Lotte took the opposite path to the one they’d taken yesterday, glad she needed to concentrate on the rocky terrain. Just as she was almost glad when she spotted Valenti’s bodyguards, dressed in mostly white winter gear to blend in with the landscape. It was a timely reminder of his stratospheric status and importance.
Thankfully, she was rewarded mere minutes later with a spectacular vista of a mirror-smooth lake, rimmed by soaring snow-capped fir trees.
She lost herself in capturing the beauty of the place and filming herself without giving away her location, her heart flipping over at Valenti’s nod of approval. But while it was bolstering to dive back into work, she knew her footage lacked depth. She was about to call it a day when she spotted a shoot of familiar green she hadn’t seen in a long time.
She rushed to investigate, then held out the camera to Valenti. ‘Do you mind filming?’
He took the camera, flicking the setting before he aimed it at her.
‘And for those who need it, here’s your tip for the day. Ice baths with a twist of mugwort.’ She winked into the camera and held up the small bush of the healing plant. ‘I know, it’s horrifically unsexy, but my grandmother swore by it and after a few scraped knees and bruises, I can attest to the fact that it does wonders for quick healing. And yes, you can thank me later.’ She smiled wide then taking a deep breath, signed off with her usual slogan. ‘Be bold. Be brave. Reach for what you want. Remember I’m here for you, always.’
It was stupid to fight a blush when he slowly lowered the camera but kept his gaze pinned on her, the assessing look filling his eyes once more.
‘You’re making recommendations normally reserved for combat training personnel and athletes,’ he observed when they started back down the hill to the cabin, his silver eyes probing and watchful.
Her breath strangled. ‘So? Healing is healing, no?’
A brisk nod, but his eyes didn’t leave her face. ‘Have you used it yourself?’
Her eyes widened. ‘You think I need it?’ She strove for flippant and missed by a wide mile.
‘There better not be another secret in your recent past you’re withholding,’ he warned, his voice a rumbling storm.
Anxiety knitted her insides because it just so happened, she was. She barely managed to stop herself from biting her lip in her agitation, choosing instead to divert attention. ‘A woman is allowed some secrets, you know. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, my life isn’t an open book to you. And even if it was, you’ve missed several chapters.’
His eyes narrowed as they climbed the steps onto the cabin porch, she feared he’d see right through her ruse. ‘Have I? Enlighten me then,’ he invited silkily.
‘You seem to want to control every corner of my life, but did you even bother to check my bank account? I haven’t needed your money to live on since I was nineteen years old.’
He froze, surprise a sharp flint in his eyes. ‘What?’
A punch of pride preceded her answer. ‘I’m independently well off, Valenti. I don’t have your billions, but I’m very capable of surviving on my own. The only reason I’m here in this cabin at all is because you won’t let me go. Or am I mistaken in recalling that part of the guardianship means I have to get your express permission to go anywhere on earth?’
Shock reeled across his face, followed swiftly by intransigent rejection. ‘Not quite. The agreement is that I have ample warning so your security can be arranged. As long as we’re both clear on that abiding fact, there’s nothing else to discuss is there?’
‘Who’s incredible now?’ she threw at him, remembering his seething observation yesterday.
That eerily brooding calm settled over him once more. ‘Do you want to keep filming or not?’ he bit out.
She looked from his face to his camera and back again. ‘Not,’ she snapped. She started to walk away, then wheeled back. ‘Would it hurt you to congratulate me for my achievements? For a modicum of recognition? Or does it stick in your gut that I’m not as useless as you think?’ A scoffing laugh barked out beforeshe could stop it. ‘At this point I’m thinking you’d be more impressed if I said I had a sugar daddy on the side than admit that I’m capable of looking after myself.’
The roll of fury across his face was so visceral, so intense she took a hasty step back, scrambling into the doorway of the cabin. He kept coming, seeming to grow to twice his size, his aura filling every corner of her senses until he was the only thing she could see. ‘For your sake I suggest you keep that suggestion strictly fictional and quickly discarded.’
‘Oh yeah? And why is that?’ she taunted, while a part of her brain shrieked at her for her return to recklessness. A mode she was fully intent on blaming on him.
‘Lotte—’
‘Because it infuriates you for me to have something you didn’t provide?’ she cut through his warning tone. ‘Do you get off that much on having me beholden to you?’
He reached for her, one hand closing over her nape to drag her close. ‘I am many things, but a power-hungry megalomaniac isn’t one.’
Recklessness intensified, rushing through her veins like the sweetest narcotic. ‘Then tell me, what are you, truly?’ she challenged harder. ‘Say it, Valenti. Why are you being intransigent about this? Why does my every move fascinate you so much.’
His nostrils quivered. ‘No.’ The word pulsed with warning.
‘Then I’ll say it for you. Becauseyouwant to be my sugar daddy.’
Unholy fire blazed through his eyes. ‘Dios mío!Stop,’ he breathed.
