“Oh my God.”
It was a movie theater room with plush, red velvet seats and a giant screen at the front. The walls were adorned with classic movie posters, and a popcorn machine stood in the corner with fresh, buttery popcorn inside. Seth’s voice echoed from behind as I walked down the aisle.
“Do you like it?”
The room was dimly lit and when I turned to look at him, he was sitting in the back row with a bag of popcorn. Even though I couldn’t see his eyes well, I could feel them roaming all over me. He’d changed out of his suit and into a T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, which made him look almost normal.
“I do like it,” I said, pointing toward the door. “This is the first time I’ve been down that hallway. I didn’t know this was here.”
Seth set his popcorn down and walked down the steps toward me. “If I’d known it would interest you, I would’ve told you.”
I shrugged it off. “No worries. Did you talk to your father?”
Seth’s expression hardened. “I did. The meeting with my brother will be this week.”
My heart thundered so hard in my chest I thought it’d come up my throat. “What will I be doing during that time?”
Seth’s eyes searched mine. “You’ll be coming with me, but you won’t be in the meeting.” He glanced around the room, his voice low. “I don’t want you here without me.”
“Why? Aren’t your guys protecting me?”
He shook his head. “It’s not enough.”
His tone and the way he stared at me made my body tighten and long for his touch. Clenching my fists, I let the pain of my nails digging into my skin drag my dirty thoughts away. All that mattered was that the meeting was happening, and I would be close to Nikolai. I had to think of a plan.
“Okay,” I said, stepping away from him. “I think I’m going to head back up to my room. Have a good night.”
He grabbed my wrist, his grip firm. “You could stay here and watch a movie with me.” A smirk spread across his lips. “There’s fresh popcorn. I’ll even let you pick out what we watch.”
I wanted to say no, but I couldn’t. Why was he so hard to resist?
“What movies do you have?”
Seth opened his arms wide. “Anything you want. Name something.”
I walked down to the popcorn machine and put three huge scoops into one of the tubs; they were exactly like the ones you get at an actual movie theater.
“How about a mafia movie?” I called out, waiting to hear his reaction. I glanced at him over my shoulder to see his brows raised.
“Really, Wren? That’s what you want?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “I’m kidding. Although, I thought it might be interesting. Maybe it’ll give me some insight into your life?”
Seth shook his head and returned to his seat in the back row. “You don’t need to watch one of those movies for that. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
I sat down next to him, loving how soft the seats were. “Would you?” I asked. “Anything I want to know, you’ll tell me?”
His gaze landed on my lips and then up to my eyes. “Anything,” he whispered, his voice was like honey gliding across my skin.
I couldn’t look away from him, and when I noticed him moving closer, I turned my head toward the screen.
“We still need to pick a movie.” Still feeling Seth’s eyes on me, I grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into my mouth. “I love Dwayne Johnson. Any movie with him in it will be great.”
Seth chuckled. “We can do that. Which one do you want?”
I wanted something with action in it, nothing romantic.
“San Andreas?” I mentioned, still chewing away at my popcorn with my mouth open.
