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Then he turned and Beth followed in silence as he stalked down the mall.
By the time they’d made it through the gradually thickening crowd of tourists and office workers, avoided a persistent busker and his jovial crowd then a group of teenagers with surfboards, Beth was slightly out of breath. Luke’s purposeful strides left her in the dust. The determined set to his jaw and shoulders screamed “get out of my way.” No wonder people stopped to stare as he breezed by, their whispers and odd looks quickly masked as she stabbed them with a glare.
As they approached Crown Real Estate, they both noticed the closed sign and the locked glass doors.
“Open at ten,” Luke muttered, glaring at the sign. Still, he tried the handle, then shielded his eyes and peered in. Suddenly he pulled back with a soft curse, a moment too late.
A key rattled and the door opened an inch. A business-suited man, his tie askew, smiled out at them.
“Sorry. Office opens in half an hour.”
“Is Jay around?” Beth asked.
“She’s doing a bunch of showings until twelve. Hang on.” He disappeared for a second then returned with a business card. “Call her mobile.” His gaze flicked over to Luke and lingered. “Hey, I know you. You’re—”
“No one important. Thanks.” Luke turned and took Beth’s arm, steering her away.
Beth extracted herself from Luke’s grip moments later.
“Well, that was a bust,” he muttered.
“Not entirely.” Beth took out her phone and punched in the number on the card as they walked back to the car.
“Message bank.” She left a brief message then clicked off. “Great. So what now?”
Luke shoved his hands deep in his pockets and tightened his jaw. “We’re going to Brisbane.”
Two hours later, after meeting with Gino’s lawyer, they rode the elevator down to the basement parking lot in silence.
Beth punched the button again, barely sparing him a glance. She glared at the tiny red numbers, her plunging stomach having little to do with their descent.
“So that’s it, then. You win.”
He glanced up from his phone, still scrolling. “It’s not about me winning.”
“Isn’t it?” She crossed her arms, refusing to look at him.
“No. Probate will take a few months then the estate has to be wound up. That’ll take years.”
Years. “What about my tenancy agreement?”
“Your lease expires the same time the agency’s management agreement does.” Luke frowned then tapped the screen.
“I was in that meeting too.” She scowled at him. “Both are legally binding—”
He held up a hand and put the phone to his ear. “It’s Luke De Rossi.”
Man, that was really beginning to bug her! Beth waited in simmering silence until he hung up.
“I’ll buy the house from you,” she said suddenly. “How much?”
One eyebrow lifted. “I need to get it properly assessed.”
“Ballpark, then.”
He studied her in total silence before saying slowly, “It’ll be way out of your price range.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “How would you know?”
“You do know a Sunset Island price tag starts at a million? What would you use as collateral?”
“My business. And when I get this thing with the bank sorted—”
“What if you don’t?”
“I will. And anyway, I’m there until my lease is up, which gives me time.”
“No.”
“You’re going to keep it?” she asked, surprised.
“Look, it’s not personal.”
At her blatant skepticism, his expression twisted in annoyance. “Gino’s investments took a big hit in the financial crisis, the casino’s been hemorrhaging cash and the gaming commission probe scared a lot of people off. I need to sell quickly and quietly so I can get back to my job. Now, unless you have a spare couple of million hanging around, that rules you out.”
Her initial surprise quickly transformed into irritation. “So nothing matters except protecting your reputation?”
“Do not—” he narrowed his eyes “—presume to judge me, Beth. We still don’t know why you’re involved here.”
“Well, it’s obviously just a massive coincidence.”
His silence and flat expression told her what he thought of that. “I can offer you a good price for your lease.”
She blinked. He wanted her gone that badly he was willing to buy her out? “I don’t want to leave. I want my house.”
The elevator doors opened then and he walked out without a word.
Wow. Talk about shutting her down. She watched his long legs eat up the distance, taking him farther away with each stride until he paused and turned.
“Coming?”
His voice echoed in the great concrete cavern. A thousand different retorts, all considered then discarded, formed as she stalked toward him.
Her phone rang then, but he suddenly grabbed her arm.
She hissed, twisting in his warm grip. “What do you—”
“Shh. Something’s not right.”
“But—”
“Move. Now.”
