"Eyes on the road," Dante said mildly, catching her looking when he turned to head back toward the front seats.
Mary turned forward again, but said, "Thank you for cleaning up."
"It was my fault," Dante said simply as he reached her side. He didn't immediately take his seat again, however, but scooted Bailey out of the way, and knelt where the dog had been lying.
Mary glanced warily toward him to see that he was eyeing her solemnly.
"You are tired," he announced. "And no doubt hungry."
"I'm fine," Mary said quietly.
"I can either feed you, or I will take over driving. Your choice."
"I'm fine," Mary repeated, swallowing nervously as she considered both options.
"You are afraid because you are attracted to me," Dante announced with amusement and Mary scowled at the road.
"Someone has an ego on them," she growled. "I am not attracted to you. You're a child. I'm an older woman. I like big boys."
"I am a big boy," Dante said easily, managing not to sound like a braggart as he stated the obvious. And it was obvious. The man stood at least six feet eight, and his shoulder breadth was breathtaking. He was like a wall beside her, even on his knees.
"I meant a grown-up," she said irritably.
"I am older than I look," he assured her mildly. "And I know you are attracted to me. Your heart rate and breathing pick up every time I am near you."
Mary glanced at him sharply at that comment, and froze when she noted that the silver flecks in his black eyes appeared to have at least doubled in number. It almost seemed like they were glowing too, she noted faintly.
"The road," he reminded her and Mary tore her gaze from him to concentrate on the road again, but she couldn't get his eyes out of her mind. She'd never seen eyes like his before. So deep and dark and beautiful at first, and now glowing with silver like fine jewels.
"You must eat," Dante announced and her sandwich suddenly appeared in front of her face.
Mary peered at it reluctantly, but shook her head.
"Come," he coaxed, pressing it against her lips. "If you will not let me feed you, I will take your place at the wheel. I will lift you up, slip under you and take over driving."
Mary actually felt the way her heart jumped at the suggestion. It then began to beat away at an accelerated rate that was almost scary. She had an old ticker. It shouldn't be this active.
"See?" There was no mistaking the satisfaction in Dante's voice. "Your heartbeat is racing at the thought of my hands on you."
"My heart is racing with anger at your insolence," she countered shortly. "Did no one ever teach you to respect your elders?"
"Mary, you must--"
"Your friends are dropping back," Mary interrupted and Dante immediately lowered the sandwich and turned his gaze to the rear camera view. They both watched silently as the van behind them grew smaller on the screen. It had grown to about half size when a pickup pulled in front of it and between them.
"Do you think they're giving up on you?" she asked.
"I am not sure. I must call Lucian to see if they got Tomasso out," he muttered and set her sandwich back on the dashboard before standing to move to the back of the RV.
Mary relaxed a little the moment he wasn't hovering at her side. Honestly, the man was just overwhelming. His size, his scent, and his sexy deep voice with its charming accent . . . everything about him was distracting and overwhelming. So much so that she was hoping that his followers were giving up and letting him go. If so, it meant she could soon be rid of him. A good thing, she assured herself, ignoring the disappointment that the thought of his leaving brought up in her.
Her gaze slid to the rear camera view and she squinted as she noted that someone seemed to be leaning out of the passenger window of the pickup behind them. The image was all different shades of gray and she couldn't be sure, but it almost looked like the person was aiming a gun at the RV. Not a gun, she thought in the next moment, more like a crossbow or something maybe.
"Dante," she said with alarm, afraid they were perhaps with the van and were about to shoot out the tires on the RV or something.
"What is it?" Dante asked, his voice growing nearer.
Mary opened her mouth to answer, but then paused uncertainly. The person had slid back into the pickup and it was now dropping back too. The RV tires were all still intact as far as she could tell, so she gathered they hadn't been shot out.
