Is this because of Luka Caruso and the debt that I owe him?
No, that doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t feel right. Luka is a man after money. He’s threatened me in the past, and I’m sure he’s capable of intimidating me, but whatever is going on inside of Jace’s head doesn’t feel the same.
There’s a slight quiver in my voice. But I demand to know the truth. “How is it not safe?” I ask.
I need answers.
He owes me the respect of telling me the truth.
“Caruso wasn’t aware of your pregnancy. You’re not showing,” he says, glancing at me. “Not yet.”
He returns his attention to the road, his knuckles tight as he grips the steering wheel. Every so often, he glances in the rearview mirror.
Are we being followed?
It’s dark. I don’t see any headlights in the side mirror, but I suspect Jace is better at ditching someone tailing him. Though I don’t know why he’d have any experience doing that, he’s a billionaire, not constantly being chased by bad guys.
“I don’t understand. You said you’d take care of things with Luka Caruso.”
I hadn’t asked what he’d meant by that, but I had assumed he’d gone to him with a boatload of money, threatened him, and insisted that Luka leave me alone.
Was that not what happened?
“It’s more complicated than you think,” Jace says.
“You don’t know what I think. Tell me, Jace, what the hell is going on.”
We weave through back roads and side streets until we eventually end up in the heart of downtown. There’s a tall wrought-iron gate. It’s seemingly familiar, like whoever designed this place designed Jace’s home.
There’s similar architecture to the building behind the guarded fence. But it’s bigger. Much bigger. It makes Jace’s home look like a cottage compared to the mansion stretching across acres of land.
Jace pulls up to the entrance, and a guard clicks a button, unlocking the gate.
“Where are we?” I ask. Again, my voice quivers.
There’s a lot I don’t know about Jace, and I shouldn’t care. It shouldn’t matter. We’re not dating. Hell, we’re not even a couple.
I’m his business partner, the surrogate for his child.
But I feel a darkness that I can’t explain looming over this place—like a fortress, guarded and protected.
But why?
“Who are you?” I whisper, glancing at him. My mouth is dry—my stomach tenses. To say I’m nervous would be an understatement. I’m terrified.
Jace is keeping secrets. But I don’t know why. He owns a huge corporation, and he’s a billionaire. It would make sense that he’d have elaborate security measures and guards. This feels more like the home I expected to see when we first met. Not the little cottage across town.
But it’s darker, heavily guarded, and something feels off.
Was it a decoy house?
Is that even a thing? I exhale a loud, heavy sigh.
Jace parks the vehicle and steps out. He comes around to my door and opens it. I haven’t so much as moved an inch. I’m still buckled into the seat.
“Come on. We need to get you inside.”
My gaze travels over the exterior of the building. It’s old, but beautiful. The exterior is brick and well-kept. There are three stories, the building towers above us.