On the Ruins of His Regret I Soar novel Chapter 29

He had the exact amount down to the cent.

“Excuse me?” Jessica said, bewildered. “A ride this distance, even with a late-night surcharge, would be forty dollars at most. Over sixteen hundred is extortion. I’ll give you one-fifty, or we can settle this at the police station.”

She knew the value of money now.

The man let out a short, sharp laugh. Jessica’s chest tightened. It was true what they said: when you’re down, everyone kicks you.

His cool voice filled the car again. “That’s the price of a suite at the Sunlight Hotel.”

Sunlight Hotel.

The name jolted her memory. That’s where she had woken up this morning.

She stared at the man in the driver’s seat, her mouth suddenly dry. “How… how do you know that?”

He took off his hat but said nothing, just watched her.

Finally, she saw his face clearly. The night wrapped around the car like a thick, dark veil. His fingers rested casually on the steering wheel. Her eyes were drawn to his sharp brow bone, carved as if from stone. As the headlights of a passing car swept through the cabin, she saw the intensity in his deep-set eyes, like bottomless pits. He had a strong, straight nose and a small mole near the corner of his left eye. He didn’t speak, but she could see a vein pulsing in his neck.

A wave of irritation washed over her. It was unsettling, being trapped in a confined space with a stranger she had almost slept with. The image of his thick, dark hair flashed in her mind, and her throat went dry all over again.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, for lack of anything else to say.

He turned to face her fully. “Pay up.”

Jessica nodded and silently counted out seventeen hundred dollars, handing it to him.

He looked at the bills. “I don’t have change.”

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