chapter 13

We both know it will be impossible to repair, but she nods anyway.

"We need to get out of here. The police didn't do this."

As if in a trance, Anna follows me out of the apartment. I have my phone out, texting Flynn to come check out both apartments before the elevator opens up in front of us.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks when we climb back inside my truck.

"To a hotel."

"Can I stay with you?"

Abso-fucking-lutely not. "No."

"I can't stay alone." Her tears haven't stopped since she stepped inside of her apartment, but it'll take much more than some crying to get me to let this chick invade my private space. No one, and I mean no one is allowed in my apartment or back on the ranch.

"You'll be fine," I assure her. "I'll book you under a different name. I don't know who trashed your place, but until we get more info, you can't use any of your credit cards in case they're tracking you."

"They're all back at the apartment anyway," she manages through her crying.

I make a mental note to have Wren track Anna's shit too. I wouldn't put it past someone petty enough to do that to her belongings to use her credit cards.

"This has to be related to what happened in Dona's apartment."

"Impossible." I almost smile at the fire in her voice. Her anger I understand and can deal with. Crying women have always made my skin crawl.

"And why is that?"

"I don't have any enemies." I cock an eyebrow at her because we both know she and I aren't friends, but she just scoffs. "Everyone loves me."

I nearly laugh at those words but decide I'm just glad that the tears seem to have stopped for now.

"You can't be serious." Her eyes are wide as she peers at the hotel sign.

"They have a complimentary breakfast."

"I don't eat carbs and grease any time of the day."

"Your snobbery is showing."

"I'm not staying here," she growls, and right then I know if I go in and book a room it'll only be a waste of my damn time.

"I'm not paying for you to stay in some five-fucking-star hotel. I can take you to your parents."

"I don't want them knowing anything about this. I want to go to sleep. I'm exhausted, and my dad will grill me for hours."

"Not my problem." I put the truck in drive and take off toward her parents' neighborhood.

"Take me to the Four Seasons."

"I'm not—"

"Fucking bill me for it," she hisses.

"No one would expect you to be at that other hotel," I explain.

"Because they know I'll already be dead if I'm forced to stay there."

I grip the steering wheel until my fucking hands ache. There isn't one single thing about this hoity-toity woman that I missed.

****Anna

After demanding a suite with a view, I practically throw myself on the sofa in the lobby and wait for him to finish booking the room. With the way my luck's going tonight, he'll be back in minutes letting me know that his credit card was declined. The lady working the front desk keeps a pleasant smile on her face even as he clenches his jaw so tight, I'm fearful he'll crack his teeth.

Thankfully, I keep my eye on him because he doesn't even look my way before turning from the counter and heading to the elevator. I barely have time to slide my arm through the gap before the damn elevator door closes.

"Very mature," I hiss when I step inside with him. "Did you get a suite?"

I honestly don't expect him to have gotten more than just a basic room, but they're all nice here so it's really no big deal. I just need about three days' worth of sleep.

"The Presidential Suite." There's laughter in his tone, as if he's somehow sticking it to me by getting one of the very best rooms they have to offer. He hands me the printed receipt with a wicked grin on his face like I'll be upset at the price. "The room is booked for the week. Non-refundable. I'll make sure it all goes on your tab."

I don't even bat an eyelash. I'm not so much a diva that I need over twenty-five-hundred square feet in a hotel suite, but I'm not going to turn it down either. His smile has fallen with my lack of response by the time the elevator opens up on the nineteenth floor, but even as irritated as he is, he still unlocks the door, holding it open for me to enter first. Despite his prickly attitude, his mother did raise him right.

I'm surprised he doesn't kick me in the ass and walk out of the room the second I cross the threshold, but by the way he's standing just inside makes it very clear he has no intentions of staying. Normally, I'd feel safe looking out onto the Gateway Arch, but it doesn't bring the same level of security tonight. Not after what happened in Dona's condo. Not after what happened to my own condo.

"I'll update you if we get any new information." Dean hands me the plastic key to the room before returning to the door. "I suggest staying here until you hear from me."

My hands are trembling too hard to hold the key before the door clicks closed behind him. Being alone has never been an issue for me. If anything, I prefer silence over being in crowds or around others. I know it doesn't appear that way to most because I have a very active social life, but those obligations are more because of my parents than anything else.

The tears I thought had dried up in the truck on the way here come back full force, and I rush around the suite turning on every light to try to gain more comfort. It doesn't come. The fear doesn't abate when I snap on the light in the media room. It doesn't fade when I do the same in the study or the bedroom.

The king-sized bed doesn't look appealing. It looks lonely, like it will swallow me whole if I even get near it. The knocking on the suite door sounds all too familiar to the knocking on my condo door before I bolted out of there to go to Dean's office, and after coming home to find my entire condo destroyed, all I can picture is that someone followed me here. What would've happened to me if I hadn't left as quickly as I did? Were the guys knocking on my condo door before I left, the ones wanting to hurt me?