Her heart heavy, Amanda watched as they passed by the antebellum mansions where large oaks and pines were draped with tons of hanging Spanish moss. Hunter pulled into a drive at the end of the street. Trees obscured her view to the house, and two large stone pedestals secured a heavy wrought-iron, twelve-foot-high gate. A tall redbrick wall surrounded the grounds and seemed to go on forever.
The place looked like a fortress. He grabbed a remote out of the glove compartment, pressed the button, and the heavy gates swung wide. Amanda's breath caught in her throat as he drove up the long, curving driveway and she could finally see where he lived.
Her jaw dropped. His house was huge! The neoclassical architecture was some of the best she'd seen. Tall columns ran all the way around the house and the upper balconies had ornate white iron scrollwork.
Hunter drove around to the back of the house and into a six-car garage where she saw he also owned a Mercedes, a Porsche, a vintage Jaguar, and a new Buick that looked strangely out of place.
Okay, the Lamborghini had clued her in that Hunter had a lot of money, but she'd never dreamed he lived like this. Like royalty. She winced at the thought. Of course he did, since that was what he was. A prince. A real-life prince of ancient Greece.
As the garage door closed behind them, Hunter helped her out of the car. He turned Terminator loose in his backyard, then led her inside the huge house. Her gaze tried to take in everything at once as they walked down a small hallway into a kitchen where a thin, elderly Hispanic woman was pulling something delectable out of the oven.
His kitchen was mammoth, with stainless-steel appliances and antiques lining the dark green walls and marble counter-tops.
"Rosa," Hunter said in a chastising tone as he laid his keys down on the counter by the door. "What are you doing here?"
Rosa jumped and patted her chest. "Lord, m'ijo , you scared me out of ten years."
"I'm going to scare you out of more than that if you don't do what the doctor said. You and I had an agreement. Do I have to call Miguel again?"
She narrowed her large brown eyes on him as she set her pan of chicken on the stove. "Now, don't you go threatening me. I gave birth to that boy and I'm not about to let him go lecturing me on what I need to do. And that goes for you, too. I was minding my own home long before you were born. You hear me?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Rosa paused as she caught sight of Amanda. A wide smile spread across her face. "It's good to see you with a woman, m'ijo."
Hunter passed a sheepish look to Amanda. He stepped over to the stove to inspect the food. "This smells delicious, Rosa ,gracias."
Rosa smiled proudly as she watched him savor her work. "I know; that's why I made it. I'm tired of seeing TV dinners and fast food bags in the garbage. You need to eat real food once in a while. That processed stuff will kill you."
Hunter gave her a gentle, tight-lipped smile. "I think I can handle it."
Rosa snorted. "We all think we can, and that's why I have to take heart medicine now."
"And speaking of," Hunter said, turning to her with a chiding stare, "you are supposed to be home by now. You promised me."
"I'm going. I put a salad for you in the refrigerator. There should be enough for both of you."
Hunter took Rosa's coat from the back of the chair and helped her into it. "You are taking tomorrow off."
"But the gardener man, he comes."
"Nick can let him in."
"But—"
"Nick can handle it, Rosa."
She patted his hand affectionately. "You're a good boy, m'ijo. I'll see you Wednesday." "But not before noon."
She smiled. "Not before noon. Good night."
"Adiós."
"So," Amanda teased as soon as they were alone. "You actually do know how to be nice to someone."
She saw the corners of his mouth twitch as he fought down the urge to smile at her. "Only when the mood strikes me." He pulled a fork and knife out of a drawer and cut a small bite of chicken.
"Oh, this is good," he said. He cut another piece. "Here, you have to taste this."
Before she realized what she was doing, Amanda allowed him to feed it to her. The spices filled her mouth at the same moment it dawned on her just how intimate a moment they were sharing. By the look in his eyes, she would say it occurred to Hunter about two seconds after her. "It's very good," she said, stepping back from him.
Without another word, Hunter set about putting out plates for them. As she watched him, the full horror of the night came crashing down on her.
"My house is gone," she breathed."Completely gone."
Kyrian set the plates aside as he felt her pain reaching out to him. It was a staggering wave of loss. She looked up at him, her eyes swimming in grief. "Why did he burn my house? Why?"
"At least you weren't in it."
"But I could have been. Oh God, Hunter, Tabitha is normally home at that time! What if you hadn't been there? Allison would be dead. Tabitha could have been killed." She sobbed as she looked about, panic-stricken. "He's not going to stop until we're dead, is he?"