“What do you want from me? I said I’m going to go back. I’m going to hand myself over to Bartolli with the images and what money is left.”
“To keep Eden safe?”
“Yes.”
His gaze was still skeptical. Not that she could blame him.
“Are you going to untie me? I’m not going to run.”
“You’re a puzzle. I don’t like puzzles.”
“Well, I think we’ve already established that we’re not going to be best buds,” she replied with exasperation. “I don’t see why it’s so hard to understand. I want you to untie me and take me to Bartolli so he’ll stop searching for Eden.”
Instead of answering, Zander got out his phone and made a call. “Any sign? No . . . yes . . . I don’t think so . . . yes, I have her . . . I’m not sure . . . I have it.” He glanced down at the envelope in his hand. “The images are still here, but not all the money. I’d say around thirty grand is missing.”
Thirty grand?
Maybe Carl had taken the rest to get them a car, but he surely wouldn’t be spending more than five grand?
Had he abandoned her? Left her to take all the blame?
Maybe he had.
She realized then that Zander had finished his call and was staring down at her thoughtfully. He was a handsome guy. Blond, tanned with a slight stubble. Tall and muscular. Under other circumstances, perhaps she would have been attracted to him.
Liar.
You’re attracted to him now.
Even though she was battered, in pain, and she was fairly certain that he hadn’t ruled out killing her, she could still acknowledge that she thought he was hot.
Maybe you should try to seduce him.
Good joke.
“You’re smiling. That’s odd.”
“I was just thinking that maybe if I seduced you that you’d let me go.”
He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. “You think you could seduce me?”
She made a scoffing noise. “No. That’s why I was smiling. The idea is ludicrous. Even if I wasn’t battered and bruised, there’s no way you’d look at me.”
Tilting his head to the side, he studied her thoroughly. Okay, now she definitely felt like a bug under a microscope.
“No? You think not?”
“I know I’m not the prettiest person. I’m too curvy, too pale, and I have freckles everywhere. A man like you and a woman like me? Ludicrous.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Your self-deprecation annoys me. You will stop it now.”
“I will?”
“Yes.”
“Do people always just do what you tell them to do?”
“No. They frequently do not. It’s very annoying.”