Читать книгу The Dare Collection January 2020 - Lauren Hawkeye, A.C. Arthur - Страница 21

THEA SAT AT the breakfast bar in the kitchen of my apartment, dressed once more in my black shirt, the Red Queen glittering around her neck.

It was possibly a mistake to let her keep wearing the necklace, but I liked the red glitter of the rubies on her skin. She could of course disappear on me, taking the necklace with her, but I was taking the chance that she wouldn’t.

Not after the way she’d come apart against the glass in my office so spectacularly. And probably not after she’d answered all my questions with what I thought was the truth.

The real issue right now though was that the answers should have satisfied my curiosity. Should certainly have helped me make a decision about where to go from here. But they hadn’t. If anything, they’d only made me more curious, which I really didn’t want to be. Not to mention more possessive, which was another thing I didn’t want to be.

It was more comfortable not to be interested, and way more comfortable not to give a shit, and yet here I was, standing in my kitchen with her dressed in my shirt, wearing my jewels, and all ready to eat the breakfast my housekeeper had prepared. Again, potentially concerning.

Or at least it would have been if it was possible for a pretty little thief to be a threat to my emotional wellbeing. And, as it wasn’t possible, I shouldn’t be concerned.

So I wasn’t. But curious? Oh, yeah, still fucking curious.

How had she got into the ‘reacquisition business’ or whatever the hell she’d called it? And why? It sounded shady as shit to me, yet I didn’t sense anything shady about her.

No, the only thing I’d got from her was hunger. For me.

When I’d turned her around against the glass in my office, she’d looked at me as if she was starving and only I could feed her. And I had the sense that her hunger went beyond physical need. That it was something deeper, though I wasn’t sure what.

Dangerous fucking territory, bro.

No, it wasn’t, not if I didn’t want it to be, and I sure as hell didn’t. If she was hungry for something more than sex then she was shit out of luck, because sex was all I had to give anyone. A bit of pleasure, fun and a bit of luxury; that was it.

Anyway, even if I’d had something more to give, I wouldn’t. Not when I’d only just met her and knew exactly zero about her.

The breakfast my housekeeper had left me on the counter consisted of bowls of fruit and yoghurt, bacon and my favourite, scrambled eggs and toast.

I put some food on a plate for Thea, spooning out some scrambled eggs, and she watched me with those beautiful dark eyes as I did so, not saying a word. For some reason, I didn’t feel the need to say anything either.

A silence fell and it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was...restful, which I hadn’t expected. Every day I was surrounded by people and noise, bright colours and sparkle, the frenetic pace that was doing business at Black and White, and normally I preferred it that way.

I’d always liked the sense of moving forward, away from the memories of my happy, pretty mother slowly wasting away from her battle with cancer, taking all the joy and sparkle from my life with her.

So many clear, vivid memories. Memories that would never fade.

Of her laughter disappearing. Her smiles vanishing. Of Morgan, who’d been such a happy little thing, getting more and more anxious. More and more frightened. And Mum telling me it was up to me now to look after her, to be the light in her life. Up to me to make things less terrible, less awful.

Because I was the serious one. The dependable one.

So I’d helped her; I’d saved her from pain. And I’d done my best to look after Morgan. Tried not to be so serious, to make her laugh, to make her believe that there were good things left in the world.

Never again, though. I was never going to be responsible for another person’s happiness, another person’s entire life, ever again.

So I avoided silence, because silence only made me think, and I didn’t fucking want to think. Parties, music, talking and laughing. And sex. Yeah, bring that shit on.

Yet right now, in my kitchen, there was no noise, only silence and calm, and it seemed to radiate from her. And, weirdly, it didn’t make me think about the past. It only made me focus on her instead.

I pushed the plate in her direction. ‘Eat, Sugar. You probably need it.’

She stared at me a second then picked up a fork and pulled the plate close, taking a bite of the eggs. Something tightened in my chest—the protectiveness that I tried to keep locked away.

Don’t let it get to you, dickhead.

I wouldn’t. I might have those feelings, but they didn’t have to mean anything if I didn’t want them to. And I didn’t want them to.

Picking up a bowl of fruit, I leaned against the counter and stuck a fork into a piece of mango.

The silence deepened and I let it rest for a while, trying to ignore my nagging curiosity. But I was too impatient to let it go on for long.

‘You said the Red Queen was stolen?’ I asked eventually.

‘Yes, but, like I told you, I operate through an intermediary and we don’t get any of the details or reasons, or even the name of the person who requests it. We just get the request for acquisition.’

