Chasing Adonis (24 page)

The enormity of the suite stunned him into deeper,
thoughtful silence.

Directly in front of them sat an octagonal glass dining room
table and six white wrought iron chairs. To his left, a full kitchen of
stainless steel appliances and onyx counters waited to be filled with delicious
aromas. On the right, a forest green leather sectional faced a giant screen
television and surround sound entertainment system. Just past the living room,
sliding glass doors beckoned to a small private patio with a view of palm trees
encompassing a small lake. Above the palm trees, even from where Shane stood in
the dining room, the smoking spires of Prufrock’s Dragon’s Lair clearly pierced
the black sky. In the center of the suite, a spiral staircase acted as a
divider between the dining room and living room areas.

While his eyes drank in the magnificence, Shane swallowed
hard. How the hell much did something like this cost? And where would he find
the funds to repay Pha when this was all over? With bright red dollar signs
floating amid the usual concerns in his consciousness, he turned to gauge
Adara’s reaction to their accommodations.

Amazement danced in her smile and wide eyes. After dropping
the manila folder onto the countertop behind her, she grabbed both his hands to
pull him forward. “Let’s go see what’s upstairs. Come on. I’ll race ya.”

She released him and, like a schoolgirl given early dismissal,
ran to the ivy-covered banister. While she ascended to the second floor of the
suite, Shane remained rooted to the spot, his thoughts too disturbed to
concentrate on anything as complicated as motion.

“Oh, my God.” Her screech of excitement floated down to him,
the song of a hysterical angel on high. “Shane, you’ve gotta come up and see
this place. It’s amazing. Now I know how the Swiss Family Robinson felt living
in their giant tree house. Tyler’s gonna flip. And wait ‘til you see the master
bathroom. A whirlpool tub, a tiled shower big enough for two adults, candles,
and everything. Wait a sec. I want to take a peek at the bedrooms.”

Her shoes thump-thumped over the floor above his head as she
raced to the opposite end of the suite. A brief silence ensued, then her eager
voice returned to report what she’d discovered now. “Wow! The master bedroom
has a king-sized four-poster with another patio overlooking KidLand, and
there’s a second bedroom with two full beds and a separate bathroom. I can’t
believe how beautiful this all is. This place is amazing.” A pause, then,
“Shane, are you listening to me? What’s taking you so long? Get your butt up
here, and see for yourself. Come on. You’re not gonna believe it.”

