Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
There’s some shuffling through the line and she sighs. “You woke me up to grill me? Do you know how hard it’s been for me to sleep since...”
Neither of us finishes that sentence.
“I’m sorry,” I say, “but I need answers, and you are uniquely situated to give them to me. What the hell is going on between you and him?”
“You aren’t my boss, so you don’t get to make demands of me. But, since you annoy me the least of all you assholes, I’ll just say it’s a perpetual game of cat and mouse.”
Shit. Does Kai know about this? Adrian? “Did you run it by the man who can actually give you orders?”
She lets out a long list of colorful curses. “Who the fuck do you think put me at his side? I don’t have a choice. If I did, his head would be a decoration for my bedroom right now.”
Andrea doesn’t usually feel strongly about society members one way or the other unless they wrong her, which means Emmanuelle somehow ended up on her shit list. Something tells me that asking for specifics won’t work.
“Fine, tell me why he wants to marry Selena. Do you know what kind of shit fit Kai would throw if he found out she was even considering it?”
She snorts, her voice low and soft. “I can only imagine having that asshole at Christmas dinner every year. Although from what I hear, Selena is a handful all on her own.”
The urge to defend her rises, but I ignore it, thankful I’ve had a long time to practice staying mindful of my reactions. “Well, for right now, she’s our responsibility. And I can’t let her trade one form of danger for another in a prettier package.”
“You think you’ll have any luck convincing her either way? If so, you know even less about women than I thought.”
It’s my turn to sigh, and along with that little nugget, hang up on her.
Selena might not listen when I speak, but she sure as hell melted into my arms last night. For the first time, the fight in her eyes dimmed enough for reason to break through. I’m just not sure it’s a great idea for either of us to use intimacy as a way to keep her in line, if it would even work outside of her being slightly buzzed from her free roam around the bar.
I don’t get the proper time to consider, because she emerges from her room looking freshly rumpled, her hair in a messy bun, the long bare line of her leg distracting me.
“You finally came out of your room,” she says, as she throws herself in the chair across from the table with a yawn.
I don’t like her insinuating I was hiding, but I let it go. “Because we need to figure out what you are going to do.”
She waves her hand between us. “There is no we in this situation. You’re not the one marrying that asshole, so this is strictly a me decision.”
“What do you think Kai would say if he heard about this?”
The look she gives me might have scared me if I hadn’t been on the receiving end of Kai’s very same look. “My brother has zero say in my life. Me asking for help was a fluke that he has taken full advantage of by appointing you my babysitter. I am not likely to be calling him for help again soon.”
Throwing her over the edge of the table and using her smart mouth for something far better than spouting off sounds so good, but it won’t help when I need her to tell me what is going on in her power-addled mind right now. “I neither agree nor disagree about it being your decision. But I think you need to weigh your choices and advantages.”
“I’m already working on that.” She grabs a piece of pizza from the box I left in the middle of the table. “I’m not about to offer myself up to be used and thrown away the second he gets what he wants.”
“That’s what I mean. You don’t know what he really wants. He says an alliance, but we need to do more research to figure out if he has ulterior motives.”
She rolls her eyes, swallowing a bite of pizza. “You think I’m an idiot? I didn’t rise to govern my city by believing every pretty lie that spews from a man’s mouth. In fact, I consider most of what men say to be lies, until I prove otherwise.”
“That must be inconvenient.”
She leans forward on her elbows, nothing but fire in her eyes. “For example, you threatening to screw me into submission is definitely a lie. We’ve, or rather, I’ve established you’re a virgin, so I doubt you’ll be capable of such a feat.”
There’s a self-satisfied little grin on her face as she studies me, as if she thinks her taunts are enough to get me to what...ravish her to prove my prowess? Or drive me into a rage? Maybe that’s how the men in her life usually react, and even if she is capable of sending my brain into overdrive, I still like to consider my actions before I make a move.