So, I wasn’t going to be able to follow up on that. How annoying.

I shifted against the counter. ‘So, this reacquisition business...how does it actually work?’

Thea chewed slowly on her mouthful then swallowed. ‘It was my mentor’s business. The police aren’t so much concerned with retrieving stolen items as they are with putting those responsible in prison, which means the owners of the items often don’t get them back. Also, there are some people who don’t want the police involved at all, they simply want their items returned.’ She speared more eggs with her fork. ‘We don’t have anything to do with the client and they don’t have anything to do with us. That way, everyone remains safe.’

‘Sounds like a useful kind of business. At least until you get caught.’

Thea swallowed her eggs. ‘I’ve never been caught.’

I lifted a brow, surprised. ‘Never?’

‘No.’ Her dark eyes gave absolutely nothing away. ‘It wouldn’t be good for business if I was.’

‘True.’ I stared back at her, fascinated. ‘You must be very good at it.’

‘I am,’ she said simply. ‘I’ve been doing it for nearly eight years.’

Holy shit.

This small, curvy little woman, sitting there naked apart from the jewels around her neck and the black cotton of my shirt, her skin glowing in the light coming through the windows and looking like some kind of angel, had apparently been slipping in and out of people’s houses and vaults, ‘reacquiring’ various items, and all without being caught. For eight years.

‘Except I caught you,’ I couldn’t help pointing out, feeling vaguely triumphant about it, though I wasn’t sure why.

Her mouth firmed. ‘I was careless.’

‘Or maybe you wanted to be caught.’

‘Why would I want that?’

‘Because you saw me.’ I grinned, flirting with her, wanting to see her smile. ‘I am, after all, pretty fucking amazing.’

Sure enough, her mouth twitched, which I counted a victory. ‘That’s not arrogant at all.’

‘Kind of comes with the billionaire territory.’ I ate another piece of mango, not missing the way her gaze dropped to my mouth. The chemistry between us flared, but as much as I wanted to spread her out over the breakfast bar and feast on her naked body, I needed answers more.

‘Sugar,’ I said, ‘you’re going to have to stop looking at me like that. Especially since I think we both need some recovery time.’

Colour stained her cheekbones, her lashes fluttering as she looked away. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered.

‘I’m not. But, since I’m guessing you didn’t have any dinner last night, and as we’ve done a lot of physical activity since then, you need to eat.’

She didn’t protest, dutifully finishing up her eggs then the bacon, then reaching for a bowl of fruit and yoghurt.

Satisfied she’d had something, I went back to my questions. ‘So how did you get into this business, then? You mentioned a mentor...’

The corners of her eyes tightened minutely; if I hadn’t been watching her, I’d have missed it.

‘Why do you want to know?’

I tried to figure out the undercurrents in her voice, because they were there—I could hear them. And that tightness around her eyes...

She didn’t like the question. But why not? Was it painful for her?

Why the fuck do you want to know? You’ve got the answers that matter already. Time to get rid of her before Everett figures out there’s been a security breach and goes after her.

That would have been the smart thing to do. Yet I didn’t want to do it.

There was something about her that reached out and gripped me by the throat. Something to do with her physical hunger for me, plus the odd sense of vulnerability I got from her. Whatever it was, it made the latent protective instincts, that I thought I’d managed to get rid of the day I’d sent Morgan away, sit up and take notice.

Which was a complication I didn’t need.

I shifted against the counter, ignoring the logical part of my brain nagging at me to call Everett.

‘Why do I want to know?’ I echoed. ‘Because I’m interested.’

‘Why? So you can shut my business down?’

‘Your business? What about this mentor that you mentioned?’

Something flickered through her eyes. ‘He’s gone,’ she said flatly. ‘It’s my business now and I’m not putting it at risk simply because you’re “interested”.’

I studied her for a moment. Looked as though I’d hit a nerve. And maybe more than a nerve. That had been pain in her eyes; I was sure of it.

‘I’m not going to go to the authorities, Thea,’ I said. Hell, I’d already made the decision that I wouldn’t even before I’d taken her to bed the night before. ‘No matter what you tell me.’

Her gaze narrowed. ‘So what are you going to do with me, then?’

That was the sixty-four-million-dollar question, wasn’t it? I could let her go, but that wouldn’t change the fact that she’d got past my security systems and knew the layout of my place. Plus, I had the suspicion that if I did let her out of my sight I wouldn’t see her again.

