The party ended in a blur. Jeri was too drunk to notice Alexa's pale face and trembling hands, and Alexa was too terrified to refuse when Armando appeared at her side, his hand a firm, inescapable pressure on the small of her back.
Now she was here. In the back of his black Bentley, the leather seats cool against her skin.
The silence in the car was a physical presence. It was thick, heavy, pressing in on her. The only sound was the soft hum of the engine as the city lights slid past the tinted windows. A man named Frankie Lau, with a placid face and watchful eyes, sat in the driver's seat, separated from them by a glass partition.
Alexa sat pressed against the passenger door, as far from Armando as the space would allow. But his presence filled the car, a low-grade hum of power and masculinity that made the air feel thin. She twisted the fabric of her dress in her lap, her knuckles white.
"What's your brother's name?" he asked, his voice cutting through the quiet.
The question was so unexpected it startled her. She looked at him, then quickly away. "Gideon," she whispered. "Gideon Thorne."
Armando repeated the name under his breath, a soft, speculative sound.
Trying to fill the suffocating silence, she added, "I usually just call him brother." The word was soft, imbued with all the affection and reliance she felt for the only real family she had.
The temperature in the car seemed to drop ten degrees.
Alexa felt the shift in him, a sudden, sharp coldness that had nothing to do with the air conditioning. She risked a glance at him. His jaw was tight, his eyes fixed on the passing streetlights, but his focus was entirely on her.
He didn't like that. He didn't like the way she'd said that word.
He leaned toward her, closing the small gap between them. The scent of his cologne, something clean and sharp, filled her head. "Do you call Jeri's brother 'brother'?" he asked, his voice a low purr.
The question was a trap.
"No," she said, her voice barely audible. "I call you Mr. Holmes."
He seemed displeased with that answer. He reached out and caught a loose strand of her hair, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger. His touch was light, but it sent a jolt through her entire body.
"'Brother'," he said, his voice dropping even lower, laced with a strange, possessive quality. "That title should be more... special."
She had no idea what he meant, but the implication felt dangerous. It felt like he was laying claim to something he had no right to.
She tried to pull back, but the door was at her back. There was nowhere to go.
He watched the panic in her eyes, and a dark satisfaction settled on his features. He wanted her to know that he was staking a claim. That one day, that word, from her lips, would belong only to him.
He released her hair and leaned back into his seat, the moment of intimacy vanishing as if it had never happened.
Her heart was still racing. The man was a labyrinth of contradictions, one moment cold and distant, the next intensely, terrifyingly close.
The car slowed, pulling up in front of her modest apartment building. It looked small and shabby next to the gleaming luxury of the Bentley.
Relief washed over her. It was over. "Thank you, Mr. Holmes. This is me."
She reached for the door handle.
It didn't move. The door was locked.
A fresh wave of panic hit her. She looked at him, her eyes wide.
He met her gaze, his own calm and unyielding. "I will be here for you in the morning. You're coming to the Hamptons with us."
It was another order.
"No," she managed, shaking her head. "I can't. I have to-"
"You don't have a choice," he said, cutting her off. He gave a slight nod to the driver.
The lock clicked open.
Alexa didn't say another word. She scrambled out of the car, a desperate, clumsy escape. She ran to the door of her building without looking back, but she could feel his eyes on her until she was safely inside.
