The Dare Collection January 2020. Lauren HawkeyeЧитать онлайн книгу.
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