The Fearless King (The Kings #2)(22)

She didn’t know how to fix anything.

Journey sat there, passive and silent, and watched the city scroll by. Victim yet again. I had a chance to fight, and all I did was collapse in a ball and wait for him to hurt me. Pathetic. Worthless. Coward.

“Whatever you’re telling yourself, it’s wrong.”

Journey rolled her head to face him. Frank looked just as in control as he always seemed to—his big body effortlessly fitting into the driver’s seat of his car. The only indication that his ease might be covering up something was the way he gripped the steering wheel as if propelling the vehicle through sheer will. She huddled deeper into her oversized sweater. “Have you added mind reading to your impressive set of skills?”

He shot her a look. “I don’t have to be a mind reader. It’s written all over your face. You’re replaying what just happened and mentally whipping yourself for not doing more or reacting in a different way.”

“I was within inches of the knife block.” She hadn’t meant to say it aloud, but once the words drifted into the air between them, she couldn’t take them back. “I know half a dozen methods of self-defense, even if I don’t keep up on practicing them like I should. I can shoot pretty decently. None of it mattered.”

A muscle in his jaw jumped, but his voice was just as even as ever. “He showed up at your place—where you feel safe—unannounced and at an hour when you weren’t expecting anyone.” He flicked the blinker and changed lanes, taking them out of town and down toward the coast. “I’ll bet he barely waited two minutes before he danced on every trigger you have.”

Her stomach lurched, and she pulled her knees to her chest, trying to battle down the nausea. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve known men like him. He’s a predator and a bully, and he wouldn’t attempt to corner you when there was a chance someone else might step in.”

If Frank hadn’t shown up when he did…She reached over blindly, and he didn’t hesitate to take her hand. He squeezed it hard, as if he knew she needed exactly that to ground her. He already sees too much, and you just keep letting him see more. It wasn’t as if she had a choice.

No. Damn it, no.

She had a choice, and she’d chosen him to be the one to help her out of this mess. Journey stared at their linked fingers, his dark skin against her pale. “Why were you at my place today, Frank?”

“Because you’re dodging my damn calls.” He snorted. “For someone who said you needed my help, you have a funny way of showing it.”

“I was busy.”

“I don’t doubt it. But we both know that was only part of it.”

Since he was right, she ignored that. Journey told herself to take her hand back, but she couldn’t quite translate the thought into action. “I don’t know how my father got up to my floor.” Her building was supposed to be one of the most secure in the city, and even that hadn’t deterred Elliott.

Frank’s hand twitched in hers. “He bribed one of the security guards.”

That got her attention. She straightened her legs and twisted to face him. “How in the hell would you know that?” Journey took her hand back, something like anger flaring to life. It warmed her in a way nothing else seemed to these days.

Nothing but Frank.

She pushed that thought away and focused on him. “You hacked the security feed in my building.” When he didn’t respond, her jaw dropped. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“I didn’t hack the security feed in your building.”

Oh, now he found his words. She poked him in the shoulder. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Tell me you didn’t buy my freaking building.”

“It’s not a recent acquisition, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Journey sat back. “You have some brass balls, don’t you? How in the hell did you manage it? Bellamy tried when I moved in, but the owner wasn’t interested in selling. When did you manage it?” She hadn’t lived there all that long—a little over a year—and she would have known if Frank freaking Evans owned the building when she moved in.

His hands flexed on the steering wheel. “Several months ago. The owner just needed the right incentive to agree to the deal.”

She just bet he did. She opened her mouth to tell him he was out of line but…Damn it, he was out of line. It shouldn’t matter that he’d saved her before things got truly bad today, or that she understood his wanting to keep tabs on any King living in Houston. “It was no coincidence that you showed up when you did. You’re having me watched.”

“Protected,” he snapped. “I’m hardly spying on you, and I only had one of my men keep track of your place after you asked for my help. You’re welcome, by the way.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You should have asked me.”

“You weren’t returning my calls.”

Not much she could say to that. She glanced out the window and frowned. “Where are we going? I thought you lived in the city.”

“I do. Most of the time.” He took an exit. “I have a place close to the office where the commute passes for reasonable and where I can work after hours during the week or take meetings.”