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frowned. “I wasn’t sure. I had a car waiting, just in case. An opportunity presented itself, so I seized it. Your father’s men are too careful to give us many chances to get away from them.” He peered at her in the dim interior. “Are you angry at me, Carina? I thought this was what you wanted.”
    Joe’s hand captured hers gently, stilling it against his chest. She was arrested by the slow, steady thud of his heart under her palm. Not the heartbeat of a frightened man.
    He said soothingly, “This plan isn’t only about getting you away from your father. It’s also about getting him to let you live your own life once and for all.”
    Cari’s outrage subsided. “Where are we going?”
    Joe looked her directly in the eye. His dark gaze was warm and compassionate. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, “and so damned young.”
    Young? She hadn’t felt young in a long time. Living with her father aged a soul. Joe’s smooth voice caressed her, raising the fine hair on her forearms. She tingled all over. And then his next words registered.
    “We’ve got an appointment with a judge, princess. We’re getting married, remember?”
    She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She looked up at him uncertainly. “Are you sure about this?”
    His smile would have lit the whole night sky if they were standing outside. “Yeah, I’m sure. How ’bout you?”
    She stared back at him, losing herself in the midnight depths of his eyes. He’d take care of her. Keep her safe. Give her freedom. All those promises swam in his gaze. But she saw something more in his eyes, too. Something male and possessive that made her hands shake and her breath come in unsteady jerks. Something that made her pause a long time before she answered.
    Finally, she took a deep breath and replied in a shaky voice, “Yes. I’m sure, too.”

Chapter 4
    B reathe, Cari, breathe. Lord, bolting from that club had been a risky thing to do. She was supposed to be a wild child. Adventurous. The kind of girl who’d take eloping in stride or, at least, take it as a big joke. Drawing what shred of courage she could around herself, she turned to peer at Joe in the car’s dark interior.
    “Since we’ve got wheels and have already ditched my watchdogs, why don’t we just head for the airport? We can hop the first flight to anywhere.”
    Beside her, one of Joe’s silhouetted shoulders shrugged. “We’d never make it far enough out of the city to reach the airport. There are police checkpoints everywhere, and military patrols are crawling all over St. George. Plus, as soon as your pet thugs report to daddy, you’d better believe Eduardo’s men will be racing all over this city looking for you, too.”
    “But—” she started.
    Joe interrupted. “Any extraction plane or helicopter stands a good chance of being shot down. There is a civil war going on in Gavarone, after all. I could haul you out into the jungle, but it’s crawling with rebels right now and would put you at grave risk. Especially if you were caught with me.”
    “Why’s that?”
    Joe grimaced. “Let’s just say I’m not well loved by the rebels these days. I was involved in a little run-in with them a while back that took a whole lot of their people out of action.”
    Her eyebrows shot up. He must be referring to that fiasco last year where the high-tech rifle Eduardo had stolen from Charlie Squad was mysteriously stolen back from the rebels he had hired to take it. Her father had been furious when the rifle slipped through his fingers. He’d also been livid that nobody seemed to want to tell him exactly how it had happened. Maybe someday she’d manage to pry the story out of Joe.
    “Look,” she argued, “I’m no wilting lily. I can stand tromping around in the jungle for a while if it wins me my freedom.”
    Of all people, the driver replied, “Joe’s right. It’s too dangerous to try to move you out of the city right now. Believe me, he’s examined every