“You need me and Forte?”
“Stand by,” Rojas responded. “I’d appreciate it if you could keep an eye on Boom for me.”
“Always.”
Rojas ended the call and started running back to the café.
*
Joseph leaned in, grabbed Elisa’s arm just above the elbow, and whispered in her ear. “Continue to make a scene and I will be forced to create a distraction. A horrible accident, perhaps. It would be terrible for business if a random driver were to lose control of their car and drive directly into the dining room. People could be hurt. The business would have difficulty recovering. You would be responsible.”
His lips brushed the shell of her ear as he spoke, and she trembled. He’d do it. She wouldn’t doubt him there. And he probably had a driver waiting outside because in all the time she’d been with him, he’d always had a driver and a backup mode of transportation ready in case something happened to the primary. Flat tires, bad traffic—Joseph had always been prepared to do what it took to get where he was going.
Julie watched, unconcerned and even gleefully interested, as she continued to gobble up Elisa’s mousse trio. “This is really good, by the way. You sure you aren’t going to take your last bite?”
Elisa spread her free hand over the phone on the table, the one Alex had given her. She dragged it off the surface, trying to hide it with as much of her palm as possible and trying to make it look like she was just her putting her hand into her lap. Julie might’ve seen her phone on the table earlier but her “friend” had been very focused on pissing off Alex. Hopefully, Elisa would have a chance to get a message out.
“What do you get out of this, Julie?” Probably not anything Elisa needed to know, but she wanted to.
Joseph’s fingers dug into her arm. “I said not to continue making a scene.”
Elisa closed her mouth and carefully smoothed the expression from her face. She’d only set the phone to a swipe to get past the screen lock in case she needed quick access. Under-the-table texting wasn’t something she’d ever been good at and she only hoped the message would go through.
The pressure on her arm ceased. “Excellent. You look lovely this evening in a simple sort of way. Wear a darker lipstick in the future and put more effort into your hairstyle. I prefer up-dos at dinner, even at…casual establishments like these. I’ve missed you.”
A scream was crawling its way up her throat, so she took a sip of water. Joseph watched her patiently, or with what passed for patience with him. It was the anticipation of a snake, waiting until a moment of inattention. Then he’d strike out at her and she’d have no time to avoid him. She wasn’t sure why he hadn’t moved to leave yet, then she remembered. He’d given her permission to take one more bite of dessert.
Hand shaking, she lifted her spoon and scooped up a small bit of chocolate mousse Julie hadn’t devoured. She brought the spoon to her lips and ate, trying not to gag.
The corners of Joseph’s mouth turned upward. “Good girl. Let’s go now.”
He didn’t let go of her arm as she rose, and to anyone else’s eye, he was helping to steady her. Having him touch her again made her skin crawl. He was always one step ahead of her and she’d learned already that making a scene would only result in awful things later. Unless she was absolutely sure she could get away, she had to do things as he told her. Had to.
Her thoughts started to scramble and she struggled to catch someone’s eye, anyone. As they turned to head through the café’s main dining room to the entrance, he held her back for a moment and took her phone from her hand.
“It would be unfortunate if the authorities were to attempt to track this phone via the GPS locator.” He glanced at the screen, pulling up the call log, and Elisa’s heart froze. There were no recent calls, none made in the last half hour or more. With a satisfied huff, he tossed it back toward the table and it hit a chair before tumbling to the floor. “I’ll give you a new one.”
She didn’t dare glance after the phone he’d taken away. It was another one of his tests. It would be a mistake to focus on anything but what he was providing for her. He’d find a way to hurt her for anything less than the perfect response. So, instead, she met his gaze steadily. “Thank you.”
He smiled his faint, reptilian smile again.