Focus on the road, idiot.
He downshifted around a curve on the two-lane highway. “I’m sorry to have made you miss out on the concert.”
“I know you were just trying to help.”
“Still, it sucks to lose something you’ve obviously worked hard on.” He felt the weight of her stare and glanced over to find her forehead furrowed. “What?”
“Thank you for understanding how important this was to me—for not dismissing it. I know we’re not a sold-out coliseum or a royal audience.”
“Music isn’t about the size or income of the audience.”
She smiled for the first time since they’d left her home. “It’s about touching the heart, the soul.”
His grip tightened on the wheel as he thought of another time she’d said much the same thing. One night, he’d brought along his guitar to serenade her under the stars. He’d picked up fast food and a blanket and told himself someday he would give her better. Give her more. She’d quickly reassured him that money didn’t matter to her, just the heart and the soul.
He should have listened to her. She hadn’t wanted this kind of life then any more than now. Regardless of what she wanted, though, she did need him. At least for the moment.
Accelerating, he sped down the deserted two-lane road.
Celia smoothed the wrinkles from her gauzy dress. “That was quite an impressive getaway. I thought for sure someone would get hit or at the very least have their toes run over. But you got us out of there without anyone getting hurt. Where did you learn to drive like that?”
“Part of the job training.” Except, it had more to do with his Interpol work than the music world, but he tried to stick to the truth as much as he could, as if that somehow made up for the huge lie of omission. But then it wasn’t something he had leave to work into conversation. Hey, I moonlight as a freelance agent for Interpol.
She laughed lightly. “I must have missed the driving class in my music education.”
“I have a friend who’s a race-car driver.” Another truth. “He gave me lessons.”
“What friend is that?” She turned toward him, hitching her knee up so her whole body shifted.
For a second, his gaze drifted to the hem of her dress. The hint of skin the movement had exposed.
“Elliot Starc. We went to school together.”
She gasped. “You went to school with Elliot Starc, the international race-car driver?”
“You know about Starc?” He stared at the road harder and told himself to keep his head on straight. “Most of the women I’ve met don’t follow racing.”
“Honey, this is the South, where people live and breathe NASCAR.” Her soft drawl thickened a little as she laughed again. “Starc is, of course, more Formula One, but some of my father’s friends take their racing interests further.”
“Fair enough. So you’ve heard of Eric, then.”
“There must have been a lot of lessons to get that good at maneuvering … the speed.” She shook her head, her hair shifting over her shoulders. “I’m still dizzy.”
He glanced at her sharply. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t. I’m all right.” She laughed softly. “Goodness knows I got enough speeding tickets as a teenager. I’m a more sedate driver these days. I no longer expect Daddy to fix my tickets for me.”
“A lot of time has passed.”
“Yet you’re here. We’re here.” The confusion in her voice reached out to him. But before he could figure out what the hell to say, she continued, “I just don’t want you to get hurt protecting me.”
“I’ll be fine. I told you. I have this under control.” Too bad he couldn’t say the same about his resurrected feelings for Celia.
He was aware of her every movement beside him.
“Oh, right. Your plan.” She straightened in her seat again. “Where are we going?”
To the one place he could be certain no one would find them. “To my mom’s house.”
His mother’s house?
Celia still couldn’t wrap her brain around that nugget of information even a half hour after he’d spilled the beans. The press had reported in the past that he now supported his mother, declaring she deserved a life of luxury after all the sacrifices she’d made for him. But there were never any details about where Terri Ann Douglas had relocated after she’d left Azalea fourteen years ago.
Quite frankly, Celia hadn’t been that interested in staying in touch with the woman who reminded her so deeply of all she’d lost. Terri Ann hadn’t approved of Celia back then anyway, and with good reason. Celia was everything the woman had feared for her son—spoiled, selfish and more than willing to toss away her virginity if that tied Malcolm closer to her.
The thought of seeing Terri Ann again sent Celia’s stomach into knots as they pulled up to a large scrolled gate covered by vines. Cameras moved ever so slightly, almost hidden in the foliage. Malcolm stopped by the security box and typed a code into the keypad. The gates swung wide, revealing a road that lead into … nothing but trees.
She couldn’t see a house, and wouldn’t be able to see people, even if they showed up. The security was … beyond crazy. As she began to grasp the depth of the protection here, she had to wonder, had he changed his mind about Europe and decided to stash her away here with his mother, where he’d obviously already lavished a good deal of effort to ensure privacy?
Disappointment gripped her, too much considering she’d been questioning the wisdom of going with him. But she couldn’t deny a flickering wish deep inside her. Yes, her world had spun out of control since he’d returned, but she didn’t want to step off the dizzying ride just yet. This was crazy and scary, out of character for the new, steadier path she’d chosen for herself.
Except, even if they didn’t sleep together again—which they weren’t going to do, she emphatically reminded herself—she finally had a chance for answers, for closure on her teenage years, a time in her life that had almost broken her. She didn’t want to lose the opportunity.
“Malcolm, would you care to clue me in to what’s going on?”
He drove the car deeper into the forest of towering oaks and pines, gravel crunching under the tires. “I needed to regain some control over the security. We’re off the radar now, which gives us some breathing room.”
Suddenly, he turned from the dusty path onto a paved road. The leafy branches parted to reveal—oh, my God—a compound.
A columned mansion was surrounded
