Blush(84)
Mia choked back a laugh that had a tinge of hysteria in it. “Someone is going to extraordinary lengths to ruin my life.”
Someone wants to do more than that, sweetheart.
“I’d like to know how anyone found out. But of course it’s impossible to keep this kind of secret. Todd already told me something had leaked to the press last week. But the price of Blush shares went up. Now they’re way down.”
“I think we should turn around and go back to NOLA, stay in a hotel tonight,” Cruz told her, glancing over to see the strain on her face, illuminated by oncoming traffic. “You’ll be there first thing to go to the mailbox place to sign the papers. How about spending the night in an anonymous hotel? It’ll give us time to reassess the situation. One thing at a time.” And he wasn’t going to leave her side for a second until this was over.
“We’re five minutes from the house. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight—although, honestly? I’m not sure I will sleep with all this going on. I guess it all boils down to what this person, or people, want. If they hope to drive the stock price down, and then scoop up the company, they’re SOL. Once I sign the paperwork for the buyout, they won’t be able to even get their hands on shares, because I’ll own Blush outright.”
“Who owns Blush if that’s the case, and you die?”
She rubbed her arms as if chilled. “It reverts back to the publicly held company.”
“So everything you’ve done up to this point is a wash, and it goes back to the way it was?”
She shrugged. “Todd has no interest in sole proprietorship, and he’s my only blood relative.”
Cruz closed strong fingers around the back of her neck, feeling the tension there. He massaged gently as he asked, “What about your stepmother?”
“Candice? Not blood. And not in my will, anyway.”
“You’re a wealthy woman. Who is the main beneficiary in your will? Who gets your personal fortune?”
“My foundation gets everything.” She paused to give him a look so sad, so poignant, that Cruz felt his hard heart develop another small crack. “Isn’t that freaking pathetic? I’ve made Blush my entire life for as long as I can remember—and yet, when I die, not only will I die alone, I won’t have anyone to pass the baton to.”
“You’re not going to die,” Cruz told her grimly as he turned off the headlights when he turned onto her long, dark gravel driveway. “You’ll live a long life and have a herd of kids playing with makeup the moment they start walking.”
“So, girls or drag queens?” Mia’s lips twitched. “Todd will be thrilled.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mia suddenly noticed he was driving without headlights, and straightened. “What’s wrong?”
Cruz had a gut feeling. A bad-as-shit feeling as they rolled down the driveway to the carport in the dark. “Not sure. Something’s off.” The hair on the back of his head lifted, and his heartbeat slowed, which in turn clarified his sight and hearing. This was how he felt when he was about to kill. Sharp. Focused.
He scanned the open expanse of scrubby lawn, the ghostly Spanish moss hanging unmoving from the trees. Moonlight glinted on the water of the bayou and painted black-lace shadows on the scrub grass beneath the trees.
The dark shapes of the beat-up, piece-of-shit truck and camper lay dense and impenetrable beside the house. Nothing moved, yet he felt the threat of danger nearby. He trusted his gut.
He unscrewed the dome light. “Drive down the street. Come back in ten minutes, if the porch light isn’t on, call the cops.”
“I’m not leaving! Don’t give me that damn look, Cruz Barcelona. I won’t leave you here alone.”
It was almost comical that she feared for him. He knew she wouldn’t leave, and sighed. Stubborn woman. “Then stay in the truck and lock the doors, and slide over in case you have to drive. I’ll check the house.”
“Give me your phone.”
He lifted his butt to get it out of his back pocket and handed it to her. “I’ve never known a woman not to have a phone.”
“At home I have a dozen. Here my burner phone lives in the sugar canister in the kitchen.”
She’d already unsnapped her seat belt and turned to watch him with pale, worried eyes as she whispered, “Be careful.”
“Don’t call the police unless I’m gone for longer than ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? Are you insane? That’s forever if there’s some deranged killer inside the damn house!”
He wanted to say, They should be scared of me. But she didn’t need to know the truth of what he was. Not yet. Not until he knew she was safe. “Ten minutes. Do not leave this vehicle until I come back for you or the police arrive. Promise me.”