I walked right into his line of sight though. “Oh really?” I wrapped my blouse back around my waist. “Seems you left out a few things, like you being an elusive ass of the Diamond Syndicate while moonlighting as a surgeon for criminals downstairs half the time.”
Shock flickered over his features followed by amusement, which pissed me off more. He crossed his arms. “And the other half?”
Oh, he wanted me to continue.Fine. “The other half of the time I might get a bonus of you sticking your fingers between my legs, it seems. Or was that a one-off and I’ll have to go find help with that elsewhere the rest of the summer?”
The growl he let out was low, and it sent shivers over my skin. But he worked his jaw up and down a few times before he announced, “Well, like I promised, you’re free to go anywhere in Paradise Grove from now on if you needhelpelsewhere, although I don’t recommend it.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’ll have to deal with me after, Mia,” he said, and he held my gaze, making sure I knew exactly what that meant. “Anyway, I’d like one of the guys to accompany you if you leave with Franny. I should have taken the well-being of you two exploring outside into consideration earlier.”
What could I say to that? Now, not only was he a member of the syndicate, but he was being considerate too.
It left us in unknown territory where I couldn’t argue with him about professionalism but didn’t have my legs wrapped around his head either. I worked my hands in consternation. “I’ll keep you updated on Franny’s progress with exploration. I should get back to her and—”
“I’ll walk you upstairs.” He pointed to a back door, and I hesitated. “It’s the other staircase.”
“I haven’t seen that part of the estate.”
He nodded, and his voice cooled slightly. “It’s my wing.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a boundary he was putting up or an offer for a future invitation. The hall to the stairs was dim as we moved through it. Gone was the clean smell of the house, and in its place was that leather and clove that reminded me of him. Jameson motioned me to take the stairs, and he walked behind me. The staircase curved up, narrow but elegant.
Each step creaked like he took these more than others, like whoever had lived here utilized this path regularly.
We made it to the ground level, and he pointed to double doors. “My room is there, and if you turn here, we’ll be back at the study.”
Yet, my eyes weren’t looking down the hall that led to the bright normalcy I was used to at his estate now. They were on the door that was next to his, that had a handle that shined with gold elegancy and a keyhole that was shaped like something from a storybook.
This door was substantial, and I was sure it would be heavier. Carved with wood vines and ivy, it was unlike all the others.
“What’s in there?” I murmured almost to myself. “It looks like it belongs in another time.”
“It does,” he grumbled. “That door is completely off-limits. Some parts of this house don’t need to be explored by my daughter’s teacher, and some doors are better left closed. Do you understand, Ms. Darling?” His whole demeanor shut down, his tone shifted. The barrier was back up between us. I was Ms. Darling again. Not the woman he’d just had relations with.
Not someone he cared to trust his secrets with.
Just a woman he’d removed as a distraction. Just anelementary school teacher he’d lusted over, but now he’d cut the cord between us.
I felt the knife to my gut as he said it, as he shuttered closed the window into his thoughts.
He’d put me back in my place, and I had to push myself to remember it. I took a step back from him and nodded. “Understood, Mr. Knight. I’m a professional, after all. As thenanny, I know exactly where I should and should not go now.”
With that, I turned and went back to the study all on my own.
He didn’t come after me.
Why would he? After all, we were just boss and employee.
Jameson
KEEPING MY DISTANCE FROMMia was harder than I’d originally envisioned it to be. She meddled and snooped and asked questions in ways I wasn’t used to. She pried like she genuinely cared rather than as if she were using me as a means to an end. I wasn’t used to people who were real rather than strategic, innocent rather than ruthless, and honest rather than calculating.
Maybe that’s why I gave the fucker, Paolo, a chance for a meeting. Or maybe I just wanted to further justify my actions to the syndicate. Either way, I needed answers.
I knew Paolo’s history, that he was a snake and a liar, but everyone else needed to see it too. He’d slithered in and out of my life for years. His cartel on the East Coast had global reach for a time, money laundering pipelines through shell corporations with heavy influence in South American ports. He even controlled several international pharm transport routes years ago.
My father turned a blind eye to it, and my late wife, Lex, wanted direct partnership with it when her family’s company, Wilshire & Co., were found in a scandal they’d hidden from all of us.
