Chapter 16: Chapter 16
Anna was shaken wake as her tumultuous argument with Jerome, in addition to her concern for her family, tormented her thoughts as she attempted to fall back asleep.
As they drew into the parking garage of the hotel, she sat up straight. "Why are we coming to a halt?"
"I need to get some sleep and eat a proper dinner." As he stepped out of the vehicle after pushing open the door, he did not look in her direction.
She gave it a moment of thought before deciding how to respond to him, taking note of the fact that he had used the first person singular. The dispute that they had continued to cause tension between them, which was suffocating and ready to suffocate whatever remaining friendly feelings that they had for one another. And it made her uncomfortable. It caused her a great deal of annoyance.
She had spent a large amount of time throughout the fight pretending to sleep while she was anxiously thinking about it. Trying to understand why the disagreement between them mattered so much. He'd been nothing but a jerk to her, saying things on purpose to wound her feelings. Things that hurt her deeply and struck a nerve since they were the same words she repeated to herself in the middle of the night when she couldn't fall or stay asleep.
Jerome challenged the boundaries of every regulation he encountered during his life. He was a lawless man who constantly put himself in perilous situations while claiming that his behavior was justified in the name of honor. He was the embodiment of everything in her life that she had been attempting to escape. The action that is being taken here is running. However, it appeared that she could not run away from her history any longer. That was demonstrated by the fact that she took a rogue FBI agent to bed with her. What that meant exactly she hadn’t decided.
She only knew one thing, and that was she would not let a few harsh words shouted by Jerome or anybody else bring her down or shatter her spirit.
And regardless of what he asserts, he would prefer to defeat Pedro and Randy in a courtroom rather than circumvent the legal system. If that hadn't been the case, he would have used one of the chances he said he had when he was pretending to be someone else in order to eliminate them. He truly desired to act in a moral manner. Simply put, he was feeling the effects of having spent the previous three years in a hellhole.
Anna thought to herself as she reached for the door that one thing was certain: they needed to figure out a way to make this work. She had no way of escaping him at this point. Neither he nor she from her. They were unable to separate from one another for at least a week, and possibly longer. It was necessary for Jerome to involve her in the decisions that were being made. She wouldn't be excluded from the group.
She made her way to the back of the truck before coming to a stop in front of him. He was standing with his hands on his hips and an impatient expression on his face. She desired to know the answers, while he desired to eat and rest. "In what precise location are we?"
The gleam of steel could be seen in his eyes. "We're about an hour away from the ferry."
"Then why should we cease? I had the impression that you wanted—"
"To eat, and then to rest for a while."
Her lips became thinner, and her eyes became more inquisitive as she searched the stern expression in those eyes for some semblance of calm. But she came up empty-handed. void of feeling, devoid of sensuality, and devoid of comfort He had cut her off completely. “Jerome—”
He reached in his pocket and handed her a black wallet. She gazed at it in a bewildered manner. "Not Jerome," was the response he gave. "Michael Rodriquez."
She opened the cover made of black leather and glanced at the photograph of herself next to the name she did not recognize. "Sarah Rodriquez?"
He responded with "Right" "I take you as my wife." After he finished speaking, he pointed in the direction of the elevator. "Let's move."
She was lagging behind him by a few feet and was going to reach out and grab his arm in order to insist that they clear the air. However, after taking one look around the garage and seeing the automobiles lined up one after the other, she ran after him. Any person might conceal himself behind, behind, or even within one of the automobiles.
In less than a minute, she was able to catch up to him. We do not have any luggage. Do you not find that to be somewhat amusing? Even our clothing—" even our
It would appear that we have been playing around on the beach. Two birds of a feather who simply can't get enough of one another." He kept walking. Do not make things more difficult than they need to be.
A sound of exasperation came from her mouth. "All I'm trying to do is make it through another day here."
He came to a halt in front of the elevator and pressed the button labeled "arrow." “Then do as I say.”
He entered the elevator, turned around to face the front, and pressed the button to keep the door from opening. She didn't make a move despite the fact that her blood was boiling due to his haughty and arrogant attitude. The very act of her stepping into that elevator had been construed by him as a form of submission on her behalf.
A beeping sound came from behind her. His glance traveled beyond her shoulder and then returned to her face before moving on. He spoke in a soft tone, yet the intensity in his words was the same as if he had shouted. "Please enter through the elevator."
Her heart skipped a beat simply thinking about someone approaching. She advanced her position. When she turned around and could see the garage again, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the only people leaving their vehicle were a mother and her young child. She was relieved to find that she was not in danger and exhaled a sigh.
After releasing his grip on the elevator button, Jerome took a few steps backward. "You let your guard down way too quickly.
