Free Stolen Fury by Elisabeth Naughton Page B

toward him and fought back the excitement racing through her veins. If nothing else, he wouldn’t turn her in. And if things got hot, she could always flip the blame right back on him. After all, he was the thief. “Okay.”
    “You’re in?” His dark brows lifted with a touch of surprise. And she knew then the guy wasn’t quite as sure as he’d looked before. Smoke and mirrors, she reminded herself. That’s all he was.
    She dropped her arms. “I’m out of my freakin’ mind. But yeah, I’m in.”
    The victory that flashed in his eyes made her stomach tighten and her thighs tingle without warning.
    He was a liar and a cheat. And if she let him, he’d screw her in more ways than one.
    Lord help her, she was in way over her head.
    “You didn’t have to tag along.” Lisa tossed her suitcase into the trunk of the rental car. “This isn’t going to be a long trip.”
    “Green on grass, white on rice. For the next few weeks, I’m stuck to you like glue, querida. ” Rafe threw his duffle on top of her case and slammed the trunk. “Get used to it.” The cocky grin slanting across his face screamed I don’t trust you anymore than you trust me , and it sent Lisa’s blood pressure skyrocketing.
    A plane rumbled overhead. The October chill cooled Lisa’s skin but did little to settle the smoldering temper she’d been fighting since the morning she’d awoken alone in Italy.
    Muttering curses, she stalked around the car and jerked the driver side door open.
    “I’ll drive,” he said, stepping up behind her and grasping the open door. “In your mood, you’ll probably plow headfirst into a pylon, just to make a point.”
    She whipped around and bumped into his solid chest. Clenching her jaw at his closeness, at his attempt to dive in and take over, she brushed her hair back and looked up. “You know the mean streets of Chicago, Slick?”
    When he rolled his eyes, she turned and slipped into the driver seat. “Just get in, Sullivan. And hold on.”
    “You’ve got serious control issues, you know that?” He clutched the armrest as she jerked the small car out of O’Hare’s rental lot and pulled into traffic on I-90.
    The guy had some nerve. She changed lanes. “You’re talking to me about control? Nice one.”
    He only grunted next to her.
    Red brake lights flashed ahead in the dim light of early evening, and she shifted lanes again, easing around a semi. In her peripheral vision, she watched Rafe’s knuckles turn white against the armrest of the sedan as she whipped inand out of traffic. A smile curled her lips, the first one she’d felt in days.
    But it was quickly blanketed by the thought of what lay ahead to night. She’d have preferred that Rafe stay in sunny Florida where she’d told him to sit tight, instead of tagging along with her to her parents’ house in Chicago. The guy didn’t listen to a word she said, though. He was too worried she was going to cut and run with Doug’s research, go off and find Tisiphone on her own. Which, if she had any sense, is exactly what she’d do.
    Insane. This whole idea was totally insane, and being a bright girl, she was going along with it anyway. That pretty much made her certifiable.
    She was just waiting for the inevitable moment when she’d have to explain how she , a grad student at the time, had managed to procure Dr. Douglas Stone’s personal research papers. Thank the blessed stars above, the brainiac next to her hadn’t yet asked.
    She hadn’t been back to the Windy City in over a year, and knowing her family, they were going to make a big production out of her return. She could already hear her sister Keira’s high-pitched squeal—the same one that had set Lisa’s nerves on edge as a teenager and sounded like fingernails scraping down a blackboard. With her hands gripping the wheel, Lisa took a calming breath and tried to remember these people were family. She didn’t have to like them per se, just love them. Which she did without