“What cuff?” His voice came from the other side of the shower curtain.
I looked down at the water pooling around my feet. “It’s supposed to bring back your memories. I was going to tell you.”
“What?” He pulled back the curtain.
Oh God. I shut off the water, and he handed me a towel, sneering at me with those sinful lips.
I wrapped it around my body but stayed in the shower. There was nowhere else to go. “That woman from Tampa showed up at the warehouse while you were…were…” I couldn’t say the word dead. “She said she was there to kill you, but when I mentioned you couldn’t remember who you were, she offered a deal. I’d get you to wear the cuff, and she’d leave me and my dad alone.”
Jack was on me faster than I could process. “You lied to me?” he snarled, wrapping his hands around my neck.
“Don’t. Touch. Me,” I snarled back.
His blue eyes shifted to his hand. He dropped it. “My apologies. I did not—”
This time, he seemed disturbed by his reaction. “You must go. It is unsafe to be near me.” He left the bathroom, and I followed.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Where the hell do you think this is leading? To a happy place? Even if I have decided not to pursue my past any further, there is no question that my past will pursue me.”
“I don’t care, Jack,” I said quietly.
“You should.”
“I agree with what you said the other night; our paths were meant to cross.”
He shook his head. “Perhaps so, but—”
There was a knock at the door. He went over to check. “Breakfast.” He pulled the door open and took the tray from the man.
He closed the door and set everything near the window on top of a small table.
The room filled with the scent of coffee and bacon. My mouth watered. I was starving.
With his back to me, I could see him inhale sharply. “Stay for breakfast; then you must return home.” He began dressing, putting on black slacks.
“Lost my appetite. But thanks.” I dug through my purse and handed him the cuff. “Here. Take it. If you change your mind someday, I don’t want to be responsible for losing it.”
He looked at the cuff and set it beside the breakfast tray. I grabbed some clean clothes from my duffel bag. Honestly, I was pissed. He knew there was more to “us,” and he had no right to open a door, leading to a place I never asked to go to, only to slam it shut in my face.
I slid on my jeans and sweatshirt. I had no idea where to go from here.
“I am sorry, Jeni. I never should have brought you along.” He pressed a hand on my shoulder.
I ignored him and packed up my things, most of which were still damp from running around in the rain all day yesterday.
I slid on my boots and purple coat.
When I turned to say goodbye, I noticed him just standing there, staring at the newspaper that had come with the breakfast tray. His eyes were dark, his expression morbid, his lips flattened into a hard line.
A sense of doom washed over me. “What?”
“Is this today’s date?” He pointed at the top of the paper.
“Yes. Why?”
He set down the paper, looked at the cuff, and picked it up.
“What are you doing?”
He slid it on and closed his eyes. I stood motionless next to the door, waiting for the sky to fall.
Then, without a word, he opened his eyes.
Jesus, his eyes. They were no longer blue, but a haunting silvery gray.
“Are you…?” I didn’t know what to ask. Was he okay? Was he still himself?
His eyes slowly moved to my face, a quiet rage brewing behind his icy gaze.
I swallowed hard. I could feel the darkness, the hate, the power radiating off him. This was not the same man who’d taken me to bed last night.
“Jack?”
He walked straight for the door, forcing me to move out of his way. “My name isn’t Jack. It’s King. And you will wait here.” He left the room without another word.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Holy shit. Holy shit. So that was King, the man hidden away inside Jack. And if what I’d just felt wasn’t my imagination, then he was a thousand times more powerful and dangerous.
The question was, would he harm me?
I plunked down on the bed and covered my face, whooshing out a slow breath. I didn’t want to believe that Jack would hurt me, but that man was not Jack.
Not anymore. I needed to get the hell out of San Francisco.
I grabbed my stuff and exited the room, hoping I’d find a way to get home to Florida. It might require taking a plane to somewhere cheap and then catching a bus the rest of the way. I didn’t know, but my instincts were screaming to run.