?? He would take care of getting in the door of her apartment once they arrived.
‘I catch the bus.” And then she was running to do just that and Salvatore felt a wave of shock as he realized she’d thwarted him with less effort than it would have taken a five-year-old.
Furious he rapped out orders to one of the men he’d brought in during the afternoon. He would see to di Adamo and his grandson’s safe journey home.
Salvatore slung himself behind the wheel of his black four-wheel drive and followed that damn city bus all the way to Elisa’s apartment.
He was not in a good mood when he got there.
Elisa stepped off the bus and a very unpleasant word slipped past lips stiff with frustration.
Salvatore waited for her in front of her building with the look of a man ready to do violence. Only, if she knew anything about him, she knew he would not physically harm her. Even in the midst of his rage over the baby, he had kept his blows to the verbal variety.
AII the same, she couldn’t help the shiver of apprehension that skittered down her spine.
She approached the entrance warily, her eyes fixed on the spot of the red-painted door visible to the left of Salvatore’s tall frame. If she could just get inside that door and away from the man in front of it, everything would be fine.
She stopped a foot away because he hadn’t moved.
Nor had he spoken but his body language spoke volumes and all of it bad.
‘Do not ever run from me again.”
She allowed herself to meet his gaze, pretending not to feel the shards of pain such a motion caused her deep inside.
‘Go take a hike. You don’t dictate to me.”
‘Someone needs to. You have no concern for your own safety.”
Her eyes widened at that.
‘What could possibly happen to me on the city bus?”
‘lf you don’t know you are more naive than a woman of your age should be.” Then he proceeded to spell out in graphic detail what could have happened to her covering the range from a sex fiend accosting her to being kidnapped and forced to give her kidnappers the crown jewels.
When he was done she fought both nausea and irritation.
‘And if you think you are any safer in your apartment you are a fool” he added |hen she remained silent.
‘you’re assuming other people know the jewels are at Adamo Jewelers but there’s nothing to indicate that is the case.”
‘Assume the worst and plan accordingly.” He made no apologies for his cynicism and she hadn’t expected him to.
Even when she’d loved him she’d recognized that he had a very pessimistic view of the world.
‘Even if someone does know and wants to steal the jewels the vault is on a timed lock mechanism ” she said with satisfaction. ‘ di Adamo cannot open it before nine in the morning, no matter how much he might want to.”
‘That will not prevent you from being used as a pawn in procurement of the jewels.”
She sighed, knowing that in the most extreme scenario he could be right, but she was unwilling to believe the risk was all that great. ‘please move.” She dug for her door key in her purse.
‘I want to go inside ”
‘Have you heard nothing I have said?”
‘I heard. I just don’t believe.” Aha. She’d found it. She withdrew the key and looked pointedly at the door behind him .
‘Tough.” Then in another one of those moves that always took her by surprise he took her key. It was like the first time he’d kissed her. She hadn’t been expecting that either.