"Mary, the road!" Dante cried suddenly and she switched her gaze back to the road to see that in her distraction she'd been steering to the right, toward the shoulder of the road. In fact she was already on the white line. Heart jumping in alarm, she quickly steered back to the left. Once she had it straightened out in the center of the lane, she let her breath out on a slow sigh.
Dante relaxed beside her and then leaned past her to set her phone back in the holder.
"Did they get your brother out?" she asked quietly.
"I do not know. Lucian did not answer," Dante said unhappily. "I left a message for him to call me."
"What are you doing?" Mary asked with alarm when he dropped to his knees next to her again.
"I am going to feed you," he said firmly.
"Dante--" she began in a warning tone.
"You need to eat," he interrupted sternly, picking up one half of her sandwich and turning toward her.
"I will eat," she said quickly. "You can take over driving at the next gas station."
"Mary, we cannot stop," he said solemnly. "It is too risky."
"Your friends have dropped back so far I can't even see their lights anymore," she countered, and then added, "We have to stop, Dante. We're almost out of gas."
"What?" he asked with alarm and glanced to the gas gauge to see that it was nearly on empty.
"Why is it so low?" he asked, sounding shocked that she would let that happen.
"Because I didn't get gas before leaving the truck stop as I intended," Mary said dryly. "I didn't get the chance. I wasn't driving."
When he merely stared at her, worry on his face, she said, "They've dropped back. I think they've given up on us. For all we know they've pulled off the highway and turned back to head to the house where you were kept," she pointed out.
"But what if they are just feigning giving up?" he asked with a frown. "They could just be letting us think they have given up in hopes that we'll stop somewhere and they can catch us unawares."
Mary's mouth tightened at the suggestion, and she glanced to the rear camera view, wishing it had telescoping abilities so that she could see if they were still back there or not. It didn't, however, and after a moment she sighed and said, "We'll have to take the risk. We need gas."
Cursing, Dante stood and set her sandwich back on her plate, then glanced around as if for a spare gas tank they might use.
"According to the Garmin there's a gas station not too far ahead. We should make it there," she added hopefully and couldn't believe she hadn't noticed until now that they were so seriously low on gas. She usually kept an eye on it. Of course, this wasn't your usual day, she excused herself. Besides, she wasn't lying; she had intended to get gas at the truck stop. At least she had before she'd found Dante naked in her bedroom bleeding all over the place. After that she hadn't thought of it once.
"You have no back windows," Dante announced suddenly, as if that might have escaped her notice. "If you had back windows I could--"
"You could what?" she asked curiously when he paused. When he didn't respond at once, she glanced around to see that he was poking at the air vent in the ceiling next to the dinette table. It looked like he was considering it as an escape route or something. She had no idea why. The man couldn't possibly fit through it. Besides, where did he think he was escaping to?
"No good," he muttered and moved back between the seats.
A glance showed her that he was now eyeing the passenger side window with interest. Even as she noted that, he settled in the passenger seat and then opened
his window. The screen followed, sliding smoothly to the side.
Mary considered the hole it left and thought that he might very well fit through it. She just had no idea why he'd want to. Where did he want to go? He was safer inside than out . . . at least until his kidnappers broke in and shot them full of darts.
"How far until the gas station?" Dante asked suddenly.
Mary glanced to the GPS and frowned. "Maybe five minutes."
Dante nodded and then turned to lean out the window and peer up.
"What are you thinking?" she asked with concern.
Dante settled back in his seat and glanced around to explain, "If they are feigning their lack of interest and do suddenly appear when we stop for gas, they could shoot me with their darts as soon as I opened the door," he pointed out. "We would not have a chance."
Mary bit her lip at his words, knowing he was probably right.
"However, they would not expect me to be on the roof of the RV," he pointed out.
"The roof?" she squawked with amazement.
"Si. If I slip up on the roof now, I can watch for them while you get the gas. Then if they do suddenly appear, I can--"
"You are not getting up on the damned roof," Mary interrupted with dismay.
