Dollars (Dollar #2)(56)

My past blended with my present, and I didn’t just run from them; I ran from him.

Alrik.

My heart yelped, grabbing bellows to force more oxygen into my almost crippled limbs. Stumbling, I never gave up until I skidded to a stop beside Elder.

He didn’t flinch, merely glanced at me as if I’d been there all along.

I was safe with him, but the chasing stampede continued. I looked over my shoulder, fear once again ransacking my stomach.

Elder stopped and spun in place, dragging me behind him with a firm grip.

The men locked their knees, turning their jog into a standstill. They glanced from me to Elder who stiffened with frost then crossed his arms in predatory invitation.

For a second, they sized him up, their desire to punish me willing to earn a few bruises in a fight. But as Elder took a heavy step in their direction, they decided it wasn’t worth it and turned around.

A few pissed off glances sailed over their shoulders, interlaced with angry grumbles.

As the distance between them and us widened, I gave into the residual pain and hugged myself, breathing hard.

Elder interrupted my recovery with a harsh snip. “How does it feel to be punished for doing the right thing?”

I threw him a withering look.

He gave me a raised eyebrow.

I glowered at him the entire way back to the Phantom.





“SIR? YOU WANTED the car again?”

I looked up from my email as Selix entered my office.

After returning to Phantom yesterday, I’d left Pimlico to her own devices. I had too much work to do to spend yet more energy on her.

I’d forced her to take responsibility for herself and her choices. I wouldn’t say my method of teaching had backfired, but she hadn’t forgiven me for stealing or for making her give it back.

As we’d boarded the yacht and gone our separate ways, her temper crackled so fierce it lashed my skin long after I’d said goodbye.

I’d witnessed her wrath hidden beneath servitude at Alrik’s, but this was the first time I’d seen it uncoil and silently rage against my actions. She wanted a fight—her tone of glances and language of harsh sniffs said as much.

And as much as I’d like to argue with her, to engage in a battle of wills—to prove once and for all she couldn’t f*cking win, I couldn’t.

I had to keep my distance because, f*ck me, that almost kiss.

That moment of sheer insanity in the middle of a dirty street.

The moment I caught her, I’d grown hard. The closer I’d dragged her, the harder I got. And the longer we played whatever bloody game we played, the more I craved a release.

She’d decimated the rickety foundation I’d created after losing everything. She had the power to make me lust far more than a master should his slave.

She’s never been a slave.

That was true. But now was not the time to admit it.

She wouldn’t push me so much if she knew how graphic my thoughts had become. How salacious and explicit.

I’d seen her naked often enough that my fantasies had become far too realistic. I’d done things to her that I could never do thanks to her history carving great scars into her.

I kept my distance for both our sakes.

“Yes.” I closed my laptop. “His Royal Highness has been called away to a diplomatic meeting. He would like the original blueprints delivered in A5 before he leaves.”

So much for never meeting him again.

I doubted I’d ever be comfortable now he knew my true identity.

“I can drop them off.” Selix straightened his black blazer. “It’s no hardship.”

I shook my head. “I promised I’d do it personally. I’d planned on heading into the city again before we departed anyway.” Standing, I moved to the cabinet where the copies of the current yachts under construction rested in tight scrolls. Selecting the right one, I tapped it against my palm. “Tell Pim to meet me by the ramp. Yesterday, she did well—despite a few mishaps. Today, I’ll reward her.”

Selix smiled tightly. “Fine. See you on the dock in five.”

*

“These plans don’t have the amendments we discussed but the minute they’re completed, I’ll email.” I passed Simo the silky pages of his soon-to-be-waterproof creation.

Like yesterday, he wore a three-piece suit with a crisp white turban on his head. Unlike yesterday, his wife and children weren’t present.

He glanced around the park where we’d arranged to meet—half-way for me from the Phantom and half-way for him from his house before heading to the airport. Even for a sea lover like me, the park was perfect in its natural simplicity.

Simo sighed. “It’s times like this I don’t want to leave my home country.”

I focused on the quaint quietness around us. Bird song and the occasional squeal of children playing tag in the rose bushes. It did have a sense of peace, but it was too still beneath my feet, too quiet without the dull roar of engines and ocean squalls.

But I smiled and agreed. “Your home is beautiful. I understand why.”

Simo grinned. “And your home? Do you miss it?”

I stiffened; very aware he could bring up my true identity and blab to Pim who stood beside me.

She watched silently but not stupidly. Her gaze stole every twitch and motion, storing for future reference. She never stopped judging, trying to slip beneath my walls and loot my secrets. Her silence was deadly in that respect. How had Alrik never sensed the sleeping assassin inside her? The power hidden beneath survival just waiting to put everything she’d gleaned into practice?