“Here? You’re staying… here?”
“Thank you for your assistance,” Elena said, taking the bag Jamie scooped up from the sidewalk. Clutching it tight against her middle, she tipped her chin higher, daring to meet Anthony’s eyes for a brief instant. “It’s very much appreciated, but if you’ll excuse us.”
“Give me a break, Elena,” Anthony said through a low growl, keeping pace as they headed for the doors. “This is hardly the place where you belong. Definitely not where I’d put you.”
“Then it’s a good thing you have no say,” Elena murmured as the doorman greeted them with a stiff nod and opened the door. Gods, she must look terrible if even he was being less than gracious.
Perhaps it was the Alpha stalking along beside her whoobviously did not belong there with his designer slacks and shiny loafers. Anthony was right. Nothing about this hotel was what she was used to, not that she’d stayed in many of them over the years. The very fact Jamie was in quiet conversation with the front desk attendant, and they weren’t being whisked up to some huge suite was jarring. There was no valet vanishing with her luggage, and the dark green card Jamie fished from his wallet did not have Costanzo engraved upon it.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes, but Elena refused to let them fall as she sidled away from Anthony when he eased closer. The pounding in her ears matched the throbbing ache in her leg and arm. It drowned out everything for a handful of heartbeats before she dragged in a shuddery breath that smelled of bleach and institutional air fresheners.
“I truly am sorry, Elena. Let me buy you dinner,” Anthony was saying as he edged around to face her. Not quite blocking her view of Jamie, but close. “Bring him along, of course. We’ll eat here, I’ll have something brought in.”
“As if that kind of spectacle won’t be noticed.” Elena scoffed.
“I’ll sneak it in through the back. Bribe the manager and attendants.”
“Right.”
“You have to eat, Elena. Why not with some company? For the sake of an old friend.”
“We were never friends, Mr. Marchetti.” Elena pulled her lips to the side, glancing up at Anthony. It would be nice to have an actual conversation. Jamie was wonderful, more than she could have ever asked for, but he was decidedly Spartan with his talk.
“And I was more the fool for that,” Anthony said with a low bow of his head. He offered her that same strange, sharp grin that made her skin prickle in warning. “Let me make up for lost time. Hotel restaurant, eight o’clock sharp. Do you like steak?”
“I haven’t said yes.”
“You haven’t said no.”
“Miss Costanzo,” Jamie murmured, taking her elbow to start Elena towards the elevator.
She glanced at Jamie, one brow raised. Question and plea both as he set her suitcase down in favor of resting his palm over the butt of a gun in his belt. Jamie gave a gusty sigh.
“Medium rare,” Elena called as the doors closed.
SIX
LEON
Gravel sprayed from beneath the tires as Leon swerved beneath the underpass, aiming for the two cars right where they were supposed to be. One looked as if it’d been through a shredder, bits of chrome and steel dangling against the scarred paint job. He was surprised the vehicle made the journey there.
“What the hell happened,” Leon demanded as he launched himself out of the car towards Silas and the men clustered behind him.
“All hell broke loose, that’s what.” Silas grimaced as he pointed to the wrecked vehicle. “And you’re paying to fix that.”
“Hell I am. I didn’t tell you to crash into her!”
“Wasn’t her, jackass,” Silas snarled as he leaned against a pylon.
Leon took a moment to really look at Silas and his men. Many of them sported stained bandages and ripped clothing. All of them held an aggressive air of a fight not finished to their satisfaction.
“What happened,” Leon asked again, forcing his body to relax as he unclenched his fists at his sides.
“Someone was chasing her,” Silas snapped, shoving away from the pylon to take two stalking strides away from the support before turning to take a handful more in the other direction.
“Chasing her?”
“That’s what I said. They were firing at her car. We just happened to get into the right spot to ram them to let her get away. We couldn’t follow after that.”
