Read Playing His Dangerous Game for Free Online

everything, damn it!’
    Royce gave her a puzzled look. ‘Perhaps you’d like to explain what it is you think I’ve ruined, exactly? Because I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.’
    ‘Everything!’
Shara raked a hand through her hair, unsurprised to find it was shaking. ‘This is precisely the reason I didn’t want a bodyguard in the first place. I don’t need some stranger interfering in my business. This is
my
situation and I’ll deal with it
my
way.’
    Royce didn’t look the least bit impressed by her outburst.He was still standing by the phone. Still looking cool, calm and completely unruffled.
    The fact that he was so in control while she was falling apart at the seams infuriated Shara no end.
    ‘First, when he hired me to protect you, your father gave me permission to handle the situation
my
way. That’s the only way I do business. He knows that. I have to have full control.’ He folded his arms across his impressive chest. ‘And, second, if what I’ve seen in the last twenty-four hours is any example of the way you’ve been dealing with the situation then it’s entirely ineffective.’
    Pressure built inside her head until Shara thought she was going to explode. She could hardly stand still, but at the same time found that her muscles were locked so rigidly tight she was incapable of moving.
    Here we go again.
    Another man telling her what to do.
    Another man trying to smack her down.
    Well, he could try. But he wouldn’t succeed.
    She glared across the distance separating them. ‘How dare you? You conceited oaf! You’ve known me for all of two seconds and yet you’re an expert on me and my way of dealing with situations? As far as I’m concerned your so-called expertise has just made the situation one hundred times worse. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care if you’re one of my father’s paid minions. From now on keep out of my way—or there will be hell to pay!’
    Satisfied that she’d told him exactly what she thought of him, Shara spun on her heel and stormed out of the lounge room.
    She stomped up the stairs to her bedroom and snatched up her handbag and car keys. She had no idea where she was going, but she had to get out of here.
    How dare’d Royce put her down that way?
    Frankly, she thought she’d done one hell of a job.
    She was proud of the way she’d gathered enough courage to leave Steve. She was equally proud of the way she was ignoring his harassment.
    It wasn’t easy.
    Turning the other cheek was damned difficult at times, but she was trying to let his behaviour bounce off her.
    So Mr Just Plain Royce could put
that
in his pipe and smoke it!
    Exiting the house via the back staircase, Shara breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the garage undetected. She slid the key in the car’s ignition and was halfway down the driveway when she gave a victorious pump of her fist in the air.
    She was no more than half a kilometre from the house when she stopped smiling. A glance in her rear vision mirror turned her smile into a frown.
    There was a black sedan four or five cars back.
    The same kind of black sedan that Steve drove.
    Every time she made a turn the black sedan made a turn.
    Every time she changed lanes so too did the other car.
    Which, of course, could mean only one thing: Steve was following her.
    Her teeth came together with an audible snap, and a shiver of fear snaked serpent-like down her spine.
    ‘Oh, no,’ she said.
    Another quick glance in the mirror showed that the black sedan had closed the distance between them. It was now only three cars back, and getting closer all the time.
    Her hands clenched on the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.
    ‘You stupid fool,’ she muttered out loud.
    When was she going to learn that making decisions in the heat of the moment always backfired on her? When was she going to learn that when she was emotionally upset she almost always made the wrong decision?
    She’d accused Royce of making