When a loud, hollow knocking echoed in her little bungalow, Riley froze in place. She’d half expected him to be a no-show.
She opened the door and stared at Shadow. He wore a full suit, his dark hair slicked back. The man looked good enough to eat.
“You look stunning,” he said, his voice rough and smooth at the same time.
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t have many fancy dresses.”
He wet his thick lips, and she couldn’t look away. “You’re perfect.” The way he said the words left no room for argument. He reached out his hand and she took it.
Soon after locking up, they were in his car, the soft leather caressing her thighs.
“I never see you drive this car,” she said.
“It’s for special occasions.”
She breathed in his subtle cologne, a mix of musk and sandalwood. His hands on the steering wheel were big and strong, his fingers long with neatly trimmed nails. She noticed little details about people, and the oddest things seemed to turn her on.
“I haven’t seen you around for weeks,” she said, being nosy. He hadn’t even put out his garbage.
The hum of the engine picked up as he sped down the highway. “I’ve been working a lot. My current assignment has been a challenge.”
“Investments, right?”
“Right.”
She bit her lip, wanting to know more about Shadow, but not wanting to pry. He’d asked her to dinner, so her previous assumption that they had a connection must have been right. Sooner or later, he had to open up.
“I haven’t had any more trouble at the plaza,” she said. “I was scared they’d try and retaliate or get the police involved.” Riley still couldn’t understand how murder could be swept under the rug.
He flicked his wrist to adjust his watch, his eyes on the road. “I dealt with them. It won’t be a problem.”
What did that mean? Was that why no one from the bar dared park near her bakery? The mere thought that Shadow had that much weight gave her a little rush. It definitely turned her on to be with such a capable man. He made her feel safe, and that was something she’d lacked most of her life.
The inside of the car was too quiet. She shifted and watched the darkened scenery rush by, and her thoughts drifted. Riley remembered the day she’d been taken into police protective custody, the beginning of her foster care nightmare. The cops had given her a yellow knitted monkey, a small consolation for what was to come.
That wasn’t the day she’d lost her sense of safety, though. That had ended before she could remember. Being born to an addict was a special kind of hell. The nauseating rollercoaster ride ended when her mother tried to sell her for one night of fucking to an undercover agent in exchange for drugs. She’d been twelve. Although she’d been spared that trauma, her childhood innocence had been lost amongst layers of dysfunction she desperately wanted to wipe from memory.
Even as an adult, she never looked up her mother. Why would she? Riley only had herself to rely on, and that’s how she liked it.
“We’re here.” Shadow’s voice snapped her out of her reverie.
She looked around, the lights and glitter of a massive archway now catching her attention. It was fine dining to the tenth degree. A valet opened her door, and she stepped out, feeling awkward with such luxuries.
A long line-up of people stood behind a red velvet rope, a bouncer keeping them back, but Shadow appeared and led her up the steps ahead of everyone. She felt like Cinderella, in more ways than one.
“This is way too fancy,” she whispered.
Shadow led her inside where he followed the hostess to their table. “This is the one I requested?” he asked.
“It is, sir.”
He held out her chair, and she sat down, watching the flames of the candle flicker when her foot nudged the table leg. To her right, she heard live piano and violin.
Shadow sat across from her. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
“I was just surprised since you disappeared after that night in my backyard.”
“My work is complicated, but I promise I’d rather be with you,” he said.