I roll my eyes, and after we reach the ground floor and step outside, I’m still awaiting his answer. “Are you avoiding me or worried someone might overhear us?” I ask.
“In my profession, I’ve made quite a few enemies,” he says.
I’m not surprised. Was it one of his enemies who has been keeping tabs on me next door? Have they threatened to hurt him? Is that why Jace wasn’t at work today?
He opens the trunk and drops my duffel inside before opening the passenger door for me to climb into the vehicle.
Always a gentleman. Even when he’s avoiding my questions.
It’s hard to imagine him pissing off too many people, but a man with quite a bit of worth, one of the richest in the world, does find himself in the line of fire. At least, I imagine that being the case. I’ve never found that to be an issue for myself.
“Do you know who was watching me in there?” I ask. Would he tell me if it were Caruso’s crew?
“Matteo was keeping an eye on the apartment for a few hours this evening, but he left about an hour ago. We put up our hidden surveillance equipment. If anyone returns, we’ll know who it is. But I don’t expect much.”
“Why is that?” I ask.
Jace pulls out into traffic. The roads are still considerably busy this evening. I try to relax while he drives us farther out of the city and toward his home.
“Oh, we’ll catch the guy, but I doubt he’ll talk or confess to who he works for,” Jace says. His brow tightens, and he reaches for the radio, turning it up to drown out the silence in the vehicle and the discussion between us.
My cell phone buzzes in my pocket, but I don’t pull it out and look at it. At least not yet. I don’t want questions, and if Luka Caruso is communicating with me, I can’t let Jace find out, ever.
It doesn’t feel like a one-off incident, but I’m sure Jace knows what he’s doing.
Jace is safe. Living with him, I won’t have to worry about myself or the child I’m carrying.
He’ll protect me.
* * *
“This is your bedroom,” Jace says as he leads me into my new bedroom. He’s giving me a tour of his house. Not that I haven’t seen the place before, but it’s been months since I’ve stayed.
And that was only one night.
He carries my duffel bag into the bedroom and places it on the floor beside the dresser. “Do you need help to unpack?” he asks.
“No, I’ve got it. Thank you,” I say. I don’t need him to wait on me. I can look after myself. The accommodations are a bonus, and while I enjoyed the apartment that I had been living in, Caruso could find me at any time.
I was alone.
At least now, there’s an additional layer of protection with the security system and metal gates.
Jace won’t let anything happen to me. If not for my sake, for the child of his that I’m carrying.
“I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, I’m just down the hallway,” he says.
Jace steps out of the bedroom and shuts the door behind him.
The minute he’s out of the room, I whip out my cell phone and glance at the missed message. I expect one, and there are three, all from the same unfamiliar number.
It has to be Caruso. It’s a local number that I don’t recognize, and there’s no name attached to the caller.
Playing house with your boss.
How does he know that I moved in with Jace?
Is he watching me? Is that who has been watching my apartment? Well, Jace’s apartment that I have been living in for the past several months.