Eastman glanced down at his watch. “I have a one p.m.”
Soren cracked a smile. “He won’t be making it today.”
5
Tobias
Tobias wasn’t easily rattled. He was ten steps ahead in almost every situation. He had to be. It kept him alive. He spent his days swimming with sharks who thought he was a dolphin, amusing, fun to play with. But Tobias recognized a shark when he saw one, and the man before him, even with his casual posture and sardonic smile, was very much a shark. And fuck if Tobias didn’t find that fascinating.
“Will my client be returning at all, or should I tell Janice to take him permanently off my books?” he asked, letting boredom leach into his tone.
The man in the chair grinned at him, and Tobias felt it again, that tiny shiver of electricity, just like in the coffee shop. Who was this man?
The stranger tilted his head, giving Tobias a smile that had probably dropped a thousand pairs of panties in its lifetime. “I think it’s safe to say he’s in a better place now. Mentally, of course.”
Tobias’s lips twitched. “I see. So, what can I do for you today, Mr…?” He let the question linger.
“You can call me Soren,” the man said, studying Tobias, his grin now more a tight smile.
“Mr. Soren. What can I do for you today, Mr. Soren.”
Soren shook his head. “Not Mr. Soren. Just Soren. You know, like Cher or Madonna,” he drawled, holding his hands up like he was seeing his name in lights.
As much as he liked having the height advantage, Tobias moved to take a seat behind his desk.
It seemed like Soren—just Soren—wasn’t in any hurry to leave. If Tobias was being honest, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted him to. He didn’t know what to do with that, so he tucked it away to examine later. For now, he needed to focus on the shark circling him in his own office.
“How can I help you, Soren?” He kept his tone flat and his expression blank.
Soren’s grin disappeared, his gaze sharp enough to chip away at Tobias’s confidence. “You can stop sniffing around Paddy Killeen.”
Shit. Did Killeen know of Tobias’s plans? There was no way. The man was mean as a snake but he wasn’t a genius by any stretch. There was no way he would have put his motives together so quickly. “Pardon?”
Soren leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his legs spread wide in a gesture Tobias found disconcertingly distracting. “Whatever your plans are for Killeen, cancel them. His dance card is full.”
Tobias’s heartbeat faltered, but he sat forward, steepling his fingers together on his desk. “I don’t follow.”
Soren stood and Tobias found himself drinking in the deep tan, sun-bleached hair and bold blue eyes, his gaze stuttering on the man’s zipper before again admiring how the well-worn denim molded to thick thighs.
When he dragged his gaze upwards, he found Soren watching him, a single brow arched, his mouth hooking up at the corner. Tobias made sure his face was the same blank canvas it always was, even if he could feel his skin growing warm and his dick getting hard. “Did he send you to tell me he no longer wishes to be a patient? Is that it? Do you work for him?” He let the question hang in the air pointedly so Soren would catch his drift.
Soren began circling Tobias’s office, looking over photos of people Tobias didn’t know, families who came with the frames, knick-knacks Janice had picked up with the corporate card to make the office look like Tobias was a human with thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
“Not in the way you’re implying, no. Turns out the guy’s kind of an asshole.”
No shit.
Soren lifted one of the pictures on the shelf, lip curling in a smile, before setting it down in the wrong place.
Tobias clenched his jaw until the muscle throbbed. “Then I’m afraid I really don’t understand what it is I can do for you, Soren.”
Again, he picked up something off the shelf. A first edition copy of a book by Freud, flipping through the pages carelessly before once more setting it down at the wrong angle.
Tobias scrunched his toes into his shoes, then relaxed them, attempting to maintain his inner calm. What kind of psycho just picked up a stranger’s things and rearranged them?
“We have some mutual friends, you and me. Did you know that? I believe you had them for…couples therapy?”
Light dawned. John and Akil. The couple who killed together. Tobias most definitely hadn’t seen that coming. “So, you’re a killer?”