Everyone, including men, women, and children, is a possible adversary. Don't forget it."
If every person may be a potential foe, then who was he to trust? He had deceived her and acted as though he had two different personalities. She lacked focus and was clearly exhausted. At this moment, she was unsure what to believe about anything.
When the elevator doors opened, they saw a bustling but otherwise unremarkable-looking foyer below. It appeared that people were present in every location. Concerned, Anna turned her gaze toward the commotion that was going on. "Aren't we supposed to be in seclusion somewhere?"
He threw his arm over her and pulled her close to him, but she resisted. She was pierced all the way through her clothing by the heat coming from his touch. It would appear that her anger had no effect on the effect that he had on her senses.
While he was stooping down so that his breath might tickle her neck, he murmured, "Safety in numbers." His breath was warm and enticing. The sensation jogged my memory of private encounters, of touches that were off-limits at the time.
She made an effort to appear as though nothing was wrong. like a lady might behave when interacting with her husband. That was so close to making her laugh that it almost did. Conflict was a common part of married life. If her previous marriage was any indication, tension between her and Jerome should be expected to be the norm in their relationship.
Anna's jaw was locked tightly. She hadn't planned on being this sour, yet here she was. And she was indeed under the impression that she had those previous emotions under control. She pushed her demons away and offered the desk clerk a pleasant smile.
After a few minutes had passed, she joined Jerome in waiting nearby while he inserted a room key into a door handle. The atmosphere was charged with awareness, which defied the iciness of his demeanor. They were both aware that they might have different opinions regarding the legal system, but there was one subject on which they were both fully in agreement: sexual activity. Something that was going to be very difficult to ignore in their studio apartment with one bed.
When Jerome pushed open the door to the hotel room, he was as conscious of Anna's proximity as he was of the next breath he would take. Actually more conscious of things. The act of breathing occurred automatically. Every moment that he was in close proximity to Anna, he yearned for her. Hell. Even though he wasn't physically touching her, he could still sense her body next to his. When he wasn't lusting after her and daydreaming about how he'd take her if he ever got her naked again, guilt nipped at his gut over what a complete and total ass he'd been to her by bringing up her past as he had. When he wasn't lusting after her, he was daydreaming about how he'd take her if he ever got her naked again.
It made him the bad guy, good enough to f*ck, but nothing more, and it infuriated him that she had smacked him down for walking outside the circle of acceptable that she'd created around herself. She had drawn the circle of acceptable around herself. In point of fact, he had been looking forward to an excuse to be upset, and he was almost frantic to put some space between himself and Anna. to put a halt to whatever connection was developing between them in order to prevent him from allowing it to cloud his judgment and forgetting how dangerous he was to her. People desired for him to die. Pedro. Randy. Plenty of other people were eliminated by him as well. She had attacked his ideas and provided him with the gasoline to push her away, and he had jumped on the opportunity and not held anything back in his response.
Living in Pedro's environment had taught him how to be a heartless jerk, even if it hadn't taught him anything else. If anything, it had taught him how to be a cold-hearted bastard.
He made place for her to enter the room by moving to the side and beckoning her forward while she did so. She dithered, her eyes darting over his face for a fraction of a second, as if she, too, was aware of the repercussions of the two of them being alone in a hotel room. She took a deep breath, which caused her chest to rise, and then she entered the room.
His attention was drawn to the seductive movement of her hips as well as the pert lift of that sumptuous rear. There was no denying the attraction that existed between them, and he could feel it in his groin as it grew stronger. He desired to have her. It didn't matter to his body that they were from two very different universes.
This insane attraction that he had for her wrecked havoc on both his mind and body, and it led him to rationalize her determination to obey the system as readily as he rationalized his own ability to circumvent it. After all, he had used the fact that she was acting prim and proper as a weapon against him when they were arguing. He was aware of the agony that was buried behind that facade. However, she was not a ladylike person, and their lovemaking, together with her history, demonstrated this fact.
After following her into the room, he slammed the door and locked it after shoving it shut with his shoulder. She had placed herself near the window with her back to him in order to avoid his gaze. As he moved closer to the bed, the sexual tension in the room increased to the point that it was dangerously close to ignitable. The room shrunk, if that were even possible. It was going to be a challenge for him to be in the same room as Anna and restrain himself physically while they were there. No. Worse. His own private abode in the underworld.
"Don't get too comfy," he warned her, although it didn't seem like she was trying to do so. She felt the same things that he did.
The accommodation was on the cramped side. Too dang small. "We need to go get some food and some clothes right now."
As she turned to face him, the curtain that she had been holding dropped back into place. Her eyes then went to his, avoiding the bed in the process. "Should I go out in this weather?"