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Unable to muster enough courage to look at him, she instead focused her gaze on the knot of his tie as she mumbled, "You have the saddest eyes for a clown."

There was a long moment of silence, and then she heard Acheron say, "I missed a call from an old friend last night."

Pippi hadn't expected Acheron to confide anything at all, and that he had made her feel like she had been entrusted with the care of the crown jewels. She took her time answering, trying harder to read between the lines.

"And you're...bothered because you weren't able to answer it?"

"I suppose."

"Then...it's never too late to return the call."

"It's more a problem of whether I should."

Which most likely meant his "old friend" had something to do with the darker side of his past, Pippi interpreted. "If he hasn't done you any harm in the past, then I don't see why you can't at least listen to him."

A second later, and he was cupping her chin, and she had no choice but to look into his eyes.

"You're very good at hiding it, but you're actually very softhearted."

Her first instinct was to deny this, but then she saw his clown face, and a truth suddenly struck her. This was Acheron Simonides getting his face painted on just for the sake of taking her to work -and she couldn't even admit to being softhearted where he was concerned?

Teeth gnashing, she fought against the usual wave of shyness as she forced herself to say, "I'm only softhearted for people...I care about."

Seeing her practically choke on the words had Acheron realizing in amusement that Pippi was determined to be more expressive than usual.

Well, then, if that was truly what she wanted, far be it for him to stand in her way...

Pippi nearly lost her footing again when she felt Acheron casually slip an arm around her waist, with his fingers splaying possessively on her hips as he drew her close. Every inch of her was now plastered against his side, and she was all at once on fire and on edge.

All her life, she had steered clear of men like Acheron Simonides, and yet now she was letting him stake a claim on her body, and in full public view of their town's early risers no less.

Acheron chuckled when Pippi practically dove into the backseat of the car, and the sound had her making a face as soon as he joined her and pulled the door shut on her still-gawking neighbors.

The way the billionaire had held her might not have raised a single eyebrow in Miami, but with Isla de Flores being a sleepy town of less than 2,000 permanent residents, Pippi was glumly certain that Astrid would soon find herself besieged with questions about this morning's clownish visitor.

"I thought we were supposed to keep things under the radar," she muttered.

"Which we are," Acheron answered easily, "by hiding in plain sight."

"Plain isn't exactly the word that comes to mind when—-" Pippi's body swayed slightly as the car made a right turn, and she stopped speaking as she turned her anxious gaze towards the driver's seat.

"Good morning, ma'am." Wickham's respectful gaze met Pippi's through the rearview mirror, and her shoulders sagged with relief even though Acheron's factotum looked even more menacing in daylight. However sinister Wickham appeared to be, she knew Acheron trusted him, which was enough for Pippi to trust the other man as well.

"I hope you find the vehicle sufficiently comfortable, Ms. Jones."

"It's very comfortable." And even if it wasn't, Pippi would still say otherwise. With Wickham reminding her of Voldemort on steroids and Acheron still in the process of getting rid of his clown makeup with a wet tissue, Pippi couldn't help feeling like she had tumbled into aPurge-inspired Wonderland.

And one wrong word, she thought wryly,might just get her neck snapped.

"...one of our strategies is to not use any vehicle owned by Mr. Simonides or the company when picking you up."

It took more than a second for Pippi to realize Wickham was talking to her, and another second to understand what he was saying. "So this isn't your car then?"

Wickham named a ride-sharing company and explained after, "It should help shake off anyone that might be on your trail or Mr. Simonides."

This made a lot of sense, but wasn't it just a little too much? She started to ask Acheron this herself, but hearing her phone sound out the ringtone she had assigned for the office had Pippi temporarily setting her concerns aside.

"Was that Collins?" Acheron asked when the call ended.