As his words sank in, I froze. What? Was this his suite? Another slow, hot flush warmed my blood despite the chill from the rapidly cooling water.
I watched in disbelief as he turned away and stripped off his shirt, tossing it over a chair. Then he splashed water over his face. From the dark shadows around his eyes, it was obvious he'd not slept in a while. I called bullshit on his claim not to need sleep. The man looked like he was about to drop from exhaustion.
"I assumed this was my room."
"You assumed wrong, princess." His gaze met mine in the mirror. "There's zero chance of me leaving you alone until we board the plane."
"What?" I spluttered. "I don't need a babysitter!"
"Since you clearly didn't listen to me when I asked you to stay on the estate and then managed to get yourself caught up with people traffickers, I beg to differ."
"I took a job serving drinks in a club. It's not my fault the club's owner was shady!"
"Perhaps not, but now you're on your father's radar, so the sooner we get you away from this country, the better."
I fell silent for a moment before curiosity got the better of me.
"Who was the guy you threatened?"
"You mean the one who had every intention of handing you over to your father? His name is Avram Marku. He's Konstantin Marku's son." He sighed when he saw my confused expression.
"Back in the day, your father arranged a marriage between Thea and Konstantin. It never happened because Kyril and Dario rescued you both shortly before the not-so-happy couple exchanged wedding vows." That whole day was still a blur, but I nodded. Thea had told me about some of it. "Since Konstantin wasn't backing off, Kyril put a hit on him. A yacht explosion took out him and his top men."
"So who's Avram?"
"Konstantin’s half-brother. Illegitimate. Nobody knew he existed until recently, but it seems he's hell-bent on rebuilding his brother's empire and using your father to help him do it."
The water in the tub had gone from tepid to cold. Goose bumps covered me, but no way was I stepping out to grab a towel until Declan left me alone. He didn't deserve a free show.
Unfortunately, my pride couldn’t stop me from shivering in the cooling water, which he noticed.
"Jesus fuck, get out of the tub, Verity, before you freeze to death!"
"I'll get out when you leave," I said through clenched, chattering teeth.
"Stubborn bloody woman." He pulled a towel from the stack and held it out. "Here."
"I can't," I squeaked. The cold water had triggered a painful cramp in my calf. I reached down to massage it, but that just made it worse.
Declan cursed softly before scooping me out of the tub, soaking himself in the process as water sloshed everywhere.
"Stop struggling, woman!" he groused. "Or I'll drop you!"
The slippery sensation of my wet breasts against his naked chest triggered all kinds of unwelcome feelings. Not to mention a great deal of embarrassment. So I did what any self-respecting woman would do in such a situation: I closed my eyes and pretended it wasn't happening.
Gentle hands wrapped me in the towel and lowered me onto a soft bed before an amused voice said, "You can open your eyes now."
"This is highly inappropriate," I huffed, still embarrassed. When I dared to peek at him, he hovered over me. Not one part of him touched me, but the heat between us felt like it might burn the room down at any moment.
"No more inappropriate than you sleeping with my brothers." Hot, minty breath feathered against my cheek as amber eyes bored into mine. The banked heat I saw there took my breath away.
I ached to reach out and touch him. Run my fingers across the edge of his jaw, test how soft the neatly trimmed beard would feel against my skin. But I lacked courage.
He leaned closer. So close I could see the gold striations in his irises.
A shiver wracked my body, but not from the cool air blowing from the air-conditioning unit on the wall.
Was he…jealous?
