After leaving Remy’s apartment last night, I had called Sal from her lobby, and he said they were heading out, but they spotted a car that hadn’t been in the area by the gas station. I put two and two together and told Sal to come back for me. When they came back to get me, we had driven by the gas station and saw an old, compact car parked near the curb. Tomas had broken in and the insurance and registration showed the car was registered to one, Remy Christian. We headed out, but I told Sal to make sure someone came back and fixed her car and parked it at her place. I hadn’t worried that we didn’t have her keys. My men could do anything.
I shook off my meeting with Gio and started wondering what I was going to do about Remy Christian. I was never indecisive when it came to shit like this…well, anything really. But every time I imagined putting a bullet in between those startling blue eyes of hers, there was this thump in my chest that was particularly unpleasant.
This morning I had ruined Francesca’s plans for a family breakfast when I had called Phoenix and Ciro up to my apartment and told them what had happened. Phoenix had immediately logged onto the computer in my office and did a search on Remy Christian. Phoenix was a whiz at computers, but he wasn’t quite as gifted as Sal. But, then, Sal’s was responsible for the entire Benetti Organization where Phoenix’s skills were for my benefit only.
I already knew the basics from her driver’s license, but Phoenix was able to find out that her parents were still alive and lived in Nebraska, and she had no siblings. Her father worked in a factory and her mother worked as a secretary. Remy, herself, worked as a social worker for Morgan City’s government center. And there was a story there, because, even if she wasn’t rolling in dough, she made enough money to live in a better neighborhood. She’d gone to college and, for whatever reason, she had moved to Morgan City to work with social services.
Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in her apartment, and I was appalled at how easy it was to break into the lobby and her apartment. Phoenix’s search on her suggested she’d be home around six, so that gave me about an hour to search her place.
It took all of twenty minutes.
The woman had nothing much in the way of personal stuff in her apartment, but then, living in this neighborhood, you probably couldn’t invest in anything that could get stolen. So, all my snooping was for nothing. I hadn’t learned anything more about her than I already knew.
The door to her apartment opened about an hour later. I was sitting at her tiny kitchen table, so she didn’t notice me right off, but when she did, she let out startled yelp and dropped the files she had been holding in her hands.
“Wh…”
I stood up and walked over to her. I shut the door behind her and bent to pick up her stuff. Remy remained standing in shock as I placed the files on the rickety tray next to the front door.
Eyes still wide, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Why do you live in this neighborhood?” I asked, ignoring her question. “And don’t lie to me.”
She blinked a few times, trying to get a grasp on what was going on. “What?”
“Why do you live here when you can afford better?”
“Uh, because…uhm, I’m a social worker. The children I’ve placed in foster care…I pay for their monthly checkups out of my own money,” she answered. “Almost half my pay goes to their care.”
She sacrificed her safety and comfort for children who weren’t hers.
“Same with your car?”
She nodded, then her face blushed. “Uhm, thank you for fixing it…uh, last night,” she mumbled.
I took a step forward, and she took a step back. We danced to the same tune we did last night until her back was up against the door. I reached up and took her face in my hand and ran my thumb across her lower lip.
I wasn’t going to kill her.
There was no way I was going to kill this woman. Not when she made me feel things I’ve never felt before. “I have to go,” I told her. “But I’ll be seeing you soon, Remy Christian.”
I leaned down and placed a small kiss below her jaw, and then walked out.
Chapter 8
Remy~
Luca Benetti was messing with my head, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
That stunt he pulled last night had my mind spinning all night long. At this rate, I’ll be a walking zombie, mindless due to lack of sleep.
And that kiss.
Jesus Christ.
What was up with that?
Was it just the equivalent of a cat playing with the mouse before he devoured it? Was he getting off on turning me into a nutcase? Because, right now, I was more rattled than I was scared. If he was going to kill me, I’d rather he just get on with it. The waiting was making me crazy. Every stranger was a threat and every unfamiliar noise felt like the end of my life.
And, then, there was that horrible, horrible attraction the man was dragging out of me. If I wasn’t fearing for my life, I was thinking of that stupid little peck. It was a peck for crying out loud. Was I so hard up that I actually got excited over a peck?
Apparently so.
And, now, sitting at Jeu Café for lunch, my appetite was even messing with me. I’d been sitting here for a half hour already,
