the house.”
Persephone cleared her throat and tried to smooth the moisture from her cheeks. “And then maybe a nap.”
“A nap is a great idea.” Although the possibility of cuddling up with her in his bed almost undid him. Dodge figured he’d have to chain himself up in the storm cellar with Silas just to give the girl her space.
Persephone squared her shoulders and pasted an almost-convincing smile on her face. “Let’s do this. Just – warn me if you see any... alligators.”
Her smile faltered, since the alligators chasing them were armed with guns, so Dodge caught her hand in his. “Will do. If I see anything or think we need to do anything, I’ll give you very specific instructions. It might sound louder or... less friendly than normal, but it’s just habit to sound that way.”
“I won’t hold it against you if you save my life.” Persephone walked next to him as they exited the private room and got to the lobby, where all the waitresses and hostess called greetings in Korean and waved to them.
He did his best to answer, laughing and being friendlier than he wanted, so the waitstaff would remember him fondly and do him a solid in the future if he needed help. It was always best to have people on your side before you needed them to be. Dodge looped his arm around Persephone’s shoulders to hold her against his left side, wanting his right arm free in case he needed to draw and throw one of his knives. She hesitated, then leaned against him as they walked to the car.
Dodge concentrated on their surroundings, relieved that only half the goons were still watching the car. The rest must have followed Evershaw’s car. He wasn’t about to turn his back on a small gift. They gave him some space, so he’d get Persephone back to the house as fast as possible. He unlocked the car and opened her door, still searching the streets around them and examining the car itself for any bugs or trackers. When he finally got in the driver’s seat and started the car, Persephone glanced at him. “Where did you learn Korean?”
“I lived there for a little while,” he said, half his attention still on her as he drove. His brain sorted through thousands of data points as he searched for the indicators that signaled danger, all while trying to look and sound as normal as possible so Persephone wouldn’t freak out. “Picked up some phrases.”
“The waitresses were impressed,” she said, and managed a smile. “You’re very popular there.”
He snorted. “Probably because I eat there about once a week, don’t hit on them or bother them, and tip well.”
“What a gentleman.”
He glanced over, trying to see if she was fucking with him, but Persephone gazed out the window with a faint smile on her face. Dodge had no idea what she meant, what the smile meant, any of it. He wanted to growl in frustration. Why was she such a mystery? Why couldn’t he figure her out?
The wolf remained surprisingly silent on the matter; the dick wouldn’t even help him figure out how to woo the female. Dodge shook himself and pushed that particular distraction aside. Closest alligator to the boat first, then he could get his mind right about Persephone. There wouldn’t be anything to figure out if one or both of them ended up dead.
He held his breath for the rest of the ride as the goons followed a few cars behind them. At least they weren’t aggressive, but there was no guarantee they’d stay that way. Eventually Bridger would have to deal with Persephone, and someone like Bridger... Dodge hated to admit it but he knew the loan shark wouldn’t take the chance that Persephone had seen something at the sanctuary. Bridger would assume the architect was a problem and would deal with her the same way Bridger dealt with every problem. Eliminate threats and destroy the evidence.
But Persephone didn’t need to know that.
He parked her car as close to Deirdre’s house as possible, relieved to see that Todd and Mercy lingered on the front porch to observe their approach. Dodge caught Persephone’s hand. “We’re just going to walk up to the house and go inside, find a comfortable spot to sit, and figure out the next alligator. Okay?”
“And nap,” she added.
And then she squeezed his hand back. Dodge’s heart jumped.
He had to clear his throat to keep his tone steady as he agreed, “And nap, of course.”
Persephone