provoking the protector in him again. None of this made sense.
He led her down the front steps, still waiting for a miracle where his grandmother came back to life and made clear that he was either correcting her wrong against Luli or told him he was falling for the greatest trick a gold-digger had ever pulled.
“Is that all the luggage, sir?” the chauffeur asked, setting Gabriel’s single case in the trunk.
“And that.” He nodded at the bag Luli carried. It was the cheap fabric kind the kitchen staff no doubt took to the market stalls for produce.
What had her childhood been like that she thought living like this had been a step up? How could such a beautiful, healthy, bright woman be in such a position?
He’d spent half the night reading her code. She hadn’t been bluffing about blowing things up, but she’d also layered in fail-safes in case she was also locked out. The most critical functions were being monitored electronically so the many people employed by Mae’s various enterprises wouldn’t be too badly impacted if no one was at the wheel.
Such a perplexing woman.
“What are you doing?” he asked as he realized she was hovering on the bottom step, balking at coming forward to get in the car. The rain had let up, but the humidity was around 1000 percent, making his suit cling to his skin. “Did you forget something?”
“I’m scared.” Her clean features were pale in the flat light of overcast skies, her mouth tense, her brow furrowed.
“Of?”
“You. What I’ve done. Where we’re going.”
He was having second thoughts himself, but a clench of barbaric implacability insisted he take her away from this place.
“You can’t stay here.” He wouldn’t let her.
“I know.” She looked into the car the way someone facing execution might look toward the electric chair.
He scraped together the pieces of himself that still possessed some civility and held out a hand. “It will be all right, Luli.”
It wasn’t like him to reassure. He enjoyed the feel of a woman’s naked body beside him in bed, but he didn’t cuddle or coddle. She was causing all sorts of unrecognizable pangs in him, ones that warned him he’d have to proceed carefully where she was concerned, but he still wanted her to come with him.
Now, more than ever.
She tightened her lips with resolve and her grip was clammy. The way she squeezed his fingers filled his chest with inexplicable pressure.
He settled beside her and reminded her to put on her belt.
“Do you think I could get fish someday?” she asked as he turned up the air-conditioning and the car pulled away.
“Odd question, but I don’t see why not. I have several aquariums. They’re very soothing.”
“You do?” She brightened a little. “Will I see them?”
“Of course.” It struck him that she would be living with him for the foreseeable future. There was a reason he chose fish as pets. They were quiet and demanded nothing of him.
What the hell had he done?
“Maybe a cat would be better.” She set her elbow on the armrest and tucked her fist beneath her chin, speaking to the window now. “Spending your life stuck in a bowl isn’t fun.”
“IS THIS THE right place?” Luli asked with confusion. “Where are the other people?”
“What other people?” Gabriel rose from the car to stand beside her and accepted the umbrella from the chauffeur.
Airports were busy places, weren’t they? Gabriel had brought her to a quiet field where stretches of road cut across acres of green toward the blurry horizon. There was an airplane with Arabic writing on its tail parked toward the other end of the low building that crouched behind them. The chauffeur handed their bags to an attendant and they were carried up the stairs in front of them, into an aircraft that was downright intimidating.
It was designed like the ones folded out of paper, with big triangular wings. Like a fighter jet. The windows were a continuous stripe down the body and the tail was painted with the Chinese symbol for dragon. Luli knew that meant it was Gabriel’s. He’d been using that symbol in his logos since developing a smartphone game about dragons when he was a boy.
“Don’t I have to show a passport to security?”
“It will be waiting for you when we land in Paris.”
“Paris!” She swung around. “You said you’d take me to New York.” She had tried to teach herself French at one point, but hadn’t had anyone to practice with.
“A small detour for shopping.” He gave her outfit another disdainful glance and waved to the stairs into the airplane.
Everything was happening so fast. She could barely catch her breath. And now she was awestruck as she entered the jet. It wasn’t the kind that looked like a bus with rows of seats and an aisle and little round windows. This was a house. The staff was even lined up exactly as she had stood outside Mae’s mansion when he had arrived yesterday.
The pilot welcomed her and invited Gabriel to join him in the cockpit to review their flight path.
“May I show you to your room, Mrs. Dean?” a pretty attendant asked.
“Call me Luli.” She needed to talk to Gabriel about how real this marriage was before she ran around calling herself Mrs. Dean. It was still bothering her that he hadn’t been nearly as caught up in their kiss as she had been. Then he’d been so angry after the incident with the butler.
With her mind whirling with misgivings, she’d stood on that bottom step as if it had been a jump off a high diving board. She probably wouldn’t have come this far if he hadn’t held out a hand, reassuring her she could trust him.
Foolishly, she wanted him to keep holding her hand as she followed the woman past the L-shaped sofa and reclining armchairs arranged to face a flat-screen television that hung above a fireplace.
Not a house, Luli decided as she absorbed the ebony-and-ivory interior with its glints of chrome and glass. A spaceship.
The attendant took her down a short corridor that ended in a minisuite in grays and chrome. Along with a massive bed, there was a private dining area for two, a sofa, a desk and another television.
“Please use the bell if you need me to bring anything.” She pointed at the button near the headboard as she left.
Luli saw her bag hung empty on a hook behind the door. She opened a couple of drawers, finding Gabriel’s clothes in them.
Her heart stopped. This was his room.
And
