“Save your breath,” he advised when Karolina yelled at him to put her down.
He strode on past the classic car with uniformed chauffeur waiting for the bride and groom.That was the past.This was her future.He’d arrived in the Lamborghini, and that was how they’d leave.
“Does this thing have seat belts, or do I rely on G-force to keep me in place?”
With an impatient sigh, he ensured Karolina was safely buckled in.Her ridiculous dress took up most of the cabin.
“Where are you taking me?”she asked, batting the fabric away.
“To my London home.”
“Am I supposed to be impressed?”she demanded tight-lipped, still high on anger at his late arrival and unorthodox appearance, he guessed.He’d been trialing a new horse.What could be more important than that?His wedding?Give me a break.
“How many homes do you have exactly?”Karolina asked.
“I don’t know.I never counted them.”Gunning the engine, he spun the wheel and hit the gas.
“You don’t know?”
“Does it matter?”
“No—” She glanced behind them at the fast-disappearing embassy.“Nothing matters now.”
“You’ve given up?”
“Far from it,” she assured him in a determined tone.
“Should I be worried?”He had no way of knowing if he could trust his bride and could only rely on common sense that dictated no one could live beneath that roof and not know what was going on.
“Have you noticed the type of man I’ve been living with?”
He wanted to believe he could trust Karolina.“And if I have noticed something?”
Halting the car at a stop light, he studied her face.Furious anger and desperate appeal best described Karolina’s expression.Maybe she was a great actress, or maybe his brain so firmly lodged below his belt when it came to Karolina Karolides, he couldn’t think straight.
“Did you change your mind about getting married?”she pressed as he drove on again.“Is that why you were late?”
“You switch subjects with the speed of an adept.I turned up, didn’t I?”
“Should I be grateful?”
“That’s up to you.”
“Was the stench of corruption too much to face, or were you just reluctant?”
“As reluctant as you?”
She shrugged.“Maybe you needed more time to finesse your plans.”
“Meaning?”
“Plans to take over my father’s business.You wouldn’t be the first to try, but you are the first to go to so much trouble.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” he murmured as he brought the muscle car to a halt in the exclusive London square where his elegant Georgian town house was situated.
“They all ended up dead.”
He hummed.
