“Pull up in front of her. I’ll take care of it.” I pushed back from the seats and grabbed the door handle.
“Julian.” A warning note in Alexander’s voice brought out a feral snap of my teeth. “Be careful.” He swiveled to face me. “I’ll be right behind you if you need me.”
No time to nod or acknowledge his offer. Dante wheeled up in front of Harper with a screech of tires.
I threw my door wide open. “Get in.” My voice boomed loud enough to draw her attention.
The woman beside her recovered first and all but shoved Harper into the car before falling in behind her.
Cameras snapped and the reporters tried to dive close enough to get a picture of the interior. Our blacked out windows kept them from seeing Alexander and Dante, but I was exposed.
Who cared? I’d been over the bullshit for years. If they wanted a scapegoat, I willingly stretched out my neck for the blow.
Harper slammed into the seat and scooted across. “What are you doing here?”
“Lila texted us from your phone when you didn’t answer. She told us you were here.” I pulled her across the seat until she almost landed in my lap.
The door closed, and the woman—Lila—patted the seat. “Go. Get her out of here before they surround the car.”
“They’ll be speed bumps if they try to cut me off.” Dante revved the engine when two men ran in front of the car. One threw himself across the hood. Dante slammed on the horn and rolled forward.
The man in front of the car dove out of the way. The one trying to climb onto the hood slid off to the side and hit the ground rolling.
“Alex, call that in to the police. Tell them I’ll send dashcam footage for proof of attempted assault. I know that asshat. He’ll try to sue.” Dante cut the wheel with another screech of tires and we bumped across the parking lot and onto the highway.
Alexander dialed and put the phone to his ear.
“Where are you going?” Harper leaned into me, her hands trembling and her body going soft.
I smoothed her hair back from her face. “We’re going to Dante’s penthouse.”
“No. You can’t do that.” Harper sat back with a sharp inhale. “I want to go home.”
“You’ll be safe at Dante’s. He has excellent security.” I tried to soothe her, but she pulled further away.
“It’s not about security. I want to go home. It’s best if we’re not seen together.” She hid her hands in her lap, her gaze skipping past me to the street ahead of us.
“Pretty sure that’s a moot point. They saw me.” I poked my thumb at my chest. “I’m not exactly subtle.”
Harper peered at me, her brows pulled down as she looked me over from head to toe. “They saw a man in jeans covered in tattoos. That is not the same as seeing Julian the businessman.” She swallowed hard and put a hand over her stomach. “Please take me home.”
“Why were you in the hospital?” Dante’s grip tightened on the wheel, but he turned left instead of right toward his penthouse.
Harper sighed. The sound came out almost broken and full of pain. “I forgot to eat and my blood sugar dropped. I passed out and Lila panicked.”
Lila sat with her back against the door, watching all of us with enough curiosity to put me on edge. Understandable. Did she know about us or was all this a complete surprise?
Harper fanned her face with one hand. “I’m sorry you drove all that way for nothing, but I’m glad you showed up when you did. I had no idea what to do.”
“I need to cancel our Uber.” Lila dug her phone from a small bag at her side. A stack of papers rustled, and she shoved them into the depths. “They’re probably waiting for us at the hospital.”
“If the reporters are still there, they’ll be hounding your driver for details. Did you put in your address?” Alexander finished his conversation with the police and swiveled to face Harper and Lila.
Lila shook her head. “I never give the address until I’m in the car.”
Not exactly policy, but it worked in our favor so I appreciated her tact.
“I’m assuming you’re Lila?” I caught her staring at Dante, and a flush crawled up her neck.
