Page 19 of The Forbidden Billionaire
She finishes off her coffee and gets to her feet with her bags. “Ready to quit yet?”
“I’m not the quitting type.”
“We’ll see.”
I feel a surge of frustration. “Aurelia…”
She lifts her eyebrows and says in a flirty tone, “Ooh, are we on first-name terms now?”
The shopping center is busy, and I move closer to her to give the crowd behind me more room to pass. I look down at her, into her green eyes. She’s feisty, confident, and courageous, but she’s also tiny and fragile-looking. I hate the thought of some guy watching her. Is he here now? I glance around automatically, but the place is too busy, and it’s impossible to pinpoint any one man.
My gaze comes back to her. She’s still watching me.
“Try not to be so serious about it,” she says softly. “I do appreciate your vigilance, but I’m really not in any danger.”
Acid rising from my stomach makes me a little queasy. My job would be much easier if I told her the truth… but I can’t bear the thought of seeing fear in her eyes.
“Yes, ma’am,” I murmur.
She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again and walks off.
I follow her, just a few steps behind, until she gets to her car. I’ve parked nearby, and I get in the Skoda and wait for her to drive off, then follow at a reasonable distance.
“Princess is heading back to the office,” I say to Rick.
“Received,” he replies in my ear.“Oh, and Theo confirms no fingerprints on the card.”
I sigh. “Copy that. Oh, she’s going to see Dominic tomorrow for lunch.”
“Ah. You can’t put her off?”
“Not if I don’t want her to get suspicious. I guess she’ll assume she has a secret admirer. Anyway, I’ll be back in about twenty minutes, unless she decides to do a detour.”
He laughs. “Copy that.”
As I drive, I think about Dominic Blackthorne. Aurelia won’t like me attending her lunch, but I’m going to insist, because I need to cross him off our list of suspects.
Hell, who am I kidding? I’m pretty convinced he’s not our mystery guy. I want to meet him because he’s her ex.
What kind of guy does Aurelia Ashford find attractive? And why is she meeting him? Is she thinking about getting back together with him? Honestly, providing he isn’t the stalker, moving back in with him would be safer for her. But I don’t like the idea of her being with someone who wants to control who she sees.
Then I remember her words to me,I feel so… claustrophobic. I’m the one making her feel like that. I’m as bad as Dominic, in many ways.
Glowering, I huff a sigh of frustration, and follow her car off the sliproad toward the CBD.
Chapter Five
Aurelia
I stay in the office for the rest of the day. Luke hasn’t admitted it, but I’m pretty sure they’re tracking my phone. They’ve stepped up their game, and I’m not going to be able to give him the slip.
To be fair, I don’t see him much when I’m in the office. I think he goes down to the main security room, apparently convinced the rest of our team will keep an eye on me while I’m in the building. Marcus has had cameras set up all over the place. I’m not sure why he’s suddenly concerned about our welfare. But we’re an exceptionally wealthy family, and money can corrupt some people and lead them to do desperate things, so I guess he’s just playing it safe.
It does occur to me maybe something’s happened and they’re not telling me. What was it he said about the Rutherford acquisition? About making sure we remain safe from any maniacs who want to capitalize on it? Maybe Dad’s received some threats and doesn’t want to tell me. The thought chills me, but they’re obviously going to keep me in the dark out of some annoying attempt to protect the weak and feeble woman.
It’s pointless to dwell on it, so I push it out of my mind and get stuck into work. I have a super busy afternoon, with a number of meetings, a couple of interviews, and lots of articles to write.
It’s nearly six o’clock before I finish the last one, and I pack up my things, collect my purse, and head down in the elevator to the basement. When the doors open, Luke is standing there, my car keys in his hand.
