Authors: Victoria Howard
Grace covered her face with her hands.
‘
Stop it!
Stop it!
You’re scaring me
!
I’m sorry I ever called you
. Y
ou’re horrible!
’
He
covered her hands with his own
and drew them into his lap
.
‘
Yeah, I’m horrible,
b
ut I’m also right.
You should be scared, Grace.
S
hit happens, and
when it does,
we
can’t bury
our
head
s
in the turnip patch and ignore
it
.
And this,
love
, is serious shit.
’
Grace
turned and looked out of the window.
She stopped chewing her bottom lip and stole a look at him.
When she spoke her voice was barely a whisper.
‘
So what happens now?
’
He started the engine and drove out of the parking lot.
‘
W
e go back to your hotel.
You pack your
bags
and we find you
someplace
else to stay.
Then we
go over those
bank statements with a magnifying glass.
Hopefully, we’ll find some
clue as to where the money for the
house on Gasparilla Island
came from.
’
‘
And if
we
don’t?
’
‘
Then we go visit your new
home
.
’
He
pushed hard on
the accelerator and cut across two lanes of traffic.
The
driver of the
car following took exception to the
manoeuvre and sounded his horn.
Grace grabbed the door handle.
‘
Are you nuts?
You nearly
got us killed
.
’
His fingers clenched around the wheel.
‘
Not hardly.
I plan to lose anyone else who might be following us.
’
‘
And are we
being followed?
’
‘
No
t yet
.
’
‘
Thank God for small mercies.
But I don’t see why I need to move to another hotel.
’
Jack steered into the parking lot
at the Island Palm
.
‘
Parous
knows where you’re staying
.
So do the people at
the
b
ank.
And I’m betting whoever sent our tail
knows
where you’re staying
, too
.
’
There was no sign of the concierge as they passed the front desk on their way to the elevators.
Jack thought it odd, but said nothing.
A
ll the same,
he unbuttoned his
jacket
thankful he was carrying his weapon. He touched
Grace’s
left elbow li
ghtly, urging and yet protective
.
The ride to the ninth floor took seconds.
Jack held out his hand.
‘
Give me your room key.
’
She shot him a hard glance.
‘
Okay, I’m sorry.
Give me your room key
,
please
,
’
he sighed.
Grace dug in her purse and pulled out the electronic card.
Jack swiped it through the lock and pushed open the door.
He listened for the sound of movement, but the only noise came from the air conditioning unit.
Satisfied that everything appeared
as it should, he steppe
d aside to allow her to enter.
‘
Go and start packing.
I’ll ring down to the front desk and ask them to make
up
you
r
bill.
’
‘
Which hotel are you taking me to?
’
Grace asked, kicking off her shoes and walk
ing
barefoot into the bedroom.
‘
I’m not sure yet.
Depends which of the hotels
in Coral Gables has a vacancy.
’
Grace popped her head back round the bedroom door.
‘
Just so long as
it’s not
some soulless motel down by the railway tr
acks
where your shoes stick to the carpet
,
and breakfast consists of lukewarm coffee from a machine
.
’
‘
N
o soulless motel, I promise
,
’
Jack smile
d
.
‘
How do you feel about a bed and breakfast
, instead
?
’
‘
So l
ong as it has a comfortable bed
and
serves decent food
,
that’s all that matters
if it
means I’ll be safe.
’
She started
tossing clothes out of the wardrobe onto the bed.
Jack
rang the front desk
and then made one other call.
He replaced the
handset
and
joined her
in
the bedroom.
He
leant against the door and
watched her fold her clothes
.
She placed them in the suitcase with such care
,
as if they were fragile and might break if she didn’t do it perfectly.
He wondered if
that’s how she approached life—
as if it too would break if she
weren’t
careful.
Or maybe it had already broken, and he was called in to sweep up the shards.
If only she knew how destroyed his life was
.
H
e
considered
telling her about Rosa
and
the hell their life had become.
He thought about telling her about Emilia, the bright and shining star he never expected to see in any firmament.
Then he saw the sadness in h
er eyes
and his resolve to tell her about any of it collapsed in a heap.
‘
Grace,
’
he said softly
,
and took
a step towards her.
‘
Under different circumstances,
I’d
ask
you stay at the condo
with me
.
As it is, I can’t
.
And I can’t
be with you twenty-four/seven, so having you switch hotels i
s
the next best thing
until I can
get you
a bodyguard
.
’
Grace’s
smile flickered
, and
then
vanished
.
‘
A bodyguard?
Isn’t that taking things a bit too far?
’
‘
Possibly.
But I can’t take any chances with your life, Grace.
You mean—
’
Grace
dropped the pair of trousers she was
f
olding
and
wheeled round
to face him, an almost hopeful glint in her blue eyes
.
‘
Yes?
’
Unable to stop himself, Jack crossed the room and
swept her into his arms.
‘
Damn it, Grace, you know how I fel
t
about you
.
It hasn’t changed, b
ut
the timing is
wrong
for us
,
and
always will be
.
Y
ou’re grieving and my life…
well, my life’s complicated.
’
He closed his eyes,
savo
u
ring
the feel of her body against his, then let her go, swearing that he’d never allow himself
to get this close to her again.