"Mary," he said solemnly. "We need to stop for gas, and for us to do so, I must get up on the roof."
"How the hell is your being on the roof going to help us get gas?" she asked with disbelief.
He hesitated, but then sighed and explained, "If I can see them, I can take control of their minds and make them keep their distance or perhaps even capture them. But I must do so without their seeing me, else they will shoot me with one of their darts and all will be lost." He glanced to the side mirror again and added, "It should be all right. They cannot possibly see me in the dark from as far back as they are now, and they will not be expecting this so I should have the time I need to slip into their minds and take control before they spot me and shoot."
Mary tore her gaze from him and back to the road ahead, her mind filled with disbelief. After a moment, she heaved a sad sigh and shook her head. Of course, she'd run over the crazy guy. Gorgeous, but completely bonkers was her diagnosis. Such a shame.
Clearing her throat, she finally spoke in soothing tones. "Dante, I think maybe you hit your head when I ran you over. Why don't we--Dante!" Mary gasped as she looked over to see his head and bare chest disappearing out of the window. The rest of his nakedness was following.
Mary reached instinctively toward him, but stopped and straightened the wheel when the RV swerved with her. Cursing, she shifted her gaze from the road, to each of the mirrors and then the rear camera view, but of course, none of them showed a view of the roof of the RV. Fortunately, none of them showed a naked-ass man rolling away from the RV after tumbling from the roof either, she thought and tossed a scowl toward the colorful afghan that was now pooled on the floor in front of the passenger seat.
"Down Bailey," she ordered firmly when the dog jumped up onto the seat to peer curiously out the window after their absent guest. The dog jumped down at once to sit on the afghan and Mary shook her head, thinking with irritation that she really should have made him put on some damned clothes. He was obviously crazy and incapable of looking after himself. Why hadn't she insisted he go to the bedroom and get some of her husband's clothes and put them on, she asked herself grimly. But knew the answer was that she'd been reluctant to see anyone in her Joe's clothes. She hadn't even been ready to remove them from the RV and give them to charity, as she should have. It had been a year, and she still hadn't removed a single item of his from either their home or the RV. She'd clung on to them as if keeping them meant he wasn't really gone and that he would walk through the door one day with hugs and kisses and flowers.
Her gaze lifted to the ceiling of the RV as the sounds of movement overhead reached her ears. Dante was moving along the roof of the RV. Dear God, she had a naked-ass man on her roof! That thought kept screaming through her head as her gaze continually shot from road, to mirror, to mirror, to camera screen, but it went suddenly silent when she spotted the lights of the gas station ahead.
Five
"Damn," Mary breathed, knowing there was nothing else but for her to pull into the damned station. She couldn't afford not to unless she wanted to be stuck on the side of the highway, as helpless as Jonah in--what in this case would be--a beached whale. So she had to stop, and with a naked-ass man on her roof.
Mary muttered under her breath and slowed the RV to turn in. She was more than relieved when she saw that there were presently no other vehicles in the station. She would only have a shocked and probably hysterical attendant to deal with then, she thought with a grimace.
"My apologies, Mary. You will have to pump the gas. I must remain up here to watch for our hunters so that I may control them if they pull in after us."
Mary rolled her eyes as that announcement floated through her open window. Not because she had to pump gas. She'd pumped her own gas all the way south and had intended to all the way back. What caused the eye rolling was his claim that he had to control their hunters. Really? Did he believe he could? Or that she'd believe he could? Dante was pretty but crazy and that was just sad, she decided, maneuvering the RV as close to the pumps as she could get. It seemed a terrible shame that God had made such a perfect specimen and forgotten to ensure his brain worked properly as well.
"Dear God, I have a naked-ass man on my roof," Mary muttered the thought aloud this time as she put the RV in park and turned it off. Saying it aloud did not help. Shaking her head, she slid out of her seat and moved to the door. Bailey immediately tried to follow, but Mary gave her a firm, "Stay," and managed to slide out without the dog escaping.