Her eyes went in the direction of his nod, to the fire stairs nestled in a concrete alcove, then widened.
And all hell broke loose.
Four (#u7080c6c7-d924-5cea-a4ac-9523f5811dca)
Like a deer caught in the headlights, she froze.
A second too late.
A handful of reporters surged forward from the stairwell, surrounding them like a fluid entity. Cameras flashed, microphones thrust forward as they yelled out questions and jostled for a better position.
“How are you taking the suspension, Luke?”
“Have you hired Gino’s lawyers to defend you?”
“Any truth to the rumor you’ve been accused of insider trading?”
The air buzzed, frantic and urgent. Luke fought against the sea of bodies, shielding his face as he grabbed Beth’s wrist just before a camera slammed into his shoulder. Sucking in a grunt and with Beth firmly in his grip, he turned and ran.
Beth gulped in huge lungfuls of air and picked up the pace, her flat shoes slapping on the concrete as they raced toward their car.
Luke glanced back before aiming his keys at the car. With a pop and flash of lights, the locks disengaged. “Get in!”
She barely had time to close her door before he gunned the engine and took off.
The car flew over a speed bump. Luke spun the steering wheel and the tires squealed, the smell of burned rubber hitting Beth seconds later as she slammed into his shoulder.
“Slow down!” She righted herself from that wall of muscle quickly. “Are you trying to get us killed?”
“Just trying to lose their tail and avoid any pedestrians with a death wish.”
He followed that with an abrupt swerve, barely missing a jaywalking youth. Luke ignored the obscene comment and gesture left in their wake. He did, however, inch his foot off the accelerator.
Beth glanced through the back window. A beat-up cream-colored car that had been following was stuck at the now-red light. “You’re losing them.”
Luke barely managed two more yellow lights before their pursuers were lost in the steady flow of traffic.
He matched the car’s speed to the signed limit and Beth finally loosened her grip on the door handle.
“You okay?” He glanced at her.
Her pulse pounded in her forehead, but she gave him a nod, grateful for the blasting air-conditioning. “How on earth did they know where we were?”
“People noticed us at the mall. It only takes one phone call.” He glanced in the rearview then changed lanes.
“Great.” Beth sighed and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as her heart began to slow. “So what do we do now?”
“We’re going to the airport.”
“The what?”
“Here, take the wheel.”
She grabbed the steering wheel as Luke flipped open his phone. “This is Luke De Rossi. I need the plane ready for takeoff in around thirty minutes.” He paused, said, “Thanks,” then hung up.
“We’re flying?” She relinquished the wheel.
“Yep.”
Her throat tightened, suddenly dry, and she squeezed her eyes shut, the stony walls of frustration lying heavy on her shoulders for one brief second.
It had been ten years. Ten long, full years of triumphs and achievements. She’d worked hard, been in control. She’d overcome enormous hurdles many would have run from. She was living her life.
It made sense to do this. It was the quickest way to leave the tailing press behind.
But a plane …
For a nanosecond the awful flashes screamed by, but she refused to let them linger.
She swallowed again and straightened her spine. You can do this. You have to.
It was one thing to convince herself while they were driving, but soon they were on the tarmac, the shiny Beechcraft King Air plane awaiting them.
She stared at the clean white lines of the turboprop plane, the large twin engines, the glossy paintwork as her heart began to race.
Pound, pound, pound. The sudden primeval urge to run snaked low as a shaky breath jammed in her throat.
Therapy worked. It stopped those nightmares. It helped to handle the fear and guilt. It can’t rule your life anymore.
When she choked down a short groan, she could feel Luke’s eyes on her.
“You don’t like flying?”
She nodded mutely, her eyes still locked on the plane.
“Soooo …” He paused. “You’ve never been on a plane at all?”
“Once. It … didn’t go well.” Boy, understatement of the century. She blinked, filling her lungs slowly then emptying them again, just as she’d been taught.
“After instrument check, it’s a fifteen-minute flight to Surfers—we go up, we come down. The whole thing will take an hour. I’ve made the trip a thousand times.”
But it only takes one. She remained silent, her heart battering her tight chest.
When Luke took her hand she nearly jumped out of her skin, her nerves lurching as his fingers laced intimately through hers.
