1925 - Millionaire's Secret Seduction by Jennifer Lewis Page B

didn’t want to.
    He rolled up his shirtsleeves and leaned forward, watching the taillights of her car through the windshield of the cab.
    This was fun.
    Instead of the picturesque house he’d expected, her car swung into the long driveway of something called Compass Points. She parked in the lot, then ran to the main entranceof a hulking building that he couldn’t see well in the dimly lit darkness.
    “Want me to wait?”
    “No thanks.” Dominic paid the cabbie and watched him drive away.
    The cool night breeze tickled his skin. He inhaled a lungful of fresh country air and looked up at the spill of stars in the black sky. What the heck was this place?
    He strained to read a sign in the dark. O UTPATIENT A DMIT-TING . Some kind of hospital?
    After about five minutes the door opened again, and Bella came out. She still clutched her leather briefcase to her chest, but even in the darkness he could see her cheer had evaporated. Her steps were short and stilted, unlike the swinging strides of earlier.
    She looked like she could use a hug.
    Dominic’s strode out of the darkness. “Hey, Bella.”
    She froze under a parking lot floodlight, straining to see in the darkness. Panic tightened her features.
    “It’s me. Dominic.”
    She clutched her briefcase tighter. Sharp angles and shadows of light distorted her scared expression. “What are you doing here?”
    “I followed you. What is this place?”
    She stood like a statue.
    He walked toward her, an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. “Hey, you okay? I’m not going to arrest you for anything, you know.” His attempt at levity fell as flat as the asphalt.
    She swallowed. “I don’t know why you’re here.” Her voice was high and thin.
    Dominic scrubbed a hand over his face. Because I’m surveilling you. The knife in his gut twisted.
    Still rigid, she stared at him. “Why did you follow me? You’re scaring the heck out of me.”
    Truth be told, he was scaring the heck out of himself too. He wanted to do “the right thing,” but the map kept shifting and his internal compass kept spinning.
    Right now he mostly wanted to kiss her, which was not “the right thing” by any stretch of the imagination.
    He repeated his question. “Where are we?”
    “It’s a hospital.” Her throat sounded tight. “My mom is here.”
    “She’s sick?” He could see her worried expression in the harsh fluorescent glare. His guilt ratcheted up another notch.
    “They’re not sure what’s wrong. Can’t figure it out. She won’t respond to drugs.” Her fingers gripped the leather of her bag as she held it clutched against her chest like a shield. “Things have been so stressful for her since my dad died last year.”
    Something clicked into place in Dominic’s mind. “It’s a psychiatric hospital?”
    “Yes.”
    Dominic frowned as a strange and uncomfortable feeling crept over him. “And you’re hoping that by reclaiming your dad’s work, you can get her out of here.”
    “Don’t laugh at me right now, okay? Because I don’t think I can take it. Not right now.” Her voice was shaking.
    “I’m not laughing. What happened?” He moved closer in the semidarkness, the urge to take her in his arms almost uncontrollable.
    “I figured they wouldn’t let me see her, but I wanted to leave word that I…” Her lips slammed shut.
    He knew what she meant. That she’d found what she was looking for. “The nurse told me that my mom has been refusing food.”
    He stood right in front of her and fought to keep his arms by his side. He didn’t want to scare her.
    “She hasn’t eaten in three days.” Her voice sounded dangerously high. “They’ve tried to put a drip in her arm, but she kept pulling it out…” Her voice cracked she pressed a hand to her face.
    Unable to stop himself, Dominic reached out his hand.
    She flinched back.
    Their eyes locked, hers gray and wary in the floodlit darkness.
    Maybe she thought he’d followed her because after that