Me:Yes. Everyone’s laid eyes on her. She’s all in red like a fucking fire demon.
We go back and forth through lunch.
Dom:Do you know what room she’s in?
Me:No.
I lied.
Dom:What’s the plan?
Me:I’ll get her when things are over. She’s going to my place.
Dom:What? Why? That’s too much risk.
Me:I won’t send her overseas. Lars is good, but there are others who aren’t.
Dom:And we care because…?
Me:I’m not down with rape. She doesn’t deserve that.
Dom:So put out an edict. No one touches her.
Me:I want to keep an eye on her.
Dom:What if Campisi doesn’t want to negotiate?
Me:Then I’ll do what needs to be done to make him.
Dom:Reshat’ vam…Boss. Your call.
He seems to accept this, albeit begrudgingly. And he’s not wrong. It is a risk to keep her with me for many reasons. I tell him I need two trustworthy guards. And I need a security system installed in one of my guest bedrooms. He says he’ll get it done.
I’m not an idiot.
Once I have her, once she’s a prisoner in a locked bedroom as a bargaining chip, she will hate me. She will hate me even more if I refuse to let her go. But still. No one else is laying hands on her ever again.
No one.
25
LEANNA
I’m ratherpleased with myself. Despite the ick of knowing the personal shopper probably slept with my dad, I owe her a debt of gratitude for this outfit.
Because Nikolai was seething all day.
I won’t lie—it was beyond satisfying to watch. His scowl deepened with every passing hour, his fists clenched like he was seconds away from breaking someone’s jaw.
Whenever he was called on to speak, he seemed distracted. His words were there, but his focus wasn’t. His eyes always found mine. That feral, burning gaze made my skin tingle every single time.
His barely contained rage and desire became my twisted kind of entertainment. Watching him simmer distracted me from the room full of other men, all leering and calculating.
Without this battle of wills with Nik, I would have been lost in my own overthinking, counting the minutes until I could escape, far away from all of this.
When I return to the room to change for dinner, Nik is conspicuously absent. His things are untouched, exactly as he left them this morning. Which means he hasn’t been back.
There’s a twisting anticipation in my gut at the thought of what will happen tonight, when we both have to be here to sleep.