That’s probably a good thing.

But was it? Our chemistry still hummed in the air between us and I wasn’t done exploring that. What could keeping her a few days hurt, if she was willing? It would satisfy us both, and with the upcoming launch of the Black and White Foundation, and the fact that I was going to have to go to London and see Morgan in a few days, I was certainly in need of some distraction.

And Thea would make for one hell of a distraction. She was like a mysterious present I wanted to unwrap slowly, uncovering her a bit at a time to tantalise myself. And then, once my curiosity about her was satisfied and our physical hunger for each other dealt with, we could both move on.

Yeah, why not?

I held her gaze. ‘I know what I want to do with you and it’s got nothing to do with a jail cell.’

She flushed, the colour moving down her neck deepening in the reflection from the rubies at her throat, her skin lustrous as a pearl in the morning sun, her eyes glowing with desire as they looked into mine.

‘Damian...’ She stopped.

Was that reluctance I could see in her face? Was she going to tell me no?

It was surprising how badly I didn’t want her to.

I put my bowl down on the counter and moved around the breakfast bar, coming to stand behind her. Then I reached to spin the stool she was sitting on so she faced me, and put my hands on the counter on either side of her, leaning in close.

She didn’t move, only stared at me, watchful and wary.

‘I should have been clear,’ I said. ‘I’ll let you go back to your business; that’s safe with me, I promise. But, before I do, I want to keep you for a little while. A few days maybe.’

Her expression didn’t change, but I could see the pulse at her throat beating fast. ‘Are you saying that I have to sleep with you again before you—?’

‘No,’ I interrupted, because the day I had to blackmail a woman into bed would be the day hell froze over. ‘I’m not saying that. You can go now if you want—minus the necklace, of course, but you can. Shit, I’ll even call a car to take you home if that’s your preference. But what I am saying is that I’d like it if you wanted to stay here with me for a few days before you go.’

It probably wasn’t a good idea, not if Everett was still sniffing around about the security breach, but I could handle him if push came to shove. I’d make sure Thea stayed hidden and safe and her little ‘reacquisition’ business would too. Because neither she nor her business was a threat, and I didn’t waste my time threatening people who weren’t dangerous to start with.

She might end up being dangerous.

To my fucking cock, maybe. But not to anything else. I’d make sure of it.

She watched me silently and I thought I saw surprise flicker in her eyes. Then her gaze dropped to my mouth and the darkness lit with something else: hunger.

Satisfaction burned low in my gut. She wanted to stay; oh, yes, she really did.

‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea,’ she said quietly.

I didn’t move and I didn’t look away. ‘Why not? It’s just sex and fun, all good stuff.’

‘Because...’ Her gaze lifted to mine before dropping to my mouth again, as if she couldn’t stop herself from looking.

‘Because?’ I wanted to kiss her, close the distance between us, but I didn’t. She had to make the choice for herself, no matter how much I wanted to make it for her. And I did want to make it for her. I didn’t want her to say no.

‘I have a business to run. Jobs I need to take.’

Did she want me to convince her? If she did, she was shit out of luck. This was her decision and I wasn’t going to make it for her.

I could be quiet when I wanted to be and I was quiet now.

A crease deepened between her straight, dark brows. ‘You’re not even going to try to convince me?’

‘You either do or you don’t, Sugar. I wouldn’t have asked you to stay if I didn’t want you to, but whether you do or not is up to you.’

‘Is this how you do all your business deals? Makes me wonder how you’re so successful if you’re not even going to try a little persuasion.’

‘This isn’t a business deal. And if you need persuading then perhaps you’d better leave right now.’

A spark glittered in her eyes and her throat moved as she swallowed. ‘Tell me you want me.’

Ah, okay. If it was reassurance she needed, then I could do that.

‘You really need me to say it?’ I asked. ‘After last night and this morning?’

Her gaze was steady and unapologetic. ‘Yes.’

So I filed that little discovery away for future reference, liking that finally she was being straight with me. And this was something I could give her that didn’t cost me anything, and was true into the bargain.

You know that once you start giving shit to people, they only want more.

I shoved that unhelpful thought away, staring into Thea’s dark eyes instead and letting her see the truth. Without the smile this time. ‘I want you, Thea. In fact, I don’t think I’ve wanted anyone as much as I want you right now.’

She stared at me for a beat. Then her hands came out, her fingers burying themselves in my hair, and she pulled my mouth down on hers.

Giving me her answer.