Shane sighed in defeat. Placing one foot in front of the
other, he headed toward the staircase. The oddest thought struck him as he
scaled the first step. All of a sudden he had two children in his care: Tyler
and Adara.

~~~~

Standing at the top of the stairs, hands on her hips, Adara
stopped herself from tapping her foot in irritation at Shane’s sluggishness.
What on earth was keeping him? How could he not want to see this beautiful
place in its entirety?

Some huge bug had crawled up his butt and taken residence
there today. Ever since Tyler had knocked her down this morning with
Combination Ten, Shane had been quiet and withdrawn, almost sullen. He refused
to talk to her, and any questions she asked were met with a terse monosyllabic
reply.

Once, she’d let her fingers slip over the gear shift separating
them only to have him grasp her hand and place it back in her own lap with a
deliberate drop. But his incommunicado status didn’t end there.

She instituted a game of “I Spy” with Tyler and Pauline, but
Shane refused to play along, claiming that driving took all his concentration.

“Gee, I hope not,” she’d quipped before she thought better
of it. “Suffolk County’s Finest should at least know how to locate the nearest
doughnut shop while driving.”

The glare she’d received in reply could freeze a New York
City street in August. At noon.

When she turned on the radio and sang along to a particular
favorite, he suddenly reached over and shut the music off with a mumbled,
“Thanks, but no thanks.”

Okay, so
American Idol
wasn’t searching for her for a
multi-album contract, but she didn’t have a completely tin ear, either. She’d
even won a karaoke contest at the Silk Club one night. Why the hostility?

She thought the whole idea was to keep Tyler from suspecting
something odd was going on between them. Yet his behavior only raised the
eyebrows of every passenger in their car. At one point, when Shane yelled at a
driver who cut him off, poor Tyler looked downright terrified.

Maybe she should confront him—now, before Tyler and Pauline
joined them again. When his long face finally appeared around the final curve
in the staircase, she prepared herself for battle. Planting her feet as she
would in a grappling match, she folded her arms over her chest, portraying a
rigid, implacable opponent. Just let him try to walk over her this time…

“What the hell’s going on with you today?”

He had the nerve to look surprised. “What?”

“You know perfectly well, ‘what.’ You’ve barely spoken all
day, and when you did see fit to deign us with your pearls of wisdom, your
words were either sarcastic or outraged.”

“As opposed to your kindness and sunshine, eh?”

“Oh, puh-leez. Yes, I admit, I’m angry right now, but you’re
the cause. Can you blame me? There’s a permanent scowl etched in your face.
You’ve been barking at me since early this morning. This is hardly what I call
a family vacation. I’d have more laughs escorting a corpse to a funeral.”

That comment cracked through his impatient façade. For the
briefest of moments, a smile curved his lips. Unfortunately, as quickly as the
grin appeared, it flipped back into the standard issue frown she’d grown
accustomed to seeing today. “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve got a
lot on my mind.”

“And I don’t?”

He shrugged. “How should I know? You’re acting like this is
some kind of lark. The singing, the car games, the karate lessons. The way
you’re carrying on, no one would ever know your life is in danger.”

“I thought that was the point. To keep Tyler from suspecting
anything. You think I’m not scared to death? You think I don’t spend hours
staring at the ceiling every night, wondering if tomorrow’s going to be the day
that Cherry’s goons catch up with me? You think I don’t cringe at every
stranger’s face I see? You think I’m not looking over my shoulder every five
minutes? Well, guess what, pal? You’re wrong,
dead
wrong, if you’ll
pardon the pun.”

Hot tears filled her eyes, and she turned away to stare at
the whirlpool tub while regaining her bearings. No man had ever seen her cry.
She’d be damned if Shane Griffin became the first. Overhead lights bounced off
the gleaming ceramic tile in glints, bringing the tears to the rims of her
eyelids.

“I’m tired, too, you know,” she told the tub in a husky
voice. “I know it’s my fault you’re stuck here. And I don’t blame you for
hating me for dragging your family into my mess. And once this is over, you can
tell me to go to hell, and I’ll be out of your life forever. But, in the
meantime, while we’re stuck together, could you tone down the animosity just a
bit?”

“I don’t hate you, Adara.”

Firm hands landed on her shaking shoulders, but she took a
step forward, away from the comforting touch. She needed no one’s comfort. The
sooner Shane learned that, the better off they’d both be. Apparently, he
disagreed. Matching her movements, he stepped closer. He didn’t touch her; he
didn’t have to. His presence surrounded her like a warm bath, instinctively
calming her disquiet.

“This isn’t your fault,” he said in a soothing voice. “I
took out my frustrations on you today, and I shouldn’t have. My mood had very
little to do with you at all.”

Curious and maybe a little irritated, she whirled around to
see the expression on his face. Was he just trying to make her feel better?
After looking into solemn eyes and his set mouth, she still couldn’t tell.
“Then what was it? If you’re not angry with me, why have you been so nasty
