Page 44 of Run

Without another question, he unstrapped it and handed it over.

“Come on,” she said to Julia. “We have work to do.”

As soon as the two women left the testosterone-ridden room, Callum loomed over David. “Once this is over, I want you gone. Understood?”

David glanced around at the implacable faces of the Benson Security team, seeing they all agreed with their boss. Not that he would have argued anyway. The last thing he wanted was to divide their team.

“Understood,” he said before striding out of the kitchen to find Elle.

Deep inside, a strange sense of loss reared its head. Frowning, David examined his reaction. Could it be that he wanted to be a part of the team? He shook off the feeling. In his line of work, there was no space for wishing things were different. There was no space for feelings of any kind.

18

Elle managed to nurture her anger toward David for a whole fifteen minutes. What could she say? It took way too much effort to hold a grudge when your personality wasn’t tuned that way. No, she preferred other methods for torturing the morons who annoyed her—like talking endlessly, or spamming their email, or…well, she’d think of something else just as soon as she was done dealing with her psychotic family.

“We probably should have taken the M25,” she said, breaking the tense fifteen-minute silence. Well, tense forher.“It’s the long way round, for sure. But driving through the city center means we’re more likely to get stuck in traffic. I’m not sure this route was the right decision. Did you know that the M25 was the inspiration for Chris Rea’s song, ‘The Road to Hell’?”

David’s jaw clenched and unclenched.

“I’ve never liked Chris Rea; he gives me the creeps. Not sure why.” Elle stared back out the window at the crowded city streets.

According to Rachel’s GPS, at that time of the day, the fastest route from Heathrow Airport to Fish Island in East London took them straight past the Victoria and Albert Museum, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London.

“Have you ever done the tourist thing in London?” she asked.

David’s hands flexed on the wheel. She’d wanted to drive, but he seemed genetically incapable of letting her do so.

“We need to talk about how we’re going to handle this situation with your brother, not whether I’ve visited Buckingham Palace or what songs were inspired by a motorway.”

Seemed David wasn’t in his happy place and hadn’t been since Marcus’ phone call. Why he was grumpy, she didn’t know. She also thought it was a bit of a cheek, considering he’d been the one to insert himself into the situation. If it’d been up to Elle, she would have dealt with her brother on her own.

As much as that thought terrified her, Elle was pragmatic enough to know she couldn’t run forever. This meeting with her brother—and then her father—had always been inevitable. Along with the chance that she wouldn’t survive either.

“Elle, we need to make sure we’re on the same page when we get to our destination.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that; we’re totally on the same page. You have a death wish, so you included yourself in this exchange. Congrats. Your wish will probably be granted.”

He did that jaw-clench thing again. “Nobody is going to die today.”

“That sounds like something Dean Winchester inSupernaturalwould say—right before everybody dies.”

“Elle…” he warned.

“Fifteen seasons of that show, and every season, Dean Winchester would say nobody is going to die today, which meant somebody was definitely going to die. Most likely a character you’d grown to love. The writers ofSupernaturalwere cruel, evil masterminds.”

“We’re heading into a volatile situation,” David said. “Is this really what you want to talk about?”

“No. I’d like to talk about why you keep avoiding me or why you think you’re bad for me. Or we could discuss the mixed messages you’ve been throwing in my direction. One minute you’re flirting, and the next, you avoid eye contact. It’s making me dizzy. That’s what I’d like to talk about. So? Got any ideas?” She twisted in her seat to give him her full attention and smiled brightly.

“This won’t work, Elle,” he said as they crawled to a halt for a red light. “You can’t put off talking about Marcus.”

“Tell you what, I’ll answer your questions when you answer mine.”

“It just wouldn’t work out between us. Can’t we leave it at that?”

“We could if I thought for one second that you didn’t want me as much as I want you. Tell me you don’t crave me. Tell me you aren’t desperate to get naked and see what will happen. Tell me you don’t dream about me and wake covered in sweat, desperate to see what your dream would be like in reality. Tell me any of that, and I’ll stop asking and we can discuss my brother instead.”

“You need to stop talking,” he growled.