“Stop looking at me. Shower,” he commanded.
I bobbed my head and went into the all-white marble bathroom. It was an old hotel, so the space was small, but the big showerhead and glass sinks were nicer than anything I was used to.
As I let the water heat, my mind wandered. Was this subtle shift in Jack because of me? Was it because he’d decided to take another path? I didn’t know, but for certain, his change of plans caught me off guard. Even he had to see how turning away from his past meant he wasn’t irredeemable. Something told him not to repeat history.
I let out a slow breath and stepped under the shower, allowing the hot water to run down my neck and back. I shampooed and washed my body, noting my sore muscles. I felt physically exhausted, and mentally, the worry was just getting started. Because I was beginning to realize that I’d made a deal with that blonde woman. A deal I couldn’t keep.
Fuck. I should’ve told Jack about the cuff. I should have said something right away.
“What cuff?” His voice came from the other side of the shower curtain.
I looked down at the water pooling around my feet. “It’s supposed to bring back your memories. I was going to tell you.”
“What?” He pulled back the curtain.
Oh God. I shut off the water, and he handed me a towel, sneering at me with those sinful lips.
I wrapped it around my body but stayed in the shower. There was nowhere else to go. “That woman from Tampa showed up at the warehouse while you were…were…” I couldn’t say the word dead. “She said she was there to kill you, but when I mentioned you couldn’t remember who you were, she offered a deal. I’d get you to wear the cuff, and she’d leave me and my dad alone.”
Jack was on me faster than I could process. “You lied to me?” he snarled, wrapping his hands around my neck.
“Don’t. Touch. Me,” I snarled back.
His blue eyes shifted to his hand. He dropped it. “My apologies. I did not—”
This time, he seemed disturbed by his reaction. “You must go. It is unsafe to be near me.” He left the bathroom, and I followed.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Where the hell do you think this is leading? To a happy place? Even if I have decided not to pursue my past any further, there is no question that my past will pursue me.”
“I don’t care, Jack,” I said quietly.
“You should.”
“I agree with what you said the other night; our paths were meant to cross.”
He shook his head. “Perhaps so, but—”
There was a knock at the door. He went over to check. “Breakfast.” He pulled the door open and took the tray from the man.
He closed the door and set everything near the window on top of a small table.
The room filled with the scent of coffee and bacon. My mouth watered. I was starving.
With his back to me, I could see him inhale sharply. “Stay for breakfast; then you must return home.” He began dressing, putting on black slacks.
“Lost my appetite. But thanks.” I dug through my purse and handed him the cuff. “Here. Take it. If you change your mind someday, I don’t want to be responsible for losing it.”
He looked at the cuff and set it beside the breakfast tray. I grabbed some clean clothes from my duffel bag. Honestly, I was pissed. He knew there was more to “us,” and he had no right to open a door, leading to a place I never asked to go to, only to slam it shut in my face.
I slid on my jeans and sweatshirt. I had no idea where to go from here.
“I am sorry, Jeni. I never should have brought you along.” He pressed a hand on my shoulder.
I ignored him and packed up my things, most of which were still damp from running around in the rain all day yesterday.
I slid on my boots and purple coat.
When I turned to say goodbye, I noticed him just standing there, staring at the newspaper that had come with the breakfast tray. His eyes were dark, his expression morbid, his lips flattened into a hard line.
A sense of doom washed over me. “What?”
“Is this today’s date?” He pointed at the top of the paper.
“Yes. Why?”
He set down the paper, looked at the cuff, and picked it up.
“What are you doing?”
He slid it on and closed his eyes. I stood motionless next to the door, waiting for the sky to fall.
Then, without a word, he opened his eyes.
Jesus, his eyes. They were no longer blue, but a haunting silvery gray.
“Are you…?” I didn’t know what to ask. Was he okay? Was he still himself?
His eyes slowly moved to my face, a quiet rage brewing behind his icy gaze.
I swallowed hard. I could feel the darkness, the hate, the power radiating off him. This was not the same man who’d taken me to bed last night.
“Jack?”
He walked straight for the door, forcing me to move out of his way. “My name isn’t Jack. It’s King. And you will wait here.” He left the room without another word.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Holy shit. Holy shit. So that was King, the man hidden away inside Jack. And if what I’d just felt wasn’t my imagination, then he was a thousand times more powerful and dangerous.
The question was, would he harm me?
I plunked down on the bed and covered my face, whooshing out a slow breath. I didn’t want to believe that Jack would hurt me, but that man was not Jack.
Not anymore. I needed to get the hell out of San Francisco.
I grabbed my stuff and exited the room, hoping I’d find a way to get home to Florida. It might require taking a plane to somewhere cheap and then catching a bus the rest of the way. I didn’t know, but my instincts were screaming to run.
I pressed the elevator button and got in. By the time I reached the lobby and stepped outside, my heart was having an entirely different conversation with my brain.
Nothing had really changed. I was still trying to figure out what the deal was with my “gift,” and Jack—crap, I meant King—hadn’t told me what I was dealing with when it came to Blondie.
Bottom line, my wagon was hitched to King’s. I had no choice but to trust that the little bit of good inside him would keep me safe. It had so far.
A black Mercedes sedan with tinted windows pulled up. The window in the back lowered, revealing those silvery eyes.
“Thought I told you to stay the hell here, Jeni.”
King. What was he doing in the back of that car? “Where’d you go?”
“Went to get my kingdom back. Get in.”
Huh? I hesitated, still having that debate between my head and heart. Meanwhile, a group of tourists passed us, doing several takes at King. It was hard not to look at him. He exuded power, like a living god.
Do not make me ask twice, he said inside my head and pushed open the door.
Strange how I was getting used to him intruding in my head. It almost felt natural. On the other hand, that familiarity had been with Jack. I needed to be on my guard with King.
“Wise choice, Miss Arnold,” he said.
He slid over, and I got inside, placing my bag at my feet. I shut the door, cocooning us in a quiet bubble. In the driver’s seat was an older man, with gray curly hair and a husky build. “Who’s he?”