Chapter Six

 

He hadn’t expected that. Just a pat and a hug? Was that all it took from a woman like her to have two monsters falling for her? He gave the hand signal to desist and the dogs obeyed immediately.

At least they remembered their training.

She was still terrified, and her hands were over her ears. There were tears on her cheeks. What had the girl gone through in that lab? Yes, what was happening above them was bad—any explosion had the potential to be, and combined with Mother Nature’s bitchfest it could shape up to be a bad night all around—but there wasn’t nearly as much of a threat to her as she apparently thought. Poor kid. This wasn’t exactly her safe little world, was it?

He remembered how he’d felt when Manny had pulled him off the streets and into his world of privilege—and love. Sometimes he still felt like that confused kid, afraid to make a wrong step somewhere.

He stepped around Ren and Rath, thankful the beasts allowed it. What would it say if his own guard dogs tried to guard against him? Loyalty, he definitely did not believe in. Not truly.

He wrapped his hands around her wrists. There was a definite scar on one, and it wasn’t that old. Where she’d broken her arm? He knew the man responsible for the lab explosion had been killed back in September. If he hadn’t, Luc couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t have arranged for the man to be dealt with himself. Not after seeing the fear in those pretty blue eyes now. He pulled her hands away from her ears. “It’s almost over, sweetheart. I can hear sirens in the distance. They’ll put out the flames and we can come out. Or I can. We don’t have to let anyone know you were here. Or we can just wait and let my security team deal with all of it. We can pretend I was out of town and you were never here. How does that sound?”

“My car. My car is out there.”

“About that…Not any longer.” Not exactly how he’d wanted her to find out. “I’ll have you a new one before you need to go to work. What did you have in it that will need replaced?”

“My car is gone?”

That had been the biggest explosion, the one that rocked the bunker around them. She had parked next to the front entry of his home, near the glass. The explosive devices had been close enough to his front door to completely engulf her little car. Or whoever had bombed the place had decided to use the fuel in her car to enhance their dirty work and had planted the second explosive either in or under her car. Either way, her car was toast. That had been perfectly clear to see on the security monitor. He looked again, checking each monitor to verify that all of his men were safe. Eight were visible on the screens. And none appeared injured. Who—and how—had it happened? They were all experienced men, former military turned mercenary every one of them. And they were all loyal to him. No one should have been able to get past any of them. “I doubt there’s even enough to get a VIN off of, Payton. No one will know you’re here.”

Unless the bastards who’d bombed his home had taken down her license plate number before they’d torched it. Whoever the hell they were. Would that draw her into their line of fire when it came out that he’d survived the attack on his home?

He would have to consider that very carefully.

He would not have this woman targeted because of him. “Your car is gone. I will get you a new one.”

“I have insurance.”

“Not for explosives, I bet. And I have the money to buy you a hundred cars without blinking. Without questions.” He couldn’t help himself; he had to touch the blonde hair. He tugged the ponytail, just a quick brush of his fingers through the silk.

Her eyes cleared of some of the fear. She pushed against his chest. When had he gotten that close to her? He didn’t remember.

“But at what cost to me? I don’t want your car. I’ll take the bus.”

He smiled. She did amuse him so. And she was finally starting to understand him, wasn’t she? “Suit yourself.” He’d have her car replaced in the morning, with a fictional license plate and reinforced glass and every safety measure he could purchase. Whether she liked it or not. She’d be safe. No matter what he had to do. “You’ll have a new car. I’ll see to that.”

 

***

 

Payton curled up on the corner of the big bed and tried to somehow forget the fact that the world above them was a fiery, windy apocalypse and that the man trapped with her wasn’t a blackmailing madman at heart. She’d had her fill of madmen lately.

She rubbed the scar on her arm; she’d required surgery to set the break after the lab had been attacked. The man responsible for the explosion had been angry at Cody and Marianna and the rest of the team for her moving to St. Louis. For her not realizing he’d developed feelings for her. Someone had died because of that, and so many others had been injured. It was hard not to feel guilty about that, though she’d had counseling. She’d probably always feel that guilt. The guy had been a true madman, cold and sociopathic in a way she had never suspected. No one had.

And she’d always feel guilty about the people who had been hurt because of her. In spite of what the counselors had said, there would always be that responsibility. If she had just put things together sooner…

Was the man trapped in there with her just as crazy as Hugh? How was she supposed to know? The bigger dog—Ren, the one with more brown in his coat—rolled on his side against her. Payton ran her fingers through his fur, trying to think. Had he meant it? Would he really hurt Cody just because of her?

Cody had nearly died because of her. Payton would never forget that. Hugh had targeted Cody for the most personal attack because he’d thought that as Payton’s closest friend Cody had convinced Payton to move. He had stopped her car and beaten Cody until she’d been nearly unrecognizable. Cody had fought back hard, but Hugh had been so much bigger, and trained in martial arts. She’d been in a coma for several days.

Payton would never forget how Cody had looked that night in the hospital after Luc had found her. No matter how despicable she found him, she’d always be grateful for him helping Cody that night. He could have driven right by.

“You can quit staring at me.” He said it so mildly, like she was amusing him. Was that all this was to him, something fun or a diversion from whatever kind of life he had?

The kind of life where people blew up his home and he barely blinked. She didn’t understand it. There was no way she’d ever be able to live like that. How did he do it?

By blackmailing people?

“I’m not staring. When can we get out of here?”

“Not for a while. Why don’t you lay back and try to get some sleep? It’s after three.”

“So when can I leave?” When could she get home, take a shower, and scrub this night off her skin somehow? “I need to get home.”

“In the morning.”

“It’s morning now.” She wanted out of there, wanted to get far away from this guy and this surreal world.

He stalked across the small room and settled on the bed beside her. So big, so overwhelming, so male. “Here’s how this is going to work. The sun will be up, and we’re still going to stay in here. Until I see exactly how much damage has been done and see who shows up. And until my security people give the signal. They’re up there and they’re watching to keep us safe. I’m trusting them to do that to the best of their training and abilities. Then we’re going to take the second way out of here. To the car I have waiting. I’ll drive you home. Then I’ll come back here, shocked at the damage done to my home while I was away. No word or mention of you will appear connected to this anywhere.”

“You think people will believe that? What about my car? And the guy you have at the gate?”

“There is nothing left of your car. And my people are loyal to me. They won’t talk.”

Why did the matter-of-fact way he said it bother her almost more than the knowledge that her car was gone? Because he didn’t seem to care? She’d bought that car by herself, and had scrimped in the early months to make the payments. It was her car. And now it was gone. What was she supposed to do, just forget about it? There wasn’t anything else she could do, was there? “And what about Cody and Lucy?”

“What about them?”

“You’re not going to do anything to get Cody in trouble?”