Attest (Centrifuge Duet Book 2)(9)
The car unlocks with a flash of the headlights and two chirps that fill the silence that’s grown since my barb hit home.
“Get in.”
I do as I’m told, sliding into a leather seat that is the first piece of luxury I’ve felt since I was arrested. A sigh of something—contentment, enjoyment, I don’t know—leaves me before I can stop it.
It brings a smile to B’s face and a smart retort to her lips. “I know you’re more appreciative than you’re letting on. That’s why I’m going to choose to forget what you said a moment ago. We need each more than you realise, Xander.”
She starts the engine and lets down the handbrake. When she places her hand on the gear lever to shift the car into drive, I seize my opportunity. I run my fingers over the back of her hand in an erratic pattern, triumph growing within me when I hear her breath hitch in her throat. With gentle pressure, I wrap my hand around her wrist and use it to turn her to face me.
“I am very grateful for all that you’ve done.” Her dark brown eyes flare with an emotion that is quickly hidden, but I catch it. She finds me attractive. “While I’m not exactly pleased with the conditions of my parole, I am thankful that I’ve been released from that hell-hole because of your efforts to do the right thing.”
I know it’s a long shot—mixing part of the truth with the few facts I’ve gleaned from her to see if I can make her more amendable—but it’s all I’ve got at the moment. In a life bereft of allies and any obvious advantages, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.
“Thank you.” B uses her free hand to pat my fingers where they hold her wrist before she lays it on the side of my face. A small silence ensues, and I see her pondering what to say next. The surge of hope I felt back in the Warden’s office becomes a tsunami of confidence when I spy nothing but straightforwardness in her expression when she speaks again. “I’m certain that you’ll come to see things my way before long. I have high hopes that our agreement will correct the wrongs that have been rendered the both of us. That is, after all, why we chose you as our partner.”
B’s choice of words strengthens my newfound confidence that she is going to be easier to manipulate than I first thought. My elevation from parolee to partner is testament to that. This may be over quicker than anticipated.
“Do not mistake my good nature for stupidity, Xander.” A light brush of her hand against my cheek brings me back down to earth with a thud. “My tolerance for gameplaying has been pushed to its limit. The plan we have in place will be executed with or without your willing participation, so I’d advise that you act willingly. I’d hate to see anything happen to that adorable little nephew of yours.”
My previous confidence recedes a little, only to return like a rogue wave on a windy beach when I let go of her wrist and lay my hand against the one she has on my face. “Then we agree. I abhor games. I much prefer my enemies see my face when I come for them.”
I hold my breath while I wait to see how she’s going to play my last shot. As always, this enigmatic woman surprises me. Wordlessly, B shakes her hand out from under mine, pushes the car into drive, and drives out of the prison parking lot. I wait for her to threaten me in return, but nothing is forthcoming.
There isn’t any tension in the car as we are inspected on our way out through the final barrier between me and the real world. The guard who grunts his approval for us to leave through the gatehouse barely bothers to glance in my direction. My newly self-appointed partner turns onto the road that leads us back into the city and I lay my head against my seat, so I can attempt to rest during the journey.
My eyelids are on the cusp of becoming too heavy when B ends the quiet.
“I like your style, Xander Barrett. I like it very much.”
A small smile curves my lips. My belief in my ability to even the playing field in this game returns with vengeance.
She likes my style.
That’s ironic—seeing as how she’s going to be receiving my style of justice up close and personal if I have my way.
FIVE
––––––––
We pull into the driveway of a single-story house. The sand coloured stone of the building brings back memories of the home I shared with Amber for almost a decade. The pang this memory causes in my heart threatens to steal my wits, so I push it away and lock it into the vault I keep in my mind for everything Amber related.
One day, that vault is going to be opened and I’ll be able to revisit the best years of my life with a smile on my face.
Unfortunately, today is not that day.
B stops the car, but she doesn’t kill the engine. She hands me a set of keys and points to the sea-blue front door. I close my hand around them, enjoying the feel of holding something so ordinary as a set of keys. It’s something I never thought I’d do again.
“This is your new home. You’ll find everything you need inside.” She jerks her head toward the car in front of us. It’s a black BMW sedan, much smarter than anything I’ve ever driven, and I wonder if it belongs to whoever she has charged with guarding me for her. “That’s your car. The keys are inside.”
She waves at me to get out of her vehicle and I comply without hesitation. The moment I shut my door her car is moving backward down the drive. It stops long enough for her to roll down her window and fire one final parting shot.