“Yes. But—”
“Can you give me the address?”
“Royal, this is a terrible idea.”
“Xander,” I said, breathless. “Come on. This might be my only chance to get answers.”
He grumbled but I heard him typing on his computer.
“I’m sorry,” I told Randy.
“Royal,” he started, eyes squinting against the rain. “It’s hard to see.”
The worry in his voice made my stomach clench. Dammit. This wasn’t his job. And if Xander found the address, I could go after Declan anyway without racing down a slick road.
“I’ve got it,” Xander said. “I’ll text you the address.”
“Thanks. I should go.”
“Ro—”
“It’s okay,” I told Randy after I ended the call. “You can slow down. I don’t…”
I didn’t want to get anyone hurt. This was the same stretch of road my dad had had his accident on, probably chasing the same answers I was right now.
Randy slowed the car. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, sounding very much like a father. “I mean, if this guy was following you, maybe you should just call the police.”
“I can’t,” I told him. I was prepared to elaborate when Xander’s text came through on my phone. “I have the address.”
I told Randy and he nodded.
“We’re close,” he said.
I sat back in the seat and tapped my fingers nervously on my knee until Randy slowed the car. Water coated his windshield and he turned the wipers up so he could see better.
After another minute, we were sitting outside two iron gates that were open, almost like Declan expected me to show up.
“I think this is it,” Randy said. “You sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure,” I told him before thinking it through. I couldn’t stop now.
He drove down a long driveway before the house came into view. But when it did, he whistled, “Wow. Your stalker is rich.”
He was Declan Dark. Of course he was rich. But his place was beautiful. It looked like a cabin, but not the cozy kind you saw on television or in magazines. This place was huge, backing right up to the mountains and taking my breath away.
“I guess stalking pays well,” I mumbled under my breath.
Randy stopped the car as close to the house as he could get it.
Feeling guilty, I grabbed a wad of bills out of my wallet—everything that was in there—and passed them over the seat.
“Thank you, Randy,” I said. “You didn’t have to drive out here, but you did.”
He held the bills loosely in his hand. “Two things: One, I can’t take all this from you—”
“You deserve it—”
“And two,” he continued like I hadn’t said a word, “I can’t leave you here. I do my best to ignore what’s going on in my back seat when I’m driving clients, but since you’re my favorite client and I was sort of involved in this pursuit—the first one I’ve done by the way—I feel like I have at least a little say. Leaving you here would eat at me all day.”
“Randy,” I started. I sighed and eyed the house. I had to get in there soon. If Declan spotted me and ran again, then what? “I get what you’re saying, but this isn’t your problem.”
“Royal,” he said, using his Dad voice again. “You have to be close to the same age as my boy. If this were him, I’d be looking out for him like a father’s supposed to do. Since your father can’t be here right now, I’m doing what he’d probably want me to do.”
Emotion thickened in my throat. I swallowed hard. It felt like it had been so long since I’d had a father or someone to care for me like this. Randy was a good guy and I had to let him. That was the type of person he was.
I nodded and gave him a small smile. “All right. Tell you what. I’ll go in there and you wait out here for fifteen minutes. If I’m not back out by then, you can worry.”
“Sounds fair.”
He leaned back in his seat while I got out, stuffing my phone in my back pocket and willing my legs to carry me to the front door.
It opened before I could reach for the handle. My breath caught when I saw Declan, dressed in black from head to toe, his jaw clenched.
“I thought we were supposed to meet at the coffee shop,” he said, voice rough.
I arched one eyebrow. “Then what were you doing at the hospital?”
He looked to the circle drive and eyed Randy’s car before stepping back. “Come in.”
It was an effort to keep my breathing even, to not give away anything as I trailed behind him to the living room. It was two-story, with wide windows on one side that offered a view of the mountains he seemed to appreciate as much as I did.
As I walked, I pulled out my phone to check the time. I didn’t have long before I had to reassure Randy.
“You’re the first intern I’ve ever had at my house,” Declan said wryly, dropping gracefully into one of the chairs by a fireplace.
My stomach clenched. He was acting way too casual and it made me suspicious. I sat on the edge of the other one, not feeling comfortable enough to relax all the way.
“Would you like something to drink?” Declan asked. “Or to eat?”
I choked on a laugh. “Seriously?”
He gave me a confused look. “Why not? Isn’t that good manners despite the fact that you tracked me somehow and showed up at my home unannounced?”
“I’m so sorry,” I said
