Undeniable: Dom & Gigi (Beg For It 5)

At one o’clock I pulled over into a truck stop, climbed out and used the burner phone to call Colt. He sounded relieved as hell to hear from me and told me he had good news. He was already on his way to severing ties with the coffee growers. Plus the security guard in the hallway hadn’t been killed, only knocked out, and when he’d come to he’d been able to help hide the guy I’d killed.

Good news? It didn’t sound that good to me. It sounded like the trouble had only just begun. I didn’t say that to Colt, though. I told him I expected we’d arrive at our destination tomorrow, early evening, and that I’d get in touch next from a secure line.

When I climbed back in the car, Gigi said nothing. But I could tell she was mad as hell. Around Indianapolis, her frustration finally won out. “So, what, are we driving across the country?” She threw her hands up. “You grab me in the middle of the night, kill a guy at my front door, drive backward out of the Lincoln Tunnel and now we’re in Indianapolis? Where the hell are we?”

“You’re in the great state of Indiana, princess. You might not find the kind of shopping you’re accustomed to here, but—”

“Dom, seriously, tell me what’s happening.”

“When we reach our destination I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

“You’re infuriating, do you know that? And I know you’re bluffing, by the way. You wouldn’t tie me up and throw me in the back of the car.”

I glanced at her, low and with purpose. “Try me.”

She quieted down again. The next thing I heard was her stomach rumbling around five o’clock. We did our McDonald’s drill again. Then I drove and I drove, taking us west where she’d be safe. She dozed again once the sun set and I kept the pedal to the metal, focused on the target, achieving my goal. Until she startled me when she spoke again.

“Dom, you’ve been driving for 24 hours.”

Had I? I glanced at the dashboard clock. I didn’t think it had been that long. And it hadn’t. “Twenty-two,” I corrected her.

“OK, well, driving for 22 hours straight is dangerous.”

“I’ve done much more on much less sleep.” But I paused to consider her words. We did still have another 13 hours of driving ahead of us. It would be smart to stop and grab a few hours of sleep. We were approaching Oklahoma City, and I could probably find a motel. At the next exit I pulled over and found something suitably seedy, the kind of place accustomed to couples arriving in the middle of the night and wanting to pay in cash, no questions asked.

As I parked, I could see Gigi wrinkle her nose. She was right. It looked sketchy. Either two lights had strategically burned out in their sign or they had something against the letter C. It read VA-AN-Y.

“Sorry, the Waldorf was booked tonight,” I muttered. She rolled her eyes at me, but, again, better she was pissed off than dead. I unzipped my pack and pulled out a nondescript black baseball cap. “Here, put this on. Pull your hair back and tuck it into your sweater.” It was a shame to hide all her gorgeous hair, but that shade of cinnamon-gold? Even a sleepy desk clerk might remember it.

“Come with me to the office. And Gigi.” I paused, hand on the door. “Act like we’re getting a room together.”

“What do you mean?”

I exhaled, trying not to get frustrated. We needed to blend in, play the part, do nothing out of the ordinary to arouse suspicions. “Don’t hit me when I put my arm around your waist, all right?”

Inside the office, the sleezeball behind the desk still checked Gigi out, even with the cap down low. I resisted the urge to punch him in the jaw. Blend in, I reminded myself.

“We need a room.”

“How many hours?” He looked at Gigi when he spoke, licking his lips. Eyes up here, fuckwit.

“The whole night.”

“Excellent.” Gigi shuddered as he seemed to picture exactly what he’d like to do with her for a whole night. I slipped an arm around her slim waist, drawing her near me, wanting her to feel safe.

She melted into me, resting her head against my chest, pressing her cheek against my heartbeat. I stroked her hair, breathing her in, that scent uniquely her own. It had been too long since I’d held her. I’d kissed her at the party, but it had been years since I’d had her pressed full against me, feeling the curve of her hips and the soft mounds of her breasts. It felt like sinking into heaven.

“That OK with you?” The guy had said something and I’d missed it. “No more kings, only queen-size beds. That OK?”

I nodded, paid in cash, and took the key from him, wishing for a second that we were about to do exactly what he thought. It was what I’d fantasized about, having Gigi to myself, and here we were completely anonymous. No one knew where we were. I’d rather take her somewhere nicer, of course, but anywhere would do so long as it was private and dark, just the two of us.

But I needed sleep so I could drive her safe and swift to Arizona. I parked us around back. The room wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was small and the wallpaper was peeling, but it looked clean. Gigi used the bathroom and I followed suit. She kicked off her boots and lay down on her side of the bed on top of the comforter. I lay down on mine.

“Gigi, are you going to try to leave when I fall asleep?”

She was silent for almost a second too long. But then she exhaled in frustration. “Not in this place. What, am I going to go back into that office and ask to use his phone?”

“You can not leave this room.” I kept my voice even, but I’d get tough if I needed to.

“What are you going to do, bind and gag me?” She threw my words back at me as if I’d apologize for what I’d said. I wouldn’t because I’d meant it. I had a pair of handcuffs in my bag. I’d snap them on her if I determined her to be a flight risk.

She huffed and turned onto her side, back facing me. “I’m not going to leave, Dom. Even though I’m probably insane to stay here. Because you won’t tell me what’s going on.”

She left that hanging, as if I’d take my cue to fill in the blank. But at this point she knew everything she needed to know. Once we got into the safe house, off the grid, security in place, we could have a longer chat. Now was not the time for her to learn all the details. She might panic over the danger she was in, or stay up all night with questions over the family business.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” she grumbled with frustration. “I don’t know why I trust you.”

But she did and I sensed her body relax, her breathing slow into a deep sleep. I set the alarm for five hours later and then switched off as I’d learned to do, recharging like a machine so I could fuel up for the fight.

13

Gigi

I woke groggy, a hand shaking my shoulder. There wasn’t even any light peeking through the shades. It felt like I had just fallen asleep.

“We gotta move.” Dom’s rough voice broke through my fog. I rose in the same clothes I’d been wearing the night before and remembered. I was in a disgusting hotel room in the middle of nowhere and Dom wouldn’t even explain why.

I stumbled into the bathroom and used the toothbrush sitting on the sink. It was probably Dom’s, but it was less gross than the way my mouth felt. Drawing my hair back into a ponytail, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I couldn’t believe any of this was happening. I’d had more than my fair share of fantasies about Dom whisking me away in the middle of the night. But they’d never involved him shooting a man in the head outside my apartment.

So now I’d actually seen the bodies of two men Dom had killed, first Brock that summer, then the guy in the hallway. And where he’d fallen there’d already been another guy lying there. Why did I trust this man?

But I did. I wanted him to explain everything that was going on, but in my heart I knew two things: Dom wouldn’t hurt me. And I knew there was some kind of danger I needed to escape. I’d sensed it over the last week, that feeling that I was being followed or watched. Colt had been calling me, checking in way too often, wanting to know where I was and urgi

ng me to come stay with him and Caroline when Penny was at her boyfriend’s. I might not know what was happening, but I wasn’t an idiot. Something bad was going on.

An impatient rap on the door broke my thoughts. “We got to go, Gigi.”