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Days later, Dee sat stiff in the luxurious Town Car as Jonathan’s driver steered through the curved roads and lush countryside of Red Marrow.
She glanced beside her at Rake, Jonathan’s associate who’d accompanied her on the trip.
Resembling a reject from a 1980s British rock band, Rake sat with his back erect, his jagged features unyielding to expression.
“What?” His cockney accent held a sexy yet mysterious flair. “Got something to say? You’re staring.”
“What kind of ‘associate’ are you again?”
Lines of pink flowed through his pale skin and his mid-length, jet-black hair stood around his head in short spikes. “The kind that does whatever Mr. Wild says whenever he says it.”
“You’re not what I expected.”
“Ah.” He ran his fingers through his spikes and they popped back in place. “I could say the same thing about you, love.” Silver hoops dangled from his ears along with a stud in his right nostril. “Guess I’m growing on ya’?”
After twenty more minutes of traveling farther into the rural abyss, they got to Jonathan’s estate.
“Jesus.” Dee stared out the window, her eyes following the peaks of the stone mansion into the sky.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Rake’s accent blended in with the ambiance. “Back in me home, in London, blokes would come into the spot all the time and flash money like you wouldn’t believe.” He chuckled, his ivy-green eyes flashing. “I’ve worked for a lot of rich people.” He raised his shaggy, brown eyebrow. “Seen nothing like this.” He peeked out the window, whistling. “Mr. Wild put his heart and soul into this place. He plans to live here forever.”
Dee bit the inside of her lip. “With me?”
“He’s been going on and on about you, yeah.” Rake nodded. “Says you’re a tough one, but he’ll break you.”
“Is that why he can’t leave me alone?” Dee asked. “I’m a challenge he can’t shake?”
Rake’s thin lips eased into a seductive smile. “He wants to love you.”
“Please.” She crossed her legs. “How could he love me when he doesn’t know what love is?”
The driver cruised around the estate grounds. Soaring gates of iron and acres of trimmed grass created a fortress around the manor.
“He has more gates than the White House,” Dee said. “Is this to keep people out or keep them in?”
“You’re quick.” Rake smirked, head rocking. “Would you like to see the garden?”
“Do I have a choice?”
The driver drove them to the other end of the property.
Rake helped her from the car amid an incredible garden stuffed with colorful blossoms.
She followed him through the cement walkway.
The trees flowed through the sky, their limbs reaching left and right.
Rake’s flat nostrils lifted. “You’re gonna love it, Ms. Quarter.”
“I don’t care how amazing this place is.” She looked at the statues and rock ornaments encasing the waterfall. “Winston Lewis is the only man I want, and I’d live in a cardboard box with him before living with Jonathan again.”
“Too bad you don’t have a choice.” He shrugged a shoulder. “You’re here now and you’re never going back to Baltimore.”
“Just watch and see.” She straightened her purse on her shoulder. “Take me to Lydia.”