Closing the door with a firm snap, she glanced toward the gas station, expecting to see the attendant either plastered to the plate glass window, gaping like a fish out of water, or on the phone to the police. But the young man inside the building was looking down at something on the counter and didn't seem to have even noticed their arrival.
Grateful for small mercies, Mary walked hopefully to the pump, but of course it was prepay. The pumps were prepay in Canada too. You either paid at the pump with a credit or debit card, or you prepaid. At home she would have just used her credit card, but Mary never used them in the States. She'd get soaked when it came to charges and exchange by her credit card company. Despite that, she almost used her credit card anyway this time, but in the end, headed for the building.
Mary glanced toward the highway as she walked, searching for the van. But it hadn't made an appearance. Yet. Her gaze then slid to the RV and she saw that Dante was lying on the roof at the rear end of the vehicle, his bare ass shining under the glare of the station lights like some kind of beacon. Closing her eyes, she shook her head and then turned and slid into the station to pay for the gas. It didn't take more than a moment. The attendant was busy reading an auto magazine and barely glanced up to ring up her request and take her money. He wasn't even interested enough to look out the window to see what kind of vehicle might need so much gas.
Beginning to think they might make it out of there without causing the scene she'd feared, Mary headed back out to the RV, her gaze steadfastly avoiding Dante on her roof and shifting to the passing vehicles. If anyone was taking note of a naked man lying on his belly on the roof of an RV, you couldn't tell. The cars were just cruising by, none of them with any sign that he'd even been noticed.
Marveling over that, Mary set about the business of pumping gas into her vehicle, her attention shifting between the pump and the oncoming traffic.
"There is no need to fret. I will control them if they come."
Mary glanced up at that announcement to see Dante peering over the back of the roof at her. Nodding, she said wryly, "Good to know."
His eyes narrowed, but Dante didn't comment and merely ducked back out of sight, presumably to continue watching for the kidnappers, so he could control them. She shook her hea
d at the thought. As if anyone could control another human being with his or her thoughts.
Muttering under her breath, she glanced from the spinning numbers on the pump to the passing traffic and back. The van had dropped back in traffic, which when she thought about it was weird. It wasn't like the RV had been speeding down the highway. It simply wasn't capable of speeding. She'd been driving the speed limit, maybe even a little under it, yet the van had backed off, going under the speed limit to do so. What were they up to? she wondered with a little concern and then glanced to the pump with surprise when it clicked and stopped pumping. She'd reached the amount for which she'd prepaid, which should just about fill it up, by her guess.
Removing the handle, she set it back in the pump, then quickly screwed the gas cap back on and closed the cover.
"Go ahead and start out."
Mary glanced up at that instruction. Dante was peering down at her again.
"I'll climb in once we're on the road again," he said and then pulled back out of sight before she could comment. Mary glanced to the building, and then shook her head and walked around the RV to the door.
Bailey was waiting by the door when she opened it and Mary had to urge the dog back to get in. Locking the door, she then sat in the driver's seat, started the engine and pulled away from the pumps. She eased up to the road and paused to wait for traffic to clear. It wasn't as busy as earlier in the day, but there were still a good number of cars passing . . . and then a pickup passed with a dark van behind it.
Mary narrowed her eyes on the two vehicles, but they flew past without slowing and didn't pull over farther down the highway that she could see. Once they were out of sight in the distance, she started to turn her gaze back to the oncoming traffic, only to whip her head around in surprise as Dante came swinging in through the passenger window. Her timing could not have been worse; she got an eyeful of the man's junk as his hips were framed in the opening before he dropped into the seat.
"They've driven past," he announced. "But they went by too fast for me to take control."
Mary simply gaped at him.
"They may be planning to ambush us further up the highway. Maybe I should drive now," he suggested. Dante had landed sideways in the seat with his knees pointed her way and his lap fully exposed.