“Who and what you are. You presented yourself as a decent human being. Instead, you’re a ruthless predator.”
He swirled the liquid in his wineglass before bringing the crystal to his lips. I hated myself for watching his every move. “Quite the contrary. I never lied about who I was, and I certainly didn’t tell you I considered myself a decent man. You simply didn’t ask me to supply my background or even my last name. Had you done so, I would have been happy to provide you with answers to every question. As far as being ruthless? I feel no guilt in beinga merciless businessman. That’s what it takes to succeed. You have my promise that I won’t lie to you, Josette, as I have no reason to do so. Can you say the same?”
“Alright. Then answer me this. What do you want from me? Even if I did recognize the man who attacked you, from what I’ve seen and what you just admitted, you wield power in this city. What could I say that would make a single bit of difference?” Becoming exasperated wasn’t going to change the situation.
As he uncurled his fingers, brushing the tips under my chin, I refused to back away or down from him. One thing I refused to do was to give him the satisfaction of believing he’d unnerved me. I wasn’t that kind of girl.
The electricity was even more tantalizing than before, his touch alone sending an array of butterflies to my stomach. When I obviously didn’t react as he’d hoped, he pulled his hand away. “What I require is an answer to the earlier question.”
“Why do you need to know?”
“Because I like what I see, Josette. It’s as simple as that. No hidden meaning. No pretense. I would like to get to know you better.”
It was a harmless question and ignoring him while we had dinner wasn’t possible. “Fine. I don’t know where to begin. While you must think my little company is nothing in the scheme of what you do, I love Simply the Best. Not just the business side of owning something that’s all mine, but also the joy of creating a concoction people enjoy. It’s my baby and it’s taken me years to build a brand and a customer base. When they come back a second or third time, I get a little thrill. I loveworking with my employees. I’ve developed some wonderful friendships.”
Now he was leaning back in his seat, rolling the tip of his index finger around the rim of his wineglass. A subtle yet sensual move.
And he was paying as close attention to what I was saying as I’d been studying him. The man was truly unnerving.
“Go on,” he said even as I stopped to take a sip of wine. “What do you enjoy outside of business? Other than listening to Disturbed of course. Books. I noticed you adore romance novels yet keep them in pristine condition.”
The fact he’d been looking through my things should infuriate me. Why didn’t it? Why wasn’t I all over him, telling him in no uncertain terms never to touch my things again? I had no answer. “There’s nothing wrong with romance novels, Sinclair. They allow for the freedom of pretending there’s such a thing as romance and passion that far supersedes a sexual encounter.” I looked away just as Indiana placed his head on my lap. “Granted, there isn’t a man in the world who could compare to the dark and demanding alphas written on a page.”
He remained unblinking, his eyes more hooded than before. I could almost read what he was thinking. That he was going to devour me. “I believe there are such men, yet often women’s standards are a tad high.”
“Maybe you’re right, but a girl can dream heroes do exist. Your turn.”
“You know everything you need to know.”
I shook my head. “What’s wrong with getting to know more than just that you also like heavy metal music, enjoy red wine, and even though you’re a self-proclaimed ruthless man with both employees and competitors, you’re surprisingly gentle with furry creatures. I find it fascinating they flock to you for some crazy reason, but dogs are excellent at sniffing out bad people. That means you have some redeeming qualities.” When he seemed perplexed, I nodded toward where one crossed leg remained in view.
Indiana’s head was now resting on his knee, Sinclair absently stroking the scruff of his neck.
Sinclair’s expression didn’t change and he obviously had no intention of stopping. “While I’ll admit to adoring animals almost as much as you do, there’s no point in learning more about me other than what you’ve seen, Josette. I am no one that you want to know. My world is entirely different than yours. You’ve already admitted as much.”
The way he peered down at Indy was so loving. So different than what I’d seen.
“So you’ve told me. Is that why you’re caged even in such a beautiful house in an incredible lively city? Is that why you have guards surrounding you at all times? Because your world is so entirely different?”
He lifted his head in my direction. “You have no idea what kind of people would enjoy coming into my house and destroying what belongs to me. And I assure you that they would use the most vile and destructive manners in doing so.”
“Because you’ve killed people.” My words were a statement, not a damn question. Maybe he was right. Maybe I had no clue what he was truly made of.
He shook his head again, obviously exasperated. “Until blood had run in the streets. Is that what you want to hear?”
“If that’s the truth.” The man had a knack for making me feel completely uncomfortable by his presence alone.
His laugh turned into a snarl. “It’s the truth. As I said, don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to. My life isn’t a fairytale like yours.”
“A fairytale? Right. And you obviously have no clue what real life is like, scraping by in order to pay a few bills, never getting anywhere then being tossed aside as if you don’t mean anything. How could you know? You’re the great Prince family, self-proclaimed gods of the city. Hell, maybe the universe.” I shrank back, seeing the venom in his eyes.
Even as Indiana whimpered as if in agreement to what I’d just said, Sinclair wasn’t perturbed in the least, enjoying stroking my dog as if the pup belonged to him. As if we both did. “You’re absolutely correct that I have no idea. We’re only criminals to beautiful, intelligent, upstanding citizens like yourself.”
I was fighting a losing battle. The man had inhaled the air from my lungs. While I enjoyed mental stimulation in intelligent conversations, I could no longer breathe around him.
“Do you need to more about all the exciting aspects of my life?” I asked. Maybe I was enjoying the banter with him.
The slow smile curling across his face kept me clenching my legs together. “Much more.”