today?”

Without warning, a thumb flicked out to catch the tear
rolling down her left cheek, and she shied from such intimate contact as if his
finger was aflame. “It doesn’t matter what it was. It had nothing to do with
you.”

In a protective stance, she folded her arms over her chest,
hugging herself to keep the shudders at bay. “Yes, it does matter, Shane. It
matters a lot. This is just like last night when you told me not to worry about
the money we spend. We’re in this together, so if something affects you, it
affects me, too…”

Her argument floated into nothingness when Shane’s lower lip
disappeared between his teeth. Aha. She’d struck gold without trying.

“Money?” she asked. “Is that what has you worried? The money
we’re spending?”

He shook his head, but his teeth continued to dig into his
lip. Any deeper and he might draw blood. Well, his head might say, “no,” but
those teeth screamed, “yes.”

Giggles bubbled into her throat, partly from relief, and
partly from the ridiculousness of the situation. But she swallowed them and set
a serious expression on her face. The one she reserved for her boss at
evaluation time, or the officer who pulled her over for speeding one night.
“Okay. How much money do we have?”

“A little over five thousand dollars.”

Picturing that much money stuffed into a billfold nearly
staggered her. “In cash?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“So, then what’s the problem? Our room is paid for until two
weeks from now. I mean, I know the money won’t last forever, but it will keep
us going for a good long while, especially if we’re frugal about it.”

“The problem is, how am I going to pay all this back?”

Now, she was completely lost. “Pay what back?” He stared hard
at her. “Wait a minute. You think Ted’s going to expect you to pay him back for
this?”

“It doesn’t matter if Pha expects it or not. I have to pay
him back.”

Was that what this was about? Stupid male pride? She clucked
her tongue, a schoolmarm correcting her pupil. “You can try, but Ted will never
accept money from you.”

“How do
you
know?”

“I just know.”

“And I’m Prufrock.
How
do you know?”

“I just know.”

Now, he folded his arms over his chest and stood at the
entrance to the staircase, as impassable as a brick wall. “We’re not leaving
this suite until you tell me, so you may as well come out with it.”

What should she tell him? Certainly not the truth. He’d
think she was bonkers. Better to buy time and change the subject. “We should go
get your mom and Tyler. They’re probably wondering what happened to us.”

She got as far as the top step before his hand clutched her
upper arm. “They’ve waited this long, they can wait a little longer. Now I’ll
ask again. How do you know Pha won’t accept money from me?”

Zoinks. Caught. Okay, here goes…

“Because he, in effect, has hired you to watch out for his
beloved. And you can’t put a price on that.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Shane had prepared himself for some kind of nonsense from
Adara, but that little bit of logic nearly floored him. Without meaning to, he
stepped aside, staring at Adara in open curiosity. “Explain that,” he ordered.
“In detail.”

To his annoyance, she shrugged and headed past him, down the
stairs. “There’s nothing to explain, really.”

“Like hell. What do you mean he hired me to watch out for
his beloved? He didn’t hire me. I took this flight upon myself. To protect you
and
my family.”

Two steps from the bottom, she turned to look up to where he
still stood on the top landing. One eyebrow arched at him in disbelief. “Think
back to the conversation in the motel. Who suggested we run first? You or Ted?”

Pha. The name popped into his head at the same moment he
recalled the discussion she alluded to. “Okay, so Pha was the first one to
mention it. But why?”

“Why? I would think that’s obvious. Surely, you’ve noticed
that Ted’s not the most macho of men.”

He snorted. “That’s an understatement.”

“You, on the other hand, well, you’ll forgive me for saying
this but, you ooze male confidence.”

Taken aback, Shane could do little but study her mesmerizing
smile. Was that a compliment or an insult? No way to tell. “Go on,” he
grumbled.

“Ted has placed me in your very capable hands until this
crisis is over. The cash in the wallet, this room, it’s all he can do to keep me
safe. He’s put his ego in park for now to save innocent lives.” She turned away
again, but her last words drifted upward to him. “It’s a shame you can’t do the
same.”

Despite her obvious attempts to derail the topic, he wasn’t
finished yet. He took the steps two at a time and crossed the living room to
stand in front of her. “Wait a minute. How do you know what he’s thinking? You
only met him a few days ago. Or was that a lie? Have you known him all this
time?”

“No, you’re right. I only met him the day of the accident.”
She stared at the carpet, kicking invisible dust mites with errant feet. “I-I
honestly can’t explain it. There’s some kind of telepathic connection between
Ted and me.”

“Adara—”

Looking up again, she halted his interruption with an upraised
hand. “I know it sounds weird, and under normal circumstances, I’d volunteer
for a full psychiatric evaluation. I mean, extrasensory communication? How
crazy is that? But it’s true. Think about it. From the moment I laid eyes on
Ted, I knew he wasn’t here to harm me.”

“And I’m still not one hundred percent sure that’s the right
attitude.”