I drove this way for awhile then Sissy said quietly from beside me, “Ava, you’re kind of scaring me.”
I slowed.
“I think we lost him,” Daisy murmured, looking behind her.
“Shee-it,” Shirleen breathed.
“I need cookies,” I declared.
* * * * *
I dropped a shaking Sissy off. She wandered into her Dad’s house looking dazed.
Shirleen and Daisy followed me to Luke’s. I went in and they drove off, Daisy behind the wheel of my Range Rover.
The back of the Range Rover was damaged. Shirleen and Daisy were taking it to “a friend” so he would fix it, thus hiding the evidence from Luke that I’d been out, doing stupid shit and getting into trouble.
I went up to the loft directly to my computer, flipped it on and decided to work and not think about any of this.
I had no idea who this new person was who was after me and I was just going to pretend it didn’t happen. I was going to find a happy place in my mind and live there forever. I was going to forget about hot guy, macho man Luke Stark wanting to get in my pants, about Dominic Dickhead being a jerk, Uncle Vito ordering people to be murdered and me to be kidnapped, and the upcoming call from Ren Zano, which would lead to a big wedding and lotsa babies.
I had walked into Nightingale Investigations on a Thursday. It was Sunday and my life wasn’t just pretty f**king complicated, it was completely out-of-control.
I managed to quit shaking. I did this not with cookies because, after a very thorough search of Luke’s kitchen, I found that Sandra Whoever-She-Was hadn’t stocked Luke’s cupboard with cookies, only healthy eating crap which didn’t do anything to stop the shakes. I did it by alternately working, tidying Luke’s loft and drinking diet liberally mixed with splashes of Sailor Jerry.
I finally was able to focus and was coming close to finishing my deadline project when I heard the elevator doors slide open. I turned in my chair. Luke walked in silently, eyes on me.
Or, I should say, his dangerously shining, dark blue eyes were on me.
Uh-oh.
I slowly stood and turned to face him. He walked directly to the semi-circular bar and dropped a pair of cuffs and what looked like a weird gun on it.
I stared at the cuffs and the weapon, thinking upsetting thoughts.
He rounded the bar and came into the kitchen area. He stopped, put a palm on the counter and leaned into it. The whole time he did this, he kept his eyes on me.
“Hey,” I said, trying for innocent and casual. “You have a good afternoon?”
“Come here,” he replied and he did not use his soft, gentle, affectionate voice.
Eek!
“Everything okay?” I asked, still clinging onto innocent and casual with all I had.
“Come here,” he repeated.
Okay, innocent and casual weren’t working.
“What’s going on?”
“Ava, if you make me say it again…”
I went silent.
He moved, just slightly but it was enough to make me jump. This made him smile, not a Sexy Luke Smile, a Dangerous Luke Smile.
“Luke, tell me what’s going on!” I demanded, beginning to freak out.