Her gaze stayed on his for all of three seconds before she nodded.
Another four minutes passed before impatience drove him to tap his headphones. ‘If you’re worried about being overheard by anyone else, this channel is private.’
Her eyes widened then moved over his pilot and guards. ‘There’s nothing I want to say to you in private that I wouldn’t say in front of them.’
His eyebrow quirked, openly mocking. ‘Then I’m curious as to why you’ve gone mute.’
‘You seem eager and determined to throw your weight around, ignoring what I want at every turn. So what’s the point?’
He should’ve been pleased with that. He wanted her compliant, docile even, didn’t he?Yes. So why was there an itch beneath his rib like he was pulling a resistant muscle?
He dismissed the thought, and angled his body so he could avail himself of her profile. ‘And what exactly do you want besides being kept safe from unwanted attention?’ The very mention of the danger she’d treated so blithely made anger roll through him once again. ‘Isn’t a secluded cabin with a roaring fire one of your favourite things?’ he grated.
The moment the little nugget left his lips he wanted to take it back. But he shrugged it off. He was perfectly within his rights to learn every single thing about her. Her gaze turning fully on him also shouldn’t have drawn such a pleased reaction. What the hell was wrong with him?
‘You remember that?’ she muttered, her gaze searching his far too keenly.
He sucked in a breath, already wishing back the silence he’d interrupted.
‘It’s the middle of the night. Using the cabin for this purpose was merely expedient,’ he said briskly. ‘Once we resolve this problem you can be back to whatever you get up to within hours. Besides, as I said before it’s my duty to know everything.’
‘Well, this particular duty belongs in the archives. I liked frozen cabins once upon a time, maybe when I still believed in Santa and leaving cookies by an open fire the night before Christmas. If I remember correctly, you have dozens of properties across the world. I could’ve been on my way to sun myself on a beach in the Bahamas. Or in a jungle paradise in Costa Rica. If you’d bothered to ask me, I would’ve chosen anywhere but a snow cabin in the middle of nowhere.’
It was clear evidence of what a dangerous road he tread when he immediately considered changing his plan, granting her wish.No. ‘Nevertheless, that’s where we’re staying for the moment.’
A corner of her plump mouth twisted in half mockery, half resignation that pulled at the muscle in his chest again. ‘Like I said, why do I even bother?’
For the rest of the journey, he was forced to ask himself the very same question. Unfortunately, the answer that came back to him was one that pulled at a very different muscle altogether.
The muscle of loss and guilt. Of promises made with blood on his hands and sorrow a permanent vice around his heart.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’
Valenti stood, arms folded in the middle of the cabin’s living room, listening as her feet thundered down the short hallway in the two-story structure before descending the stairs at a speed that made him wince and lock his knees so he wouldn’t lunge for her if she stumbled.
‘Problem?’ he drawled.
‘Of course there’s a problem. There’s only one bed. If you expect me to sleep on the floor or hang upside down like some bat, you’ve got another think coming.’
‘While I would pay good money to see you indeed hang upside down, that’s not what I had in mind.’
‘Good because this is starting off like a horribly clichéd romance movie that is only destined to get worse.’
She stopped in her tracks, her face reddening as the words left her lips. Within his own body, he also experienced an unnerving reaction. ‘You can rest easy as there’s no possibility of that,’ he said firmly to counter said sensation.
She blinked once then hastily stepped back. He didn’t know whether it was in reaction to his words, or a residual counteract to whatever was charging the air between them.
‘That’s a relief because that was the farthest thing from my mind.’
He noted her eyes remained wide as she blinked again and then gestured around. ‘So where exactly am I supposed to sleep?’
Dropping his arms he pointed to the wide sectional sofa that dissected the living area from the kitchen. ‘That turns into a perfectly adequate sofa bed. You’ll have more than enough room.’
Expecting another outburst, he saw something flicker in her eyes before she veiled them. Curbing the punch of curiosity, he shrugged off his coat. Walked away to hang it in the closet.
‘Now that the question of bedding is settled, we need to go over a few ground rules.’
‘Stop.’
