“Royal—I can’t—” He put his hands on his hips and lowered his chin to his chest. “I need to go somewhere first, but it won’t take long. And then I’ll be back, and I’ll go with you to your dad's house, and then we can talk.”
“You want to go with me? Come with me right now. Tell me the truth on the way. And then tell my dad the truth about who you really are too so we can figure this out. There are other people involved in this now and it’s only fair that we know everything.”
Emotions raced across his face as I spoke. For a brief moment, I thought he might agree. I thought he might walk into his closet and start getting dressed so we could leave. Then he shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Then please let me get dressed so I can go.”
“Roy—”
“Stop,” I snapped.
“It's not safe for you to go alone.”
I spared him a glance. “I won’t be alone, I’ll have a driver or whoever –”
“You can’t call an Uber. You can’t—”
He broke off when he saw my face. And when he didn’t say anything else or do anything else, I snagged my wrinkled clothes off the dresser and brought them to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I changed quickly, eager to get out of here. If I kept moving, I wouldn’t cry. If I kept moving, I’d feel like I had a purpose.
When I opened the door, I wasn’t surprised to see Declan standing there. But I was surprised to find that he was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. And he had his phone in his hand. “Parker is going to take you to your dad’s house.”
I barely managed a nod, and then strode from the room in search of my shoes. I found them by the front door where I left them when I arrived here on Friday night. Then I stepped outside in the cool air, surprised to see a black car. “This one?” I asked, turning back to Declan.
“Royal…” he said, his voice breaking.
Crap. I couldn’t stand to hear him speak like that. And it wasn’t fair. He was the one who wasn’t being honest with me, not the other way around. I was leaving out of self-preservation. Until I could get my thoughts together.
“Tell me now or I’ll call my own driver,” I told him.
“Yes, this is the car,” he said, but walked with me to the back door and yanked it open before I could.
I hopped in and reached for the handle, but he stood in the way. “Move, Declan.”
“Please, don’t go,” he said. “I’ll fix this.”
I drew in a calming breath, and then looked him straight in the eye. “If you don’t move and let me go right now, we’re through.”
He couldn’t have looked more surprised if I’d slapped him. His eyes searched mine for a brief moment and then he stepped backward, letting me close the door. It was a low blow, I knew it, but he wouldn’t listen and I was verging on losing it.
I needed to get away, to calm down so I could be rational about this.
I turned from him and the devastated look on his face as Parker pulled away and started down the long gravel road.
“I need to stop by my house first,” I told him.
He hesitated for only a brief moment, then dipped his head in an odd. “Of course, Miss Patterson.”
Once again, the drive seemed to take forever, but only because I was aching the whole way. I picked up my phone three times to call Declan and tell him we could talk later.
But I forced myself to set it aside each time and take a calming breath. The time apart was good. Important.
After I stopped at home to shower and change, we headed straight to my father’s house. I felt fresh and clean, but tired and sad.
I pulled my phone from my purse once again, only to find two texts and one missed call from Declan.
I read the texts quickly. I’m sorry about this morning, the first one said. And the next made my teeth clench. I’ll meet you at your dad’s house.
I didn’t listen to the voice message. I just typed in Don’t bother to his last text and then turned off my phone.
I wasn’t going to get any perspective with him constantly texting or calling me. Besides, he needed to focus on whatever business he had to deal with so that he could decide if keeping secrets from me was really worth it or if we even had a chance.
We drove a few blocks in silence, then I heard a call coming in on the driver's phone. He pushed a button on the steering wheel, which I figured took the call off Bluetooth so that it didn’t project through the car speakers.
“Yes, sir?”
Oh, crap. It was Declan. I folded my arms and listened to Parker’s side of the call.
“Yes, sir. We’re on our way now. No. I don’t know.”
Parker listened for another moment and then he straightened. He pulled his mouth away from the phone and met my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Mr. Dark has requested you answer his call.”
I gritted my teeth. “Please tell Mr. Dark that it’s crass to get you involved, and no, I won’t answer his call.”
“She said—oh, you heard.” Parker listened for another moment, and then his gaze flicked to the rearview mirror again. I almost expected him to say something else to me, but he didn’t seem to be looking at me this time. He was looking at the traffic.
“Yes, sir. Three cars back.”
I spun in my seat, looking at the cars behind us. And there, just like
