling to know I had outwitted the rude beast.
With a triumphant shout, I pressed down on the accelerator as I swung my gaze back towards the gates. I was ready to shoot through them, but with my heart leaping into my throat, my foot slammed down on the brakes. The car juddered to a stop a few inches from the locked gates.
The gates had not opened.
What the hell is going on?
I grabbed the remote and pounded on the button, but still the gates wouldn’t roll away. Shifting the gear into the park mode, I rolled my window down, and pressed the button again. Still— no movement. I glared angrily at the button, the pit of my stomach broiling with annoyance.
I realized what had happened.
The remote’s connection to the gate had been disconnected at the house. Damn, the rude beast.
My heart sunk. Just then, I sensed movement at the corner of my eye, and lifted my gaze to the rear view mirror to see that indeed, Angelo was approaching.
He must have run to get this far this quickly, but now he had his hands in his pockets, and strolled leisurely towards me down the driveway as though he had all the time in the word. I felt so infuriated I wanted to stab him in the heart. I could have turned the car around and drove past him back to the house. Actually, for what could have been a whole minute, I seriously considered running him over.
But that would be defeat. Real defeat. No, I would sit right here and confront him.
When he finally arrived before the passenger’s door, he knocked on the window.
I knew he wanted me to open the car door and it would be the less humiliating option in the long run. But I couldn’t bring myself to open it for him, so I rolled the glass down.
He put his large hands on the base of the window.
I refused to meet his gaze, and instead stared straight ahead in fury, but from my peripheral vision I sensed his large powerful hands resting on the base of the window.
“You’re not allowed to go anywhere without me,” he said.
I had half expected him to just put his hand into the car, release the latch and get in next to me, but he didn’t make any effort to do so. I understood why he was doing it. He wanted me to explicitly ask him to come along, or neither of us were going anywhere.
This was quite the slap to the face, especially since I had ignored him earlier and madly driven out of the garage.
My face burned with embarrassment at his silent message, but I tried not to let the poison infect my mind. He had definitely won this round, but if things went as planned today, then I would never have to see him again. I gave up on the battle of egos between us, and focused on how I could get to Christine’s house. Freedom was more important than scoring points with him.
“I have to go see a friend,” I told him from between gritted teeth.
“Where?”
“Long Beach.”
He straightened and tapped his hand against the door.
I was forced to open it.
First, he carelessly and I might add, rudely, tossed my purse onto the backseat, then his long legs slid in one after the other. All accomplished with the lithe gait of a silky but hostile big cat.
I tried my very best to ignore the masculine energy filling the space inside the car. Or the citrusy smell of his shampoo. The last time I had smelled that—