“I think I need to go now,” she muttered. “I should get to a hotel. Stay the night.”

 

“Don’t you need to go back to your Dad’s?” I asked stupidly without thinking. I guess I just thought that was where she was always headed back to; but it had slipped my mind that it was the middle of the night, and chances were he had no idea where she was or who she was with.

 

“I ran away from home.” She threw her hands in the air. “I know it’s ridiculous, but I couldn’t stay there for a moment longer.”

 

“Jesus Christ,” I groaned. I was a little impressed that she’d managed to navigate her way past her father’s numerous members of staff and what have you, but terrified she might had brought them straight to my door—or worse, the door of the Stiches. If that was the case, I knew I would never get forgiven—and hell, for an infraction that serious, I might be looking at a punishment much worse than just being thrown out of the club.

 

“Did anyone see you?” I asked, going to grab for my car keys. She shook her head.

 

“No one saw me,” she confirmed. “There was a bodyguard…but he was smoking when he shouldn’t have been so he’s not likely to report much, at least tonight.”

 

“And your father?”

 

“Pretty much asleep when I left him,” she replied briskly. “I don’t think anyone will notice I’m gone till tomorrow morning.”

 

“That’s enough time to get you to a hotel, but after that…” I shook my head. “I think it would be easier if you stayed here.”

 

“Maybe I don’t want to,” she shot back sharply. “Maybe I don’t trust you not to abandon me like last time.”

 

The words hung, hot and heavy, between us in the air; I knew she had a right to be pissed, but it still hurt to hear her come out with them.

 

“I’m sorry about all of that,” I finally broke the silence, closing my eyes for a moment. “But I can explain it all. The Stiches—”

 

“I don’t want to hear another word about them tonight.” She held her hand up, stopping me before I got started. “Do you have the number for a cab company? I need to call one so I can—”

 

“I’ll drive you,” I cut across her. “Let me do that, at least.”

 

She shrugged. “If you insist.”

 

“I do. Do you have any bags or anything?”

 

“Nothing, just my phone and my credit card,” she replied. “Do you have a place in mind?”

 

“Yeah, but you’re not going to like it,” I grimaced. Maria rolled her eyes, blatantly unimpressed at my treatment of her.

 

“I can handle something that’s not five stars,” she promised me, and made for the door. “Can we go? I’m exhausted, I need to get some sleep.”

 

“Sure.” I hurried after her, and had to stop myself from opening the door ahead of her—in the mood she was in, I doubted she’d appreciate it too much. We made our way down the stairs and out onto the street where my car was parked in the resident’s area. She slipped in the back and I climbed in the front, just as we’d done when I was working for her. I looked at her in the rear view mirror and she met my gaze steadily, raising her eyebrows as if silently asking what was taking me so long. I shook my head, and reminded myself that I was meant to be driving her.

 

“This is just like when I was working for you, huh?” I commented, and she laughed mirthlessly.

 

“I didn’t realize you were already thinking of it in the past tense,” she replied coolly. I stumbled trying to get myself back together.

 

“No, I just thought, because we’d spent so long apart—”

 

“It’s been a week, Jasper,” she reminded me curtly. “Besides, you don’t have to worry about it. I won’t be needing any of your services after this.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“What I said,” she shot back. “I don’t want you bodyguarding for me or ferrying me around anymore. I have money, I have time—”

 

“What if they come looking for you?” I pointed out. “Your father and his people? What if they find you?”

 

“Then I’ll take that as it comes.” She lifted up her chin defiantly. “I’m not going to let them define how I live my life any longer.”

 

“Whatever you say,” I muttered to myself. I personally thought she was being crazy—if anything, she needed a bodyguard more than ever. But if that was the way she wanted to play it, then let her. I wasn’t going to insist that I look after her, not after everything that had happened in the last week—and hell, this evening alone. I wondered how much of this I had myself to blame for, and how much of it had been brewing inside of her anyway. Best not to dwell on that too long.

 

“You can go to my father to get paid,” she continued, her voice detached and cold. “He’ll cover everything. And if you even hint to him where you took me…”

 

Our gaze met again in the rear view mirror, and the look in her eye sent a sharp shiver down my spine. She didn’t need to finish her sentence; I knew exactly what she was saying.

 

We made the rest of the trip in silence, winding through the by-now quiet streets of the city and towards the one hotel I knew would be open at this time of night. I only knew about it because it was next to one of my favorite bars, and I would occasionally book out a room there when I went to pick up women. It wasn’t the most upmarket of places, but I doubted anyone would think to look for a woman like Maria there.

 

When we finally arrived, Maria was out of the car in a flash and heading towards the door. It was a twenty-four-hour place, which was exactly why I liked it, but I felt a small flutter of worry when I wondered how Maria might fare there. I had only been in as a guy with an attitude, but she’d be going in as a single woman with no real experience looking after herself. Much as she was trying to learn, I figured that this wasn’t the best way to go about it. She hesitated before she put her hand on the door, then pushed it open and strode in, holding her head high and not looking back at me.

 

I would have left there and then, but I spotted her cell sitting in the back seat of the car where it must have slipped out of her pocket. I picked it up, and waited for her to book herself in and get herself sorted out. Once the receptionist handed over the key to her, I watched as she felt around in her pockets, and then turned to see me holding her phone up outside. I could have just taken it in to her, but the last thing I wanted was to be caught on the CCTV of this place helping her out if her Dad did come by to find her. I wanted to protect her, but I needed to keep myself alive to do that, and I knew that if Lucca D’Orazio caught a hint of the fact I was the one who had helped his daughter make her daring escape, there was going to be fucking hell to pay.

 

She hurried outside, tugging her jacket around her—her breath left little misty clouds in front of her face in the cold, and I held out her phone. She snatched it from me and slipped it into her pocket.

 

“You’ll probably want to use that credit card less.” I nodded to the plastic in her hand. “In case he can track it.”

 

“Oh, he doesn’t know about this one.” She cocked an eyebrow at me in an almost playful fashion. “I’m not totally naïve.”

 

“Fair enough.” I held my hands up. “Consider me told.”

 

“Thank you for helping me tonight.” She nodded in appreciation. “And if you need anything, just let me know.”

 

“The pay-out I’ll be getting from your father, I don’t think I’ll want for anything in a really long time,” I shook my head, already wondering what the hell I was going to do with that much money. I had hoped to spend it on Maria, or at least with her, but it didn’t look like that was on the cards any longer.

 

“I guess I should be going.” I turned towards the car, part of me hoping that she was going to ask me to stay, but she didn’t say a word. I paused for a moment before I opened the door, then slipped inside and gripped the wheel. I glanced over to see if she was still outside, but by the time I looked, she had already gone.