She looks up at me, her breathing is heavy, and her eyes are glowing with anger. “I don’twant you to keep me safe!”
“Well, you don’t get a choice!” I snarl, suddenly far too aware of how her body feels pressed up against mine. My cock stirs. Without thinking, I spin her around and push her backagainst the wall next to the door. She lets out a yelp of surprise as I pin her there beneath my bulk.
Gently, I wrap my fingers around her jaw and lift her face toward mine.
I want to kiss her. But it would be a stupid thing to do.
Instead, I opt to explain the situation more clearly.
“This mansion is a fortress, Athena. My fortress. You will never get out. And in the same breath, no one will ever get in. You are safe here. The security is more advanced than anything you could imagine. I assure you, I had the world’s top hackers test it. A skewer and a goldfish are not going to break through my multi-layered, impenetrable shields.”
She scoffs.
“You’re a liar,” she blurts out.
My fingers tighten on her jaw. The urge to kiss her, to put her in her place, is overwhelming me.
“I wouldn’t lie to you, darling,” I mutter darkly, fighting for control over myself.
“You lied about my father, and you’re lying about this,” she snaps.
Frustrated and needing to distance myself from her, I take a step back. “I didn’t lie about your father. You just never knew the real man he is.”
“I know him. I’ve known him my whole life, and he isn’t who you think he is!” she shouts. Tears are glittering in her eyes. It breaks my heart that I have forced her to confront the truth about him. But in a lot of ways, she’s gone into denial. Denial about him holding her at gunpoint and denial about him essentially selling her to me.
“Your father isn’t a good man, Athena,” I sigh, pushing my hand through my hair.
“He is. I think you threatened him like you threatened me. You told him you’d hurt me or hurt him if he didn’t do as you said. That’s what really happened. My father is agood man!”
She turns away from me just before a tear runs down her cheek, and as I watch her storm out of the foyer, I realize that she will never take my word for it. Words mean nothing. She doesn’t know me. She has no reason to trust me.
I need to show her something solid. Evidence she can’t deny.
I tug my phone from my back pocket and dial Antonio.
“Boss?” he answers in a single ring.
“Antonio, I need you to put together a team and find out everything and anything you can on Ricardo Mendelez. I’m specifically interested in his shady dealings and lifestyle. I need evidence of it. Better still if you can catch him in the act.”
“Consider it done, sir.”
***
Over the next few days, her relentless attempts to escape continue. My frustration levels are through the roof, and I’m almost ready to lock her in one room and not let her out until Antonio gets back to me. Thank fuck he phones late on Thursday afternoon.
“Boss, he’s up to shit tonight. He just got started, but we’ll definitely get some solid evidence this evening.”
“Good, keep me in the loop,” I mutter with relief. She can finally see for herself. And I hope like hell it snaps her out of her delusions about who the man is.
Chapter 4 - Athena
It’s late on Thursday when Adrian walks into my room without knocking.
“Get ready, we’re going to dinner,” he says, his deep voice running through me like dark caramel. It annoys the hell out of me that he sounds sexy no matter what he says. And it annoys the hell out of me even more than when he scolds me, I stupidly get turned on! What is up with that!
“Dinner?” I huff in disbelief. Why would he take me out to dinner? We’ve been doing nothing but snap at each other over the past few days. Mostly because I won’t do what he says, and he clearly doesn’t like it.
“Yes. Dinner. To eat. To leave the house and get some fresh air.”
