Oxygen (Romance, Completed)

Chapter 25

"Are you sure this is a good idea, ma'am?"

"Please, just drive."

Clint gave me a worried glance but started the engine, carefully putting on the turn signal before pulling smoothly away.

"Would you mind going a bit faster?"

He remained silent, but the car did speed up infinitesimally. Inwardly, I cursed his determination to stick to the speed limit. I needed to see Linc, and I needed to do it right away.

As Clint braked at a stop light, a hideous thought popped into my mind. The stranger said I was an undercover job? What if he'd meant an under-the-covers job? Linc said he was divorced, but what if he'd lied about that too?

Back in Colombia, the two men responsible for holding me captive cheated all the time. Over the years, I'd watched a series of women parade through their beds, each leaving more broken than the last. I never wanted to be like them.

As buildings rushed past in a blur outside the windows, the streets got tidier, the houses got bigger, and my confusion gave way to fear and anger. Was Linc still with his wife? Had I unwittingly become his mistress? When I screamed his name in bed at night, what was he thinking? Was he trying to remember mine?

"This is Redwood Gardens, ma'am."

Well, one thing was for sure—Linc didn't afford a home here on his income from Holborn. Number eight loomed in front of me, streetlights illuminating the manicured front lawn and the Ford Mustang parked in the driveway next to Linc's Ducati. A pickup truck stood to the side under a tree. All his? A houseshare? Or his and hers?

"Should I wait again?"

"Yes. Don't you dare leave."

I slammed the car door and marched up the driveway, trying to think of something smart to say but coming up empty. A wrought-iron knocker in the shape of a lion graced the solid wood door, and I smacked it down as hard as I could.

Who would come? Linc? Another stranger? Or a woman?

I soon got my answer. The door swung open and Linc stood there in a robe, hair slicked back as if he'd just got out of the shower.

His eyes widened in recognition. "Sweetheart? What are you doing here?"

"Don't 'sweetheart' me. You lied."

"Not lied, exactly. I left a few things out."

Hearing him admit to his deceit broke something inside me, and I slapped him before I realised what I was doing.

"Like what? What didn't you tell me?"

He caught my wrist, eyes fixed on mine.

"Get off me!" Too many times men had held me down. When I tried to bring my knee up between Linc's legs, he sidestepped faster than I'd ever seen him move and pinned me against his front, facing away.

"Let me go!"

"Only if you promise not to try that again."

His grip loosened, but I stayed silent. I wasn't promising anything.

"Akari?"

"Sod off."

Listen to me—I'd turned into Emmy.

"I can explain."

"What, about your undercover job? Well, it worked out, didn't it? You got me under your covers, right where you wanted me. How many others, Linc? How many?"

"How many other what?"

"Women! How many women?"

"None. What the hell are you talking about? It was only you."