“With all the mischief you’ll get up to?” he sneered at me.
I’d be wounded at his lack of trust if I actually cared.
Unwanted, the recollection of our kiss filled my mind and a warmth flowed around my body. I shook my head, willing the image to disappear.
“You arenotcoming with me,” I half-shouted. “Stay here and leave me be.”
I pulled open the door and stormed through, then slammed it behind me. I briefly caught the flash of hurt on Alex’s face, but chose to ignore it. If he thought he could boss me around, then he had another thing coming.
We’d been together for days. If he hadn’t figured out I wasn’t one of those women who waited for a man’s instruction by now, then he might never get it.
I strode down the corridor, my soft leather sandals slapping against the floor and echoing around the empty space. I needed to move quickly if I wanted to enjoy my brunch with Zavier without an annoying god on my tail.
Chapter Thirteen
I guessed the easiest way to push all of this forward would be to see if I was wasting my time with Zavier and Ashton. We’d spent some time together. If I couldn’t even get them alone with the powers of the box, perhaps I should just let them go. Find new miseries.
It was possible I just wanted an excuse to keep them safe.
But I did need to know if I could trap them at all.
Feeling like a tease, I rubbed my leg up the inside of Zavier’s, receiving a shocked look in return.
“Hope…”
“Hmm?” I took a sip of my coffee. This was something we hadn’t had before my imprisonment and one of the better things about modern society. Coffee and the piercings I couldn’t stop thinking about were my favorites.
“I don’t think you should be doing that.” The strained sound of his voice made me think it was very possible I could trap him.
My heart sank just thinking about it, but I kept my features neutral.
“What?” I fluttered my eyelashes innocently.
“Nothing.” He looked down and pushed a button on his phone. “Shit,” he muttered.
“Everything okay?” I pulled my leg back, but only because the look on his face had become serious. Something must have gone particularly wrong.
“I need to go into the office. Are you going to be okay making your way back to the hotel?”
“Can I not come with you?” I didn’t really want to be alone with Alex again unless I had to. Plus, I didn’t really have anything to do there either. Receiving accusatory glares wasn’t exactly a past time I really enjoyed.
“Won’t you be bored?”
“Don’t you own a tech company?” I countered, thinking back to what Ashton had said about his app. “If you have a spare computer, I could do some work.”
And by work, I meant I could research about mythologies I knew less about. One of them must have a legend similar to mine. And if they did…well, maybe they’d contain the answers I needed to keep my men out of my box.
No. The men. Not my men. Bad Pandora.
“If you’re sure…”
“I am. But we need to take some of this with us.” I waved towards the still laden table, and Zavier nodded.
He signaled for one of the waiters to come over before saying something in a low voice. If I tried, I’d be able to tell what he was saying. But I was far more interested in the brioche roll I was currently tearing apart.
“He’s going to send this along behind us.” He motioned for me to stand, then slipped an arm around my back, propelling me towards a car which already stood waiting.
Wow, it must be good to be as rich as he was. I doubted the everyday men and women in the city had this kind of luxury at their fingertips.
