“My people are efficient. It won’t take long.”
“It’ll take longer than an hour.”
“Where do you need to be in an hour?”
She shakes her head, her hair flying wildly. It makes me want to bury my hands in it.
“It’s none of your business where I need to be.”
I cock a brow and fold my arms across my chest.
“I have a presentation to finish for school. And it’s opening weekend. We have another show tonight.”
“I thought Sunday’s a matinee and that starts next weekend?”
“No, this weekend Miss Sylvia’s the choir director at church. So we’ve got a seven o’clock show tonight. We start Sunday matinees next week.”
“All right. Make a list of what you need from your apartment. Someone will go and get it.”
She stares at me for several long moments. “No.” Her eyes dart to the stairs. “I have to go. I can’t just stay here all day.”
“Unless you can get by me, you are staying all day.”
“What about the show?”
“When it’s time, I’ll take you to the theater.”
“Please. This isn’t necessary.”
“I say it is.”
“So I’m a prisoner?”
I nod.
“You’re as bad as Frank Palermo,” she says, looking stunned.
And I think,not in all ways, but in some, yeah, I am.
To her, I say, “Did you doubt it?”
“Yes, I obviously did,” she whispers.
Her gaze slides back to the bedroom door, like she’s regretting every moment she spent there. I’d be lying if I said that look didn’t cut me, but I let it pass. Even if I could afford to drop the search for the guys who hit us, I wouldn’t. The driver who was shot has a wife and a thirteen-month-old baby. I’m going after the guy who shot him until I get him. Zoe is gorgeous and I’m into her, but her hurt feelings aren’t enough to change what has to happen. I have an obligation to my crue.
“Is there anything I can say or do to get you to change your mind?” she asks.
“No.”
“All right. Can I wait somewhere other than the bedroom? Anywhere but there.”
Another cut, this one deeper. How does a girl that I’ve only fucked a couple of times have such a sharp blade to use on me? It’s never happened before. I need to watch myself with this one. She’s acting like she was sleeping with the enemy. But I may have been too. She’s the best friend and as close as a sister to the Palermo princess. Zoe’s outrage could be an act. A tactic to put me off my game.
“Yeah, sure. Come down,” I say. “You can have some breakfast.”
