He chuckled. “I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got.”
“Or you could blow her off and come straight to my flat.” Jumping his bones was how I got him to fall in love with me in the first place. Sex was always a way into Crewe’s brain. It worked before, and maybe it would work again.
“And do what?”
He took the bait. “I don’t want to give anything away…but I would probably be on my hands and knees most of the time.”
Crewe was quiet, probably considering my offer.
I hoped he would take it. If I could get him in the same room, it would make it much easier for us to talk. A face-to-face interaction was always preferable to hearing his voice over the phone. I could read him much better when I could watch the expressions change in his eyes.
“I told you, I have a date.”
“Well, I don’t believe you.” There was no way for me to know if he was lying or not. I just had to hope for the best. “And I haven’t been with anyone else since I left you, not that it matters.” Actually, it did matter. I knew that would mean something to him.
Crewe was quiet.
I knew he was thinking, considering.
“I don’t care what you believe, London. I have to go.”
I hated it when he called me by my first name. So impersonal. “Crewe—”
“Good night.” He hung up.
After hearing the rejection of the dial tone, I tossed my phone on the table. I wasn’t going to call him again when I knew it wasn’t going to get me any closer to him. The only real chance I had was to get in the same room with him.
But how would I manage that?
I called Joseph back.
He answered immediately. “What did I tell you?” He didn’t even bother hiding his gloating. “You need to let it go and move on.”
I had another plan in mind. “I need to get in the same room as him.”
“Unless you walk up to his door without getting shot, I don’t see how that’s gonna happen.”
“You’re going to help me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He kidnapped me and made me his prisoner. Now it’s his turn to get kidnapped.”
Joseph’s voice rose a few levels. “Are you really suggesting that I capture the guy?”
“Yes. You’re going to bring him to me so he and I can talk—face-to-face.”
“Wow. You aren’t kidding.”
“No. And you owe me, Joseph.”
“Don’t go there,” he snapped. “I did everything I could to get you back.”
“You don’t owe me for that. You owe me for shooting Crewe when I told you not to.”
He sighed into the phone.
“When his driver takes him somewhere, I need you to intercept the car and drive him to me.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Are you saying you can’t do it?” Playing to his ego should work.
“Yes, I can do it. But I’m not going to do it.”
“Yes, you are. And you aren’t gonna hurt anyone.”
“Now, that’s impossible.”
“It’s not. No guns.”
“You expect me to hijack his car without a gun and actually turn my back to Crewe, who’s definitely packing?”
“He won’t hurt you.”
He laughed into the phone. “I shot the guy. Of course, he’ll take his chance.”
“No, he won’t.” I knew Crewe would never hurt someone I loved unless it was a matter of life and death. “Tell him why you’ve taken over the car, and he’ll cooperate peacefully.”
“You have no idea what he might do.”
“Yes, I do.” Despite being apart for the past month, I knew him better than anyone. “Trust me, Joey.”
“Goddammit…how did my life get to this?”
“Because you fucked with Crewe Donoghue.”
5
Crewe
Two weeks went by, and I didn’t hear anything from London.
She was about to head back to the United States, getting back to the life she had before she got mixed up with me in the first place. A part of me wanted to call her now that I had her number, just to hear her voice, but I wouldn’t allow myself to do that.
I’d made my decision.
And when I made up my mind, I didn’t change it. She had my trust once before, but she blew it when she crossed me. I couldn’t take back Josephine, not that I wanted to, and I certainly couldn’t give London another chance.
I was too pissed.
And stubborn.
I was golfing in London that weekend, catching up with friends and some business partners for the charity event. Maybe hitting the links would get my mind off London. I hadn’t gotten laid in weeks because I’d been too busy, so my dreams and fantasies constantly drifted back to her. I beat off to her memory more times than I cared to admit.
But that didn’t mean I loved her.
And I would have kept seeing Sasha, but work got in the way. London’s reappearance had nothing to do with me calling it off.
It was just a coincidence.
My men carried my two bags to the car as I walked to the entrance with Ariel.
“I’ve got your schedule ready. Mark will take care of everything when you land. I’ll handle everything on this front.”
“I had no doubt you would.” I adjusted my watch on my wrist before I straightened my black jacket. “You know how to reach me.” I walked out the door and saw my car parked in the roundabout in the midst of statues.
“Good luck on the course.”
I gave her a quick nod before I opened the back door. “Don’t need it. But thanks anyway.” I got into the back seat and immediately pulled out my phone, planning to get through my emails on the drive.
Dunbar pulled onto the road and headed to Edinburgh, where my plane was waiting for my private takeoff. He didn’t make conversation, but he’d always been a quiet man. Ever since London’s betrayal, he’d never looked at me the same. He did his job and communicated with me as little as possible. Even a raise hadn’t improved his spirits.
But as long as he did his job well, I didn’t have room to complain. I wasn’t a chatty person, preferring long stretches of silence to meaningless conversation. That was one of the things I adored about London. For a woman, she didn’t have much to say. She could sit with me for hours without saying a single word.
The memory of us having dinner together on the balcony tugged at my heart.
But I pushed it away.
We came to a stoplight in town and sat at the light for over a minute. I didn’t have to catch a flight at the airport like everyone else, so I didn’t care if this delay put us back a couple minutes. I had a few emails from one of my regional managers, so I responded to those with my eyes glued to the screen.
Then the front window shattered.
“What the—”
A man slammed Dunbar’s head against the steering wheel so hard he knocked him out cold. The horn honked, and the rest of the cars in traffic sped away on the sidewalk since they didn’t know what was happening.
There was a gun under the seat, so I snatched it with lightning speed.
“It’s me.” Joseph pushed Dunbar’s body to the passenger seat then got behind the wheel. “I’m not packing, so you can calm down. London sent me.” He fastened his safety belt then drove through the light once